So far in my life there have been a handful of people, other than family members, who have had a major impact on my life, and one of those was former Vernon Lions athletic director and head football coach Leo Brittain who passed away Tuesday.

I can honestly say that Brittain made me a better sports reporter.

Growing up in Vernon, I was aware of Brittain, who spent 19 years at the helm of the Lions, before I started high school, but I was still in awe one morning when he walked into the band hall to speak to the band. He told us he just wanted to take a minute to thank us for the support we showed the football team every Friday night and that they appreciated it.

Throughout my years in high school, Brittain would always speak to the band at least once a year and sometimes more often than that. There were times he would give us a pre-contest speech to get us pumped up, and other times he would step in to congratulate us on some accomplishment.

It always struck me how the football coach didn’t have to make those stops by the band hall, but Brittain did because he was that kind of a person. One who supported school programs and students, whether they were sports related or not.

Fast forward to 1989 and I’m walking into the Vernon fieldhouse to interview Brittain for the first time. Twenty-nine years ago there weren’t that many female sports reporters, even at the national level, but if Brittain was apprehensive about having a woman as the local sports writer, he never let it show.

To say I learned a lot about football during my six years of interviewing Brittain would be a drastic understatement. I grew up watching football and playing it in the streets and vacant lots in my neighborhood. I knew all of the positions and the basic responsibilities and duties of those positions, and I understood the basic terminology of the game.

However, the first time Brittain mentioned terms like “the A gap” and “shading the nose tackle” I was lost. That look must have been on my face, because he graciously explained to me what those phrases meant, and all the others that came up during that first season.

Brittain always answered every question – regardless of how stupid it may have been.

The first time I went into the fieldhouse I noticed a sign hanging above the locker room door on my way out. The saying on the sign was “The desire to win is useless without the desire to prepare.” That was Brittain’s philosophy and was a cornerstone in the program he built at Vernon High School.

That “desire to prepare” referred to the work done on the practice field, and it wasn’t unusual to see Brittain get in the middle of a drill to show a player the proper technique to use. More than once Brittain left some of his own blood on the practice field following one of those demonstrations.

Of course, that perfect 16-0 season that culminated in a state championship in 1990 was a magical one and one that brings a lot of memories. One of those memories for me is Brittain telling me more than once, “I just try to stay out of their way and not mess anything up,” when referring to his squad.

That was just Brittain’s nature. He never wanted to take the credit for the team’s success. I learned early on that if one of his assistant coaches made a suggestion that proved to be the turning point in a game, he would quickly tell me “well coach so-and-so noticed they were doing this and thought that would work.” If he told me “well we noticed…..” then I knew the play or the adjustment that proved to be the turning point came from Brittain himself.

The coach had a good relationship with all of his players, and he also had a sense of humor. At one football banquet, a group of players put on a skit spoofing Brittain and the time it took for him to call an offensive play. He was notorious for being slow. The skit had everyone in tears and the one laughing the hardest was Brittain.

Ask former players about Brittain and while they will talk about him as a coach, they spend more time talking about the type of man he was, and what he worked to instill in them – character, respect, integrity and work ethic.

Brittain was a great football coach and he built a dynasty in Vernon, but he was much more than that. He was a wonderful man, mentor and teacher who showed thousands of teenage boys how to become productive members of society.

Coach Brittain, you’re going to be greatly missed. Lion Express, Nothin’ Less!!