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Saturday, November 17, 2007
Victory Lap
Collin County, TX
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With his impressive tenure as Plano Senior head coach marching to an end, Gerald Brence fondly talks about what he will – and won’t – miss, including players, coaches and the Texas heat
Over the summer, Plano Senior head coach Gerald Brence was announced as Plano Independent School District’s new athletic director. However, as the 2007-08 football season began to bear down, Plano still needed a head coach. The school district decided to keep Brence on as the Wildcats sideline admiral, and the hope is that in his last hooray “Coach” Brence can finish on a high note.
HSSTM: You’ve been coaching at Plano now for 27 years. Have you had a chance to sit back and think about what you have accomplished?
Brence: You know the pace as a 5A coach and athletic director for Plano Senior High School for the past sixteen years is extremely fast. There is so much going on and so many people involved. You don’t really have time to sit back and think about what is going on. But I have really enjoyed it; I have had a lot of fun. I think this is good timing for me. I’m ready to move on and do something else with the athletic department. I’ve had a lot of fun with it but it has been a lot of work; a lot of hours, but I have really enjoyed it. We are going to try everything we can to keep our season going as long as we can, and when it is done, I will move out to John Clark Stadium full time, that’s the plan. We don’t know who the new coach is yet and we won’t address that until the end of football season.
HSSTM: As you were working toward your master’s degree in education, did you ever expect you would become such a big part of the Plano football culture?
Brence: I always wanted to be a head coach. I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to be the head coach at Plano. I have never taken it lightly and always been very proud of it and always tried to do the best job I could possibly do. I’ve had some tremendous highs and lows in my career. But when I look back on it I don’t regret a thing. I think when you get an opportunity like that you throw everything you got into it. I might not have been the greatest coach Plano ever had, but I might be the proudest, because it means a lot to me. And I’ve tried to live up to it the best I can.
HSSTM: In coming to Plano, you had to follow a couple of coaches, Tom Kimbrough and John Clark, who people really adored. What was it like trying to live up to their success?
Brence: I think I was only 32 years old when I became head coach here. I think I was so young at the time I was a little bit naïve. I didn’t really think about it because I was trying to focus on winning. We got off to a good start, thank goodness. In my first three years as head coach we played in the state championship twice and won it in 1994. I always say I’ve had a lot of blessings in my life and that was one of the blessings in that we won a state championship here. Since then we have fought and fought and fought, but the town has changed, and football in North Texas has changed. Again we’ve had our good years and tough years, but I am proud of what we have done here.
HSSTM: When you look back, does one win stick out in your mind?
Brence: When we won the state championship against Katy; you know that was a tremendous day. You know we’ve won three state championships since I’ve been here and all of them have been special days. I don’t like comparing. People ask me all of the time to compare quarterbacks and compare running backs, but it’s kind of like comparing your kids. I don’t really like to go there because it’s just not fair. A lot of times you might have great teams that you just run into better teams. Like when we ran up against Southlake Carroll or when Commerce Judson beat us in 1993 in the state championship game we had a great team. We had a great team in 2005 when Southlake Carroll beat us and you don’t want to discount that. They all put in the effort and the work. Our philosophy around here is that not all players start, some play second string and some never play. But on Friday afternoons around here during football season, former players come from all over to check in on what we are doing.
HSSTM: What has it been like coaching two of your three sons?
Brence: I coached Ryan, he’s at West Point, and his senior year we went 0-10. That year was probably the most difficult year I ever had. Those guys on that 0-10 team, we were really close to them, because you know they were all my kids’ close friends. It’s like this year, Beau, he’s a senior and I am close to all of these kids because I’ve watched them all grow up. Collin, he’s the youngest, and he’s in the ninth grade and I have never really coached him in football, so he’s going to have to go it without me but he’s going to be fine.
HSSTM: Did having this last season with Beau have anything to do with your decision to stay?
Brence: A lot of people have asked me that, but it was just a coincidence. It was so late in the summer when the decision for athletic director came down that they thought the best idea was to just continue one. I really don’t talk much to Beau during games because coach (Sam) Shields coaches his position. A lot of parents want to coach their kids, but that was never a big priority for me. They are my kids, they love football and they are pretty good at football. You do the best you can to be fair.
HSSTM: Which coaches were you happy to have by your side throughout the years?
Brence: Every single one of them. Every one of them I ever had. Every coach that coached with me was very special to me. I love them all. It is going to get emotional because I have gotten so close to them. Sitting forward and wiping a tear from his eyes. But they are going to be fine. They have always been loyal to me. Football is a tough business, with tough hours. Especially like now with playoff implications, we work around the clock right now. We get off work late, go home and come back here and start over again. When you are literally that close to people you really get to know them.
HSSTM: What will you miss the most about coaching?
Brence: There is no question; I am going to miss the coaches and the players. The relationship you have with them is hard to duplicate. But I will have all three clusters now. I am really looking forward to working with the two senior high schools. I think the world of Mike Hughes over at West and I think the world of Johnny Ringo at East and all of the rest of the coaches in our district. That is going to be the best part, going over there and really being a part of their deal now.
HSSTM: What won’t you miss about coaching?
Brence: The physical grind. The heat in Texas, long practices, the intensity. That’s going to be interesting to see how that works. Like I said, I am ready for a change, but I am a physical guy. I haven’t worked out in years, because as a coach you are always working out when you are out there coaching. So I am going to have to look for ways to exercise because I won’t be in that environment anymore. There will be some things I won’t miss, but not very many.
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