Legendary head coach Fred Yancey calls it a career
A legend is hanging up his whistle.
After 29 years as the head football coach at Briarwood Christian School, Fred Yancey announced on Monday in a team meeting that he was retiring. The move came just two weeks following the end of Briarwood’s 2018 season, in which the Lions finished with a 9-3 record and made an appearance in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.
“When you get 73 years old, that decision’s waiting on you,” said Yancey. “That’s where I am. I’m old enough that I knew at some point it was going to be time to make a decision like this. For a few years it’s been running across my mind. I felt like this was probably the best time.”
Yancey stood in front of his team in the Lions’ meeting room and delivered the news on Monday afternoon. Following the brief speech, each Briarwood football player lined up and shook Yancey’s hand.
Yancey took over as head coach at Briarwood in 1990 and led the program to the playoffs each of the last 26 years, a streak that ranks among the most impressive in the state in any category.
Briarwood won state championships in 1998, 1999 and 2003 under Yancey, and the Lions came within a few plays of achieving a fourth one last fall. Yancey compiled a 278-94 overall record in those 29 seasons.
While his teams at Briarwood always had great success on the field, Yancey aimed to develop his players emotionally and spiritually as well.
“I really hope that if anybody remembers me for anything, it’s that I really tried to point them in the right direction, and that’s to the Lord,” he said.
Briarwood’s four senior captains, JR Tran-Reno, Mark Hand, Noah Whatley and Dalton Brooks each heaped praise on their coach. They credited him for developing them as athletes and as people.
“He was a great coach. We’re definitely going to miss him a lot around here,” said Tran-Reno, a Vanderbilt University commit. “I know our seniors are pretty emotional right now, but we’re also honored that we were his last class. Not only did he teach us how to be great football players, but also how to be great Godly men.”
Director of athletics Jay Mathews said Yancey decided early in the season that the 2018 campaign would be his last, and that he is looking forward to the process of hiring a new coach to continue what Yancey has built.
“There’s some ways the process has been underway with prayer and discussion,” Mathews said. “We do have a process in place where we’re going to thoroughly vet people that are interested and trust that the Lord’s going to have the right person step forward to take on a really difficult challenge.”
Yancey said above all else, he wants his successor to “feel comfortable,” and that he wouldn’t be the coach that hangs around and looks over his shoulder.
“I don’t think I’m the architect of anything grand and masterful,” he said. “We’ve just treated kids the right way, coached them the best we could, and had a lot of support. That support is still going to be here and the coaches on our staff are really good football coaches and they’re great men.”
As for retirement, Yancey isn’t quite sure what that holds yet, but he’s sure to stay busy.
“I’m married to a wonderful wife and she’ll have some good plans for me I bet. We’ll work together through a lot of things but I don’t have any tremendous plans. We’ll see what’s next,” he said.