PUEBLO, Colo. – On Aug. 3 at Outlaw Days in Kansas City, Missouri, the Kansas City Outlaws won their first game of the season, 87.5-87.25, over the Arizona Ridge Riders.
Before competition began on Aug. 4, assistant coach Guilherme Marchi ruminated on what he’d seen from his team so far.
“We see we keep getting better and better, step by step,” Marchi said. “We’re so happy to win, but we want more points. We want to ride more bulls. And that’s what we’re going to do today. We’re going to put more scores on the board to finish strong.
“Start strong and finish strong – that’s what we have in mind. Starting strong and finishing strong.”
The Outlaws have been nearly unbeatable ever since.
That very night, the Outlaws erupted against the Missouri Thunder, going 4-for-5 and coming just .34 seconds away from a perfect game. The following day, they defeated the Oklahoma Freedom before Marcus Mast gave them the first event win in franchise history in extra outs.
RELATED: Mast returns to form as Outlaws explode in 4-for-5 showing
The following weekend, in Anaheim, California, the Outlaws put up two scores to defeat the Nashville Stampede before falling short to the still-undefeated Austin Gamblers – but put up another 4-for-5 effort in their third-place showing.
It’s by far the most successful stretch the Outlaws have ever had.
And on the back of the chutes, yelling his support in Portuguese and English, is the 2008 World Champion.
“Guilherme brings a different energy to the team that we haven’t had before,” Mast said. “He’s another one of those guys that really believes in me and just backs up what (head coach) J.W. (Hart) believes in.”
After retiring in 2018, Marchi was inducted into the PBR Ring of Honor in 2019. He’s spent the last few years in Brazil, helping his father-in-law run his ranch, putting on bull riding clinics, and training bucking bulls.
He was lured back to the United States by a phone call.
“J.W. called me, if I’m interested to come to the United States to be his assistant coach, and I think about it for a couple weeks,” Marchi said. “And finally, I called him back and said, ‘Yes. If you think I can help you and the team, I will be with you.’”
Marchi moved to Hart’s hometown of Marietta, Oklahoma, staying with the Iron Man for two weeks before getting a house of his own nearby.
“I stay over there to help those young guys when I can,” Marchi said. “He’s got a great setup down there. The kids get on the bulls almost every day, and I help coach them and do exercises for getting better physically and mentally.”
While the two have vastly different dispositions – Marchi bubbly and gregarious, Hart famously stone-faced and reserved – they’ve built an incredible relationship.
“He’s so great with me. It’s so easy to work with him,” Marchi said. “He brought me here, he takes care of me, he’s been helping me a lot. I also stayed with him, and he helped me speak better English because I stayed 12 hours with him, helping him feed the bulls, work the bulls. He’s so amazing. He treats me so well, and all the respect he has with me and my family, he also has with the riders. It’s easy to work with him, and I’m very proud and very happy to be his assistant coach. And also, he listens to me a lot. He asks my opinions. He accepts them, and I accept his opinions too. It’s great to work with him.”
Part of Marchi’s role with the team is helping them scout up-and-coming riders in Brazil. Joining the squad this year are Cassio Dias (21), Leonardo Castro Ferreira (19), and Julio Cesar Marques (19). Ferreira and Marques are making their United States debuts this season, while Dias came to the U.S. in 2022.
The trio is a combined 7-for-10 (70%) in Teams action.
“We bring some young riders from Brazil, and we put our money on them,” Marchi said. “We believe they can help the team. Those kids ride really good in Brazil, but the transition from Brazil to the United States is kind of different. The bulls in the United States have more power. But we still work on those young guys. We’ve got a young team, and we believe that team can move forward.”
The Outlaws hope to move forward with momentum on their side at Stampede Days in Nashville, Tennessee, on Aug. 18-20. Action kicks off on Friday, Aug. 18, at 8:45 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV, with the Outlaws taking on the Texas Rattlers.
Marchi knows very well how difficult it is to transition from Brazil to the United States, having done it at age 22 in 2004. But it wasn’t long before Marchi found his stride, finishing No. 2 in the world standings in 2005-2007 before finally climbing the mountain in 2008. By the time he retired, he had more qualified rides on the premier series than any other rider in history with 635.
Marchi credits three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes, 2022 World Champion Ednei Caminhas, and current Ridge Riders head coach Paulo Crimber with helping him when he was new to the U.S., and he relishes the chance to do the same for the young riders on the Outlaws.
“To be a mentor of these young riders means a lot for me because I want to see those guys and the sport growing and getting better and better,” Marchi said. “When I start riding bulls, I have nobody to teach me the right things, the techniques, and today, things go better and better. We can study the bulls. We can learn the right techniques before we start riding bulls. And now, for those guys, they have some techniques we can adjust to make them better. For your success, you need to ride great. If you don’t ride good, if you’re not a good bull rider, you won’t have success on this kind of elite bulls.”
Whether the Outlaws keep winning or not, Marchi is thrilled to be back with the PBR in the locker rooms that embraced him during his storied career.
And that itch to climb aboard himself is still very much there.
“I’m so happy to be around,” Marchi said. “I miss riding bulls. I don’t miss riding bulls when I’m in Brazil, but when I step in this kind of arena, for sure I miss riding bulls. But today, my job is to have the team growing and do their best.”
Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media
