11:39 PM ET
-
Associated Press
LUBBKE, TX — Gary Gaines, the coach of the Texas State high school football team, is credited for a book and movie “Friday Night” Lamp”, he died. He is 73 years old.
Gaines’ family said in a statement that the former coach was in Lubbock on Monday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. died.
Gaines made several stops in West Texas during his 30-year coaching career, but most notably in Odessa II Aegis led the highly successful project for four years. Gaines returned to the Permian later in his career.
His 1988 team is documented in Bazbisinger’s best-selling book, which portrays a man who prefers football over academia and races The racist remarks are blamed on the assistant coach.
Gaines, played by Billy Bob Thornton in the 2004 film, said he never read the book and felt Bissinger betrayed the author after spending the entire 1988 season with the team.
The book portrays Gaines as a compassionate coach who is caught in a victory at all costs in a high school program in football-mad Texas. Culture has also been adapted into a TV series.
The Permian lost the 1988 state semifinals, a season that included star running back James “Bobby” Myers in the preseason Injured his knee during the melee. Miles’ character plays a major role in the film.
The book describes a scene where a “For Sale” sign was placed in the front yard of the Gaines home. His record from 1986 to 1989 was 47-6-1.
Gaines led the Permian to the fifth of the program’s six state championships with a perfect season in 1989 before leaving to become Texas Tech University assistant coach.
He later coached two Permian rivals, Abilene High School and San Angelo Central, before returning to college Abilene as head coach Christian’s coach. Another four-year stint as Permian coach beginning in 2009, Gaines was also the school district athletic director for Odessa and Lubbock.
“I just couldn’t find words to pay my respects,” retired coach Ron King, a former Permian assistant, told the Odessa Americans. “This is a big loss for the coaching industry. He has a lot of coaches and coaches.”
