The coach of the Texas highschool soccer crew made well-known within the Buzz Bissinger ebook and 2004 film starring Billy Bob Thornton died after a protracted battle with Alzheimer's illness.
Gary Gaines, coach of the Texas highschool soccer crew made well-known within the ebook and film Friday Night time Lights, has died. He was 73.
Gaines’ household mentioned in a press release the previous coach died Monday in Lubbock after a protracted battle with Alzheimer’s illness.
Gaines made many stops in West Texas throughout a 30-year teaching profession, however was finest recognized for a four-year stint main the extremely profitable program at Odessa Permian. Gaines returned to Permian later in his profession.
His 1988 crew was chronicled in Buzz Bissinger’s bestselling ebook, which portrayed a program and college that favored soccer over teachers and attributed racist feedback to assistant coaches.
Gaines, who was performed by Billy Bob Thornton within the 2004 film, mentioned he by no means learn the ebook and felt betrayed by Bissinger after the creator spent the complete 1988 season with the crew.
The ebook, which portrayed Gaines as a compassionate coach caught within the win-at-all-costs tradition of a highschool program in football-crazed Texas, additionally was was a TV collection.
Permian misplaced within the state semifinals in 1988, a season that included the lack of star operating again James “Boobie” Miles to a knee damage throughout a preseason scrimmage. Miles’ character performed a distinguished position within the film.
The ebook described scenes of “on the market” indicators being positioned within the entrance yard of Gaines’ residence. His report from 1986-89 was 47-6-1.
Gaines led Permian to the fifth of this system’s six state championships with an ideal season in 1989, then left to turn out to be an assistant coach at Texas Tech.
He later coached two of Permian’s rivals, Abilene Excessive and San Angelo Central, earlier than returning to school because the coach at Abilene Christian. One other four-year run as Permian’s coach began in 2009, and Gaines additionally was a college district athletic director in Odessa and Lubbock.
“I simply can’t discover the phrases to pay respects,” retired coach Ron King, a former Permian assistant, advised the Odessa American. “It’s a giant loss for the teaching career. There are lots of coaches he took underneath his wing and mentored.”