RYAN S. CLARK
Published 12:00 am, Friday, January 30, 2009
From one storied program to another, Brandon Faircloth appears set to be the next Port Neches-Groves football coach.
Faircloth is an assistant coach at Odessa Permian and will become PN-G’s next coach pending a vote of PN-G ISD board members at a Tuesday meeting.
PN-G ISD Superintendent Lani Randall said Friday that she will recommend to the board that Faircloth be the next football coach and boys athletic coordinator.
Should the board approve Randall’s recommendation, he’ll go from a program that has won six state titles to one that has won three state titles and is steeped with more tradition than any other Southeast Texas program.
“He’s been able to live through that experience, which is a lot different from hearing about it or reading about in a book,” Permian coach Darren Allman said in reference to “Friday Night Lights,” a bestselling book about the 1988 Permian football team.
Faircloth has served as Permian’s offensive coordinator for three seasons. Permian averaged 42.6 points through an undefeated, 10-game regular season and three playoff games, the last a 28-22 loss to eventual Class 5A Division I champion Allen.
“He’s a very intelligent person that knows how to teach, and he’s been a great offensive coordinator for us,” Allman said. “We got immediately better when he came to Permian.”
Faircloth did not return a phone message Friday.
Randall said Faircloth’s experience and accomplishments set him apart from the 35-person field of applicants.
“It came down to his experience and the accomplishments he has had at the places he’s been, like Westlake, Highland Park and Permian,” Randall said. “Those are all successful high schools.”
Last season, PN-G averaged 18.4 points in nine games. The Indians won their first three games but lost the last six.
If hired, Faircloth will replace former Matt Burnett, who coached 22 seasons at PN-G, the last 15 as head coach. Burnett coached PN-G to a Class 4A state title game in 1999.
The PN-G ISD reassigned Burnett to outdoor athletic complex coordinator and student attendance officer Nov. 25.
Faircloth, Georgetown assistant Chuck Griffin and Calallen head coach/athletic director Philip Danaher were the three finalists for the position, Randall said.
The PN-G ISD had revealed Faircloth as a coaching applicant only after the Texas Attorney General’s office required it to do so. The school district had asked the AG’s office if the Texas Freedom of Information Act required it to release the names of applicants after it received six requests for the list of applicants.
“It’s been a long process, and come Tuesday, it will be where we want it to be,” Randall said.
Source: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sports/hs/article/Faircloth-extremely-humbled-to-be-next-Port-700105.php
