Lisa Guerrero Coles was born in Chicago but grew up in San Diego and Huntington Beach, California. Her father ran a family business and her grandparents were involved in The Salvation Army, an organization that is still close to her heart today.
Guerrero lost her mother, a native of Chile, at age 8 and to help cope with the devastating loss, her father enrolled her in theater therapy. Guerrero became enraptured with the idea of becoming an actor. As a child and teenager, she was also involved in team sports, such as softball, where she excelled at first base and as a pitcher.
go... lisa!
Her love of performance and sports were later combined when Guerrero won a coveted spot, out of over one thousand applicants, on the Los Angeles Rams cheerleader squad.
She remained with the team for four years before moving on to the Atlanta Falcons as cheerleader director and choreographer. Her reputation extended to the New England area, as the Patriots later hired her to fill the same positions. It was while in the greater Boston region that Guerrero began to dabble in broadcast sports.
Although she was comfortable in front of the camera -- despite a lack of formal training and education -- Guerrero decided to relocate back to her childhood home of Southern California in 1996 to pursue her love of acting. During this period, Guerrero also found the time to serve as a sports marketing executive for franchises in the World League of American Football and International Basketball Association.
Lisa Guerrero amassed an impressive array of television and film appearances despite her hectic schedule and other projects. Her big screen credits include Batman Returns, Fire Down Below and Love Potion No. 9. Guerrero was also on television shows such as In the Heat of the Night, Matlock, Frasier, and starred in a regular role on the daytime drama, Sunset Beach.
from the beach to the locker room
During her stint on Sunset Beach, Guerrero began to build her reputation on a local Los Angeles station as one of the most capable female reporters in sports. In 1999, she was hired by Fox Sports as an exclusive broadcast journalist for the media outlet.
She has been visible on numerous programs on the network, from her work as a reporter on Fox Overtime and Fox Extra Innings, a co-host on Sports Geniuses and a ringside reporter for Toughman, to her current stint on The Best Damn Sports Show Period.
The versatile Guerrero has also co-hosted the postseason special for the Los Angeles Lakers, Can You Dig It? and traveled to Egypt for the Fox special, Opening the Tombs of the Golden Mummies. In addition, Guerrero is the only woman to ever anchor an NFL team magazine show, as host of the San Diego Chargers' Chargers Magazine.
what a woman!
It is safe to say that over the years, Guerrero has become one of the most respected people, male or female, in the world of sports broadcasting and has developed a reputation for scoring near impossible interviews. Her acceptance in the locker room of professional sports teams nationwide is a coup for all female reporters to come.