Coaching couple's home run homecoming
It was going to take a perfect situation to pluck them all from Troy.
And that’s what presented itself, eventually.
Derek Irons was the head baseball coach at Charles Henderson High School, with Brandon Lee as assistant coach. Heather Lee, Brandon’s wife, was the head softball coach there as well. They were all happy, but the call of home was too appealing to pass up.
“With both of our families being three hours away, it was definitely a nice idea to get back closer to home,” Brandon Lee said.
Brandon Lee’s family is in Cullman, and Heather Lee is from Leeds. The Shelby County schools where they just completed their first school year are considerably closer to family than Troy.
Irons took the head baseball job at Oak Mountain High School in June 2015, under one condition: that Brandon had a spot on the staff as well.
"He had always told me that he wouldn't leave unless there was a job for me, which I was obviously very grateful for," Brandon Lee said.
The opportunity presented itself for Irons and Brandon Lee to both move to Oak Mountain, but Heather Lee still was unsure.
She recalls telling Brandon Lee at the time, "You know, whatever happens, happens. If I need to go back to school and work somewhere else, I'll do that. If I get a teaching job, that's great, but if not, we'll figure it out. We'll do something."
Those contingency plans weren’t needed. When Brandon Lee and Irons met with David Hogue, the supervisor of athletics in Shelby County Schools, Irons mentioned Heather Lee was a softball coach. Hogue said he knew just the spot for her: Chelsea High School. And the perfect situation was made.
The Oak Mountain baseball and Chelsea softball programs had banner seasons in the trio's first calendar year. Irons and Brandon Lee led the Eagles to the quarterfinals for the first time in 10 years and won a school-record 30 games. Heather Lee took her Lady Hornets all the way to a blue map, capturing the school's second state championship.
"That's all in God's timing," Heather Lee said.
Coming together
The three arrived in Troy at different times, but formed a deep bond. Irons came to Charles Henderson in 2009 after two seasons at Paul Bryant High School. He brought Brandon Lee aboard for the 2013 season on the recommendation of Brent Patterson, Cullman's head baseball coach who served as an assistant during Brandon Lee's time as a student-athlete there.
It's safe to say the two had some success in the three years Brandon Lee was on Irons' staff.
"We had 115 wins and 17 losses with two state championships. We were ranked No. 1 (in the state) every week Brandon was on the staff, and we were ranked nationally in 2015. So I would say it was a good move," Irons said.
Heather Lee came to Charles Henderson fresh out of Miles College, where she graduated in 2013, and went straight to work in the fall. She was reluctant at first, but made the move.
"I wasn't sure moving two-and-a-half to three hours away was what I really wanted to do, but I also knew that I wanted to teach, and I knew I wanted to be involved somewhere at a school," she said.
The final piece
Heather Lee arrived at Charles Henderson a year after Brandon Lee. And once they met, there was no instant fairytale romance.
"I asked her [on a date], and she said no. I asked her and she said no. I asked her and she said no. Then I asked her and she said yes," Brandon Lee said.
Once he finally convinced her to let him take her to dinner, the couple hit it off.
"You know how you go on first dates, and there's that awkward silence; no one knows what to say, and you're like staring at each other, or you're looking around because you don't want to make eye contact? That never happened to us," she said.
Fast-forward 11 months, and Brandon Lee decided to propose. He got Patterson's blessing to write his marriage proposal in the outfield grass of Cullman's baseball field, and used a little trickery to pull it off.
He convinced his now-wife to go up in a small plane owned by a family friend and fly around the town a little.
"I had no idea what the plan was going to be if she said no," he said.
Once they flew over the field, the pilot began pointing out what was written in the outfield. It took her a few seconds to realize what was happening, and her initial response was, "Shut up."
"I'm not quite sure I ever got a yes, but the ring's on her finger now," Brandon Lee said.
Heather Lee tried calling her parents to tell them the news, but neither answered, because Brandon Lee had instructed them not to. The two went to his parents' house, and both families surprised her there.
"That was the best part to me. As soon as we walked in, they yelled, 'surprise!' and I start boo-hooing, like everywhere. It was good. He did a good job," she said.