When it comes to that gut-wrenching last conversation with his team, a high school football coach can prepare, but being prepared is a whole different matter.
Say this, say that. Read the room. Get to the point. Let ‘em know what’s next. Give them some pearls of wisdom (consult the internet if necessary). Get out of there before you turn into a sad puddle.
That’s solid, top-shelf preparation. The only problem is that the script is pretty much gone by the time you open your mouth.
You really can’t be prepared for that.
Haughton’s Jason Brotherton was confident that he had it all planned out Tuesday morning when he went to a 7:30 a.m. team meeting to inform the Buccaneers that he wasn’t going to be their coach anymore.
“That was the easiest part of the day because was I prepared for that part of it,” says Brotherton. “I made it super short because I didn’t want to start crying. I threw a joke in there to try to lighten to mood. But there were a lot of other things that day that were difficult, that I didn’t anticipate being difficult, that got me emotional.”
After eight years as head coach and 26 years total in the business of coaching, Brotherton oughta know that game plans only work until the real action starts taking place.
But this is 2024 and we should all know that nothing ends until social media says it does.
After the meeting, here came the text messages from former players. Then assistants who he had worked with over the years. Then came the Facebook post and the heartfelt reactions to that.
“I’ll be honest,” Brotherton says. “That got to me.”
Even when he tried to retreat to his football office, the emotion followed him. “I realized this isn’t my office anymore,” Brotherton says. “That was kind of emotional. It was weird. I wasn’t expecting that either.”
High school football coaches have a lot to deal with in their everyday life, but they almost always find joy in what they do. It’s more than winning games on Friday nights. Seasons play out in different ways, but one thing that doesn’t change is the bond with the players.
It’s not like a coach can give a two weeks’ notice and be done with it. It runs deeper than you can really understand if you’ve never been involved in it.
A big deal gets made about the way some college coaches leave for a new job and the players are left hanging. But everybody’s getting a check these days, so it’s hard to feel sorry for either side.
For a high school football player, your coach is your guy. He’s an indelible part of your life. The influence is undeniable, even though it might not truly take hold until years later.
Brotherton’s father was a coach. His brother is a coach. Jason knows all about football relationships.
“This was a well-thought-out move (to assistant principal) that I wanted make,” he says. “It wasn’t spur of the moment. I weighed all the pros and cons.
“But the finality of it,” he adds, “still hit hard.”
And so now, Brotherton will use another lesson that he learned a few years ago when he went from assistant to head coach.
Disappear.
“There are kids who have been thinking since middle school that I was going to be their coach when they were seniors,” Brotherton says. “They need to start seeing Matthew (Sewell) as the new head coach. They don’t need to see me hanging around.”
He may be an assistant principal, but he’s going to make sure that he’s not going to be known as “Mr. Brotherton” to any of his former players.
“I told them that if I have to, I’ll get a shirt printed with the words ‘Don’t call me Mister’ on the front,” he says.
When Haughton opens the 2024 season against Homer on Sept. 6, Jason Brotherton will not be on the sidelines for the first time in 26 years. He’ll have a walkie-talkie doing Assistant Principal things like making sure the cars are parked correctly and the concession stand line is moving along as it should.
“Hopefully I’ll get to watch some of the game,” he says.
Don’t bet against it.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com