Football, especially at the high school level, is a game of emotion.
The key is not letting it get emotional.
Coaches want athletes to play with emotion, but under control, using their passion for the game to allow them to succeed.
Right now, the emotions are raw for the Permian football program with the passing of former head coach Gary Gaines on Monday.
That announcement came on the heels of the death of former Permian vice principal Buddy Hale.
Hale, an Odessa High graduate, was around the Permian campus for decades and impacted generations of teachers and students.
Gaines was on campus twice as the Panthers’ head coach (1986-1989; 2009-2012).
He also was the athletic director at ECISD from 2005 to 2007.
Both were stellar communicators, mentors and honest men of faith.
Their impact was enormous, more than they ever would have humbly admitted.
Accolades and condolences quickly took over social media in the Permian Basin and beyond after both announcements, former students, coaches and athletes fondly remembering the pair who, in the waning years of the 1980s did everything they could to put Permian on the map … and succeeded.
While Hale was roaming the hallways, Gaines was patrolling the sidelines of Ratliff Stadium, first as part of John Wilkins’ staff and then taking over when Wilkins became the ECISD athletic director after the 1985 season.
Gaines would finish 47-6-1 during his first tenure as the Panthers’ head coach, including the perfect 16-0 season in 1989 that ended with Permian’s fifth state title and the designation as national champion.
That came one season after the Panthers were shadowed by author H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger for what would eventually become the book “Friday Night Lights.”
The 1988 season ended in the state semifinals on a rainy day in Austin against Dallas Carter, a 14-9 loss that was eventually reversed when Carter was found to have used an ineligible player.
When the book was released in 1990, Gaines was forever cemented as the Permian coach, though he had several other high school and collegiate stops in his career.
A book, by the way, that Gaines said he never read. Nor did he see the movie.
While Gaines was caught firmly in the spotlight, Hale, who started his vice principal position at the school in 1988, was working his magic behind the scenes with the students, trying to get them looks by colleges at every level.
And not just athletes; Hale was 100 percent behind every student on campus.
Add in the loss of Barry Sykes, who did the play-by-play on the weekly television broadcast for Permian, Odessa High and later UTPB, and the Panthers’ community is far less right now.
Many didn’t know Sykes personally, but they knew his voice, as he did all the announcers’ duties in the movie “Friday Night Lights” that came out in 2004.
Including ad libbing the voice over as the Panthers take the field for the final game of the film.
Friday, the Panthers open the 2022 season on the road against Abilene High, a game that was already going to be intense as the Eagles upended the Panthers last season to start district play.
Permian coach Jeff Ellison announced earlier this week that the Panthers would be dedicating this season to Hale.
Current Panthers’ defensive coordinator Vance Washington tweeted he both played for and coached with Gaines.
There likely will be a moment of silence before the Panthers and Eagles kick off the season as one of Gaines’ coaching stops was Abilene High in 1994-95.
It will then be up to the Panthers to rein in their emotions and focus on the task at hand.
Which is exactly what Hale and Gaines would have wanted.
LUBBOCK MONTEREY AT ODESSA HIGH
>> When: 7 p.m. Friday.
>> Where: Ratliff Stadium.
>> Last Season: Lubbock Monterey 32, Odessa High 27.
>> Records: Lubbock Monterey 0-0; Odessa High 0-0 .
>> Radio: KMCM (FM-96.9)
>> Live Updates: Follow on Twitter at @OALeeScheide.
PERMIAN AT ABILENE HIGH
>> When: 7 p.m. Friday.
>> Where: Shotwell Stadium, Abilene.
>> Last Season: Abilene High 41, Permian 21.
>> Records: Permian 0-0; Abilene High 0-0.
>> Radio: KHKX (FM-99.1)
>> Live Updates: Follow on Twitter at @OALeeScheide.
