Breckenridge Texan

Breckenridge High School alumni Casey Pearce got a little choked up Friday morning as he stood before family, friends, the media and the Breckenridge school board and explained why coming back to coach the Buckaroos is so important to him.

Casey Pearce was interviewed by several media outlets on Friday morning, following the BISD board meeting naming him the new athletic director and head football coach. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

“It’s pretty emotional (for me), because this place means a lot,” he said. “I wouldn’t have the successes and opportunities without this place, and that’s my ‘why.’ That’s why I do my job. That’s why I go about it the way I go about it. And, it’s people that sit in this room that I even played with, watched play for my dad, or have made an impact in education in this place. You get into this business not to make money; you get into it to change people’s lives. To come back to this place and be able to give it back is really important. I appreciate the opportunity.”

The Breckenridge Independent School District’s Board of Trustees who were present at the special meeting then voted unanimously to hire Pearce as the district’s new Athletic Director and head football coach. Trustee Paul Lippe wasn’t able to attend the meeting, which had been called for 8 a.m. March 6.

After the vote, Pearce again addressed the board and the small crowd of Buckaroo fans, including former classmates of Pearce. “Let’s move forward and go do some things that people said we can’t,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that we’ll get to discuss and talk about, but discipline, character and intensity about how we go and perform … I think if we can create those things soon, we’re going to see a marked change in the near future.”

Casey Pearce talks to the BISD Board of Trustees and the small crowd that gathered on Friday for the announcement of his new position as athletic director for the Buckaroos. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Interim Superintendent Earl Jarrett said that the district received 90 applications for the position.  A committee consisting of Jarrett, Breckenridge High School Principal William Paul and Coach Kim Dieterich screened the applicants and interviewed three before recommending Pearce for the job.

“Most of y’all know Casey; Casey is a hometown boy,” Jarrett said. “There seems to already be a lot of enthusiasm generated for him to come home and coach the Buckaroos.”

Pearce graduated from BHS in 1993 and then attended Howard Payne University, where he was a football and track athlete, graduating in 1997. He ranked in the top 20 among USA javelin throwers from 1999-2004 and was a 2000 and 2004 USA Olympic Trials Qualifier in the event, according to HPU Sports Information.

In 2019, Pearce was named the HPU Sports Alumni Coach of the Year.

He is coming to Breckenridge from Longview High School, where he has been defensive coordinator for the football team, as well as head track coach. He also has coached football and track at Stamford, Odessa-Permian and Pilot Point high schools.

Pearce helped lead Stamford to two district championships in 1997 and 2001, and 11 district titles in 13 seasons at Longview High School, HPU reported. He helped bring home 12 of 13 District Championships in football at the 5A and 6A level and a 6A Division 2 State Championship in 2018, posting a perfect 16-0 record.

In 2019, the Longview Loboes had an overall record of 11-1 with a 6-0 district record, losing their first game of the season in the Area playoffs by two points to Dallas Jesuit High School.

His track teams have also been successful, winning six district championships at Stamford and four district championships and area championship with the boys and girls at Longview, the last one coming in 2018 for the boys, the first in 18 years for Longview High School, according to HPU.

Last December, Pearce was honored as one of the first three high school coaches to receive the Broyles Award for the 2018 season. For the past 25 years, the annual Broyles Award honored the best assistant coach in college football, and last year, an award for high school assistant coaches was added. The award is named for the late Frank Broyles, who spent 50 years at the University of Arkansas, first as the head football coach and then as the athletic director. Pearce joined Bert Newton, defensive coordinator, for Hartselle High School in Alabama, and Doc Crowley, offensive coordinator at Booneville High School in Arkansas, as the inaugural recipients of the High School Broyles Award.

Pearce will start his new job the Monday after Spring Break (March 9-13) and is already making plans for the Buckaroos. “I want to step in and make a difference as quick as I can,” he said after the meeting. “The biggest deal is we’re going to have to embrace change as a group. You know, change isn’t bad; it’s just change. There will be people that want to give a critique about what went on in the past and what needs to be changed, but the biggest deal is we need to take care of these kids. We’re not going to neglect the kid to make some kind of change just to say we made change.”

Casey Pearce, second from right, poses for a picture with his wife, Monica; son, Gunnar; and, father, Bill; on Friday morning. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Pearce and his wife, Monica, have a son, Gunnar, 11. Monica currently is a counselor at White Oak High School, just outside of Longview. She has a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communications, teacher certification and a Master’s degree in Education Administration from Tarleton State University, and a School Counseling certification from Angelo State University.

Additionally, Pearce’s parents, Bill and Teeny Pearce, live in Breckenridge. His mother is a retired teacher, and his father is a former Buckaroos Head Football Coach and current trainer for the team. The father and son agree that the upcoming situation will be a unique one for them.

“This is kind of a reversal of roles after about 25 or 30 years when he would be there behind me,” Bill Pearce said. “Now, I’m going to be there behind him. I think it’s going to be a whole lot of fun.”

Casey Pearce agreed with his dad and said it will be a change from the last time the two were on the field together, when Bill was coaching and Casey was playing for the Buckaroos.

“He’s the rock that I have always leaned on, so this is pretty cool,” Casey said.

Story by Tony Pilkington and Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

Cutline, top photo: Casey Pearce, center, is congratulated by the Breckenridge ISD Board of Trustees, from left, Carrol Kanady, Jeff Dooley, Graham Reaugh, interim superintendent Earl Jarrett, Ardes Johnson and Cody Wimberley, after being named the new athletic director for BISD. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)