To those who loved him and played for him, he was simply and affectionately called “Coach,” and it was not solely because of his success on the football field, friends and family said.
L.Z. Bryan, the longtime Brazoswood High School football coach who led the Buccaneers to their lone state championship, died Monday at Methodist Hospital in Houston. He was 80.
“He was one of those rare men that had the ability to get the most out of any individual, no matter how talented,” said former Lake Jackson Mayor Jim Martin.
“He made everybody he touched a better person, and he’ll be irreplaceable.”
Martin was a senior on the 1974 Brazoswood team that went 14-1 and won the state title with a 22-12 victory over Mesquite in Austin. That season, Bryan’s team played five games in the playoffs, and more than 20,000 Buccaneer fans filled the Astrodome in Houston to watch wins against San Antonio Churchill and Port Neches.
After a 12-year stint at Brazosport, Bryan led the Buccaneer football program for 18 years — from its inception as a junior varsity team in 1969 to his final season in 1986 — and spent the next three years as Brazosport ISD athletics director before retiring in 1990.
He is Brazoswood’s all-time winningest coach with a 150-40-6 record. Bryan’s Buccaneer teams played to 14 consecutive winning seasons from 1970 to 1983, and reached the playoffs nine times.
“I had so much respect for him,” said former player Kurt Zeitler, a senior on the 1974 squad. “He was very important and influential in my life. I learned a lot of mental and physical toughness from him that helped me through some tough times.”
Zeitler thought of taking the day off work Tuesday after learning of Bryan’s death, “but I knew that’s not what Coach would’ve wanted me to do.”
Bryan coached for 42 years and is a member of the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor and the Houston Football Coaches Association Hall of Honor. He was named as a district coach of the year seven times, was the former president of the Texas High School Coaches Association and, in 2004, the field house at Hopper Field was dedicated in his honor.
On the field, Bryan was known as a fair disciplinarian who demanded hard work from his players.
“The thing I didn’t realize until later in life was the way he didn’t treat everybody the same way, and by doing that made us our best,” Zeitler said. “We all had the same rules we had to follow, but he knew how he needed to treat each player to inspire them the most. He knew the kids he needed to chew out and the ones he needed to be more sensitive with and lay off.
“He was able to adjust those techniques with each kid’s personality and made us the best we could be.”
Current Brazoswood head football coach Dean DeAtley lined up against Bryan’s Buccaneer teams as a player at Victoria High School.
“He was an icon, not only here, but around the state,” DeAtley said. “In the ’70s, Brazoswood was the place to be, and teams across the state would emulate what was going on here.
“Those Brazoswood teams were very disciplined, hard-nosed and tough — that really showed his personality. He was a tough guy and was a lot of fun to be around. I always considered him a friend, and he will be sorely missed.”
In a Sept. 29, 2006, column in The Facts written by his great-grandson, Blake Lapier, Bryan said his greatest accomplishment as a coach was “watching the progress of the men that played under me.”
“When he told a story, his stories were about the kids and their relationships,” DeAtley said. “I don’t think he told me once any of the scores in those games. He won enough, and winning wasn’t the most important thing for him. It was about building those relationships and helping his kids.
“He had hundreds of stories about football, and that’s what they were all about.”
Bryan is survived by his wife, Helen Laura; daughter, Barbara and her husband, Melvin W. (Pinky) Anders, of Lake Jackson; daughter, Nancy and her husband, John R. Gilbert of Lake Jackson; and son, Larry Bryan and his wife, Cheryl, of Houston.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Restwood Funeral Home in Lake Jackson. Memorial services will be 2:30 p.m. Friday at Lake Jackson First United Methodist Church.
“It’s 35 years this football season since we won state and it seems like yesterday,” Martin said. “I’ll never forget what we did in 1974, and I’ll never forget L.Z. Bryan.”
A Buccaneer tribute to Coach L. Z. Bryan
You may have never played for him. But he was always there for any kid. If you had to chose a Dad you could do no better than Coach Bryan. Rest in peace my friend. Lloyd Hough, Galena Park .
Comment From My Friend Jimmy Dodd:
Jimmy coached Sophomore football for L. Z. at Brazoswood while I was coaching the Freshmen.
I just wanted to tell you that Thursday night at visitation for the family over 700 people went through the line to see them…started at six and Helen finished the last person after 10…she looked good, but really tired…Friday at the service there was not a seat left in FUMC Lake Jackson…I attended there for ten years total, and never saw the sanctuary, balcony, and even the choir loft filled…It was a wonderful service with many former players and coaches in attendance…a well deserved tribute to L.Z. and his family!
L. Z. meant a lot to me, from the time I was the manager for his J.V. basketball team at Brazosport (1960), until he asked me to join his football coaching staff at Brazoswood. (1970). That’s a story for another time, but I’ll just say, “Take that, Hardin Cooper.”
Shannon,
Coach Bryan deserves and deserved every accolade that’s been published. He was a great coach and an even better person. How else could he have survived successfully for so long as a high school football coach in the same district? It’s a testament to L.Z. and Helenof their devotion and commitment to the community. It’s a commitment and devotion that is so rarely exhibited in the coaching profession. I, too, remember him as much as a person as a coach. He and Bill Morrow taught me swimming as a youngster. L.Z. was my driver’s ed teacher.
But I also remember him as a coach. He was my JV basketball coach (and chewed me out so badly one night against Clear Creek I’ll never forget it). Unfortunately, even his outstanding coaching abilities were limited by my athletic ability. He will be missed by anyone who had the privilege to know him.
I find your comment about Harden Cooper at the very least interesting. I know Coach Cooper thought a great deal of Coach Bryan. I know also that Coach Cooper considered everyone who participated in the Brazosport program (players, parents, trainers, managers, coaches, cheerleaders, band) to be important, integral parts of the program. He was gratified that so many young men wanted to be a part of the football team and enjoyed seeing as many as possible participate through their senior year. He always looked back fondly on his years at Brazosport and the young men with whom he associated. As did Coach Bryan, he was most gratified by hearing from those young men whom he coached. Until he passed away now just over 19 years ago, he still heard from players from his teams in Mineola along with those from Brazosport. Unfortunately, because he moved from the Brazosport area, it was more difficult for him to keep in contact with former Exporters. And for those of us who after graduation in 1970 never returned to the area to live, the distant memories even of Coach Bryan are more from Brazosport than Brazoswood. Nevertheless, I detect more than a small bit of bitterness in your heart that now after 40 years continues to exhibit itself. I am curious as to why you feel so strongly about Coach Cooper. I do not recall that he harbored any ill will toward you. I recall your name just I recall Pinky Anders, Robert Sterling, Dan Nicholson and Donald Hynds (and others). All of you were (and are) Exporters whom I regarded as special people. And the reason I regarded you as special is because Coach Cooper taught me too. You see, he wanted us all to believe in “One for all and all for the Exporters.” I believe it to this day. If ever I might be of any assistance, I invite you to contact me at mhcooper@verizon.net. If not, I offer my best wishes and kindest regards.
Michael Harden Cooper
Brazosport High School 1970
“Take that, Hardin Cooper.” A simple explanation.
In 1969, Coach Flash Walker wanted me to return to Freeport to coach with him at Brazosport High School. Coach Cooper’s response to me? “There is nothing here you are qualified to do.”
When I inquired about a position at Brazoswood – Coach Bryan’s response? “I have a job for you right here.”
The events of that week in 1969 always provided a great motivation for me to prove L.Z. had it right.
i was a teacher at brazoswood high when coach bryan took the bucs to state. i loved the guy, he was the coach. not nearly enough guys like him come along and touch so many hearts. i know he will be missed.
I remember you! I coached under him from 69-79.
Shannon Spears
I was on the last team that Coach Bryan coached. His precence was an inspriration. Being head coach in his last season, he still coached one on one with the defensive ends. You do not see head coaches coaching a particular position these days. He still wanted to be involved.
After high school football, Coach Bryan allowed me to become a part time football coach for Lake Jackson Intermediate (8th grade). I coached for 9 years and enjoyed every minute of it. I tried to instill the same values in my students that Coach Bryan instilled in me.
RIP Coach Bryan.
I just moved to clute and i am going to brazoswood as i can see the love being dedicated still threw out those 2006 players that i still see the respect they had for him. i hope we can do the same for coach deately and get a state title one of the years i play for him.