Art Briles by Nick Eatman

Author:Nick Eatman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Triumph Books
Published: 2013-08-24T00:00:00+00:00

20. Roger & Charlie

“Normal don’t fly.”

During a late-season practice one day during the 1994 campaign, Stephenville was gearing up for another critical playoff game. With excitement in the town building, there could be anywhere from 50 to oftentimes 300 spectators watching the Yellow Jackets work out.

During one particular drill, a pass sailed over a receiver’s head and out of bounds some 30 yards down the field. It rolled off the sideline, sending the equipment managers scrambling to get a new ball in the huddle for the next play.

Out of nowhere, the same ball that was incomplete 15 seconds earlier, came sailing in with the tightest of spirals and landed right in the middle of the group, tossed about 40 yards in the air, on a rope.

“Who threw that ball?” one of the assistants wondered, figuring it was a backup quarterback or possibly one from the JV or freshman teams.

Turns out it was Kendal Briles, the coach’s son who was only in the fifth grade. The athletic 11-year-old was always around the practice fields and served as a ball boy for the Stephenville games during the 1993 and 1994 seasons.

The players and coaches always knew Kendal was going to eventually be a star for the Yellow Jackets. Even then, his passes were as good as some of the varsity quarterbacks. From age six to about 10, Kendal spent his Friday nights at the same stadium where the Jackets would be playing. But he had his own games going on, usually two-hand touch, or maybe even tackle football if the administrators weren’t looking. Knowing the importance of the “big game” taking place out on the field, Kendal would always keep a close eye on the score. He knew what was happening, but back then, his competitive nature didn’t allow for much sitting around.

Even on Sundays before church, while his mom and two sisters were still getting ready, Kendal would ask Art to toss him a few passes in the yard, dress shirt, slacks, and all. The opportunity to impress Dad was always worth being the sweaty kid in Sunday School.

Other days, Art would find himself as the all-time quarterback, throwing the ball to Kendal and his other neighborhood buddies for mean games of street ball. If there was a chance to compete, Kendal was out there doing so, especially if he got the opportunity to beat his dad.

As he grew older, the basketball wars grew more intense. Kendal saw himself inching closer and closer to bettering Art but was never actually able to do so until his freshman year, a day he still remembers.

As both head football coach and athletics director, Art had seemingly endless responsibilities at the high school, and thus never coached any of the kids’ recreational teams. Still, he tried to attend as many of Kendal’s soccer or baseball games as he could, along with any sporting event in which Jancy and Staley were involved. He may have never pitched as a volunteer coach, but make no mistake, Art did plenty of coaching to Kendal in the pickup truck on the ride home.

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