Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown and Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan

The Bill Pearce era of the Breckenridge Buckaroos came to a close Friday, Dec. 26, when the long-time coach and trainer passed away at the age of 80.

Bill Pearce

In one role or another, Pearce served the Breckenridge Independent School District for the past 48 years, touching the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of students, coaches, staff members and others along the way.

For the past 25 years, BISD has contracted with the man known to most as “Coach Pearce” to serve as the Buckaroos’ athletic trainer and consultant. If you’ve been to a Buckaroo varsity game at any time since 2001, you’ve likely seen him on the sidelines, pacing back and forth, watching the players and tending to their injuries as necessary. He also has trained and supervised the student trainers.

And, if your history in Breckenridge goes back further than that, you likely know that before he was the BISD trainer, Pearce was a teacher and football coach, serving as head Buckaroo coach from 1981 to 1984, and as an assistant coach from 1977-1980 and 1985-2001.

Lance Kitchens, a former Breckenridge High School coach who currently announces the Buckaroo games on the radio with Charlie Parker, worked with Pearce in the late 1970s and early 1980s. “Bill was … just a super, super man. He was one of the best men, besides (being a great) coach, that I ever met,” Kitchens said. “He was fair. He was fair to people, and he was straight with people. And I tell you, he saved the school a ton of money over the years because of his training ability.”

Breckenridge High School athletic trainer Bill Pearce wraps the arm of Buckaroo Fabricio Davila during a 2024 football game. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Pearce brought not only his coaching and training skills to BISD but also his organizational skills, Kitchens said. “He just wanted things done right, done correctly, and that’s just the way it was,” he said. “And, he was that way in life. … Everybody knew he was sharp as a tack and knew his business.”

Although Pearce may be most known for working with the football teams, Kitchens said his skills weren’t limited to the gridiron. “Not only did we coach football together, but we coached baseball — a summer league team full of Breckenridge kids — together,” he said. “And we went all over the country playing ball, had some pretty good ball clubs. Bill was really knowledgeable in baseball, too.”

In addition to being co-workers, the Kitchens and Pearce families were friends, Kitchens said. “They used to come out to our lake house at Possum Kingdom when Casey was 2 or 3 years old, right after they moved here. And Bill would catch those big carp, 15- to 20-pound carp, and take them home and bury them under his peach trees for fertilizer,” Kitchens said.

Kitchens said it’s going to be hard next season, looking down from the press box and not seeing Pearce on the sidelines. “We’re gonna miss him; he was one of a kind. There’s not another Bill Pearce, will never be another Bill Pearce. And there’s Bill Pearce stories all around; everybody’s got a Bill Pearce story. I tell you, I’m gonna miss him, miss him a ton.”

In a Facebook post, the BISD administration expressed similar sentiments:

“With heavy hearts, we share news that we lost a longtime Buckaroo and dedicated teammate, Coach Bill Pearce.

“Coach Pearce faithfully served our district and community for many years, and his impact on Breckenridge ISD will be long remembered. He was a true example of living the legacy by serving others with dedication, humility, and pride in our Buckaroo tradition. His commitment to our students, staff, and community reflects the very values we strive to uphold each day.

“The hole Coach Pearce leaves behind is far too big to ever be filled. However, what he leaves us are lessons that only the very best teachers and coaches leave behind. Lessons of how to love and care for one another, how to work harder today than you did yesterday, and how to place service above self with humility. We are truly blessed to call him family, friend, coach and teammate.”

Buckaroo athletic trainer Bill Pearce talks to his grandson, Gunnar Pearce, on the sidelines during the football game against Childress earlier this year. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

In a Facebook post, 1987 BHS graduate Curry Browning said, “Coach (Bill Pearce) was 100% go, all the time. He arrived early and left late. He was compassionate, yet stern. He was deathly serious, but could pop a one-liner that will still make you laugh right this minute! He taught me more and did more for my kids than most people will ever know.”

But before he was an influential coach, Bill Pearce was the valedictorian of his high school class in Richland Springs and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Baylor University in 1967. His first coaching position was at Fort Stockton (where he met and married his wife, Teeny), followed by several years at Austin High School, where he served as a teacher, coach, and AISD lead Athletic Trainer.

In 1977, the Pearce family — including Bill, his wife Teeny and their son Casey — moved to Breckenridge, where Bill was initially an assistant coach and athletic trainer.

“He was tough, but fair,” said Rob Durham, who played on the JV football team with Pearce as his coach. “He cared about us as players and as people. And, you know, he poured his heart into us, and it was important to him … it wasn’t just another JV football team. I mean, we were important to him. We were his team, and he made us feel a part of everything and got the best out of us because of the way he treated us.”

Durham, who covered sports for several years as the Breckenridge American sports editor and is now the game announcer at Buckaroo Stadium, said Saturday afternoon that Pearce’s coaching style and passion for the game has obviously influenced his son, Casey Pearce. Following in his father’s footsteps, Casey Pearce became a football coach, coaching at Stamford and Longview before returning to BHS in 2020 with his wife, Monica, and their son, Gunnar, to serve as the Buckaroo Athletic Director and head football coach.

“When I found out that Casey was hired, I sent him a note, told him congratulations and how proud I was of him for being able to come back to his home,” Durham said. “And then I remember going to Walmart, and I saw him, and I hollered at him. I said, ‘Hey, Casey.’ He turned around and he said five words to me, and he sounded just like Coach (Bill) Pearce. And I thought, ‘Is this Casey or do I need to drop down and do 10 push ups right here in the middle Walmart?’ Because he sounded just like his dad; his mannerisms, just like his dad; and his passion, just like his dad. And I think … people have seen Coach (Bill) Pearce so much as a trainer that they forget how passionate he was as a coach, and I’m seeing that through Casey right now.”

Coaches Bill Pearce and Cecil Toliver posed for a picture for the 1978 Buckaroo yearbook. 

Durham said Bill Pearce was a life-long mentor, as well as a football coach. “It’s not going to be the same,” he said about Friday night football games. “He touched all of us, and he meant a lot to us. He’ll be missed.”

Former Buckaroo cheerleader Cindi Woodward agreed that Buckaroo Stadium won’t be the same without Pearce. “I have been around Bill Pearce since he coached my brother, Brad, who graduated in 1982, but especially since my niece, Landry, started BHS in 2015, followed each year by Owen, Jackson and Lilly,” she said in a text message. “His passing hits especially hard for me because his grandson, Gunnar, is in my nephew Hudson’s class, so I saw Bill a lot on the field and at basketball games.”

Woodward hosts the Facebook group Buckaroos Live, which broadcasts many of the Buckaroo sporting events, but her connection to Pearce started long before Facebook. “In the ’90s I was a massage therapist, and Bill would send Buckaroo players to me that he felt would benefit from a treatment, so we had a great working relationship, also,” she said. “Bill was just such a ‘fixture’ in Buckaroo Nation that I hate to admit it, but I took him for granted. He was just supposed to ‘always be there.’ His shoes will never be ‘filled’ for me — as a trainer or as a friend — he was just the best.”

Although many of the memories being shared about Pearce focus on his coaching and training jobs, his interests and his career went beyond the football field. He also taught English, health and PE at various times throughout the years. The Feb. 4, 1990, issue of the Breckenridge High School newspaper “Saddle -n- Spur” featured a front-page article about Pearce being named assistant principal of BHS. And many students and co-workers remember the non-sports side of Pearce.

The Pearce family posed for a picture during the 2024 BHS Media Day. From left are Teeny, Bill, Casey, Gunnar and Monica. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

“He was a really intellectual guy … and he loved to read,” said Calvin Best, a BHS teacher and Sports Information and Livestream Director for BISD. “He and I would talk about the Cold War a lot. We would talk about culture, you know. We would talk about all the things that are going on in pop culture.”

Over the past several years, Best and Pearce developed what might be considered a two-man book club, sharing books that they knew the other would be interested in.

“A few years ago, as Bill and I became even closer friends, we discovered that we had some similar interests. And so one of our interests was the John F. Kennedy assassination,” Best said Saturday evening, adding that one of the books that they shared was Roger Stone’s book, The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ.  “But we also shared books on the Cold War. We shared books on the mafia. … we even shared books on Teddy Roosevelt’s relationship with Booker T. Washington. He loved history. And of course, I do, too, and I teach history.”

Pearce spoke to Best’s dual credit psychology class last year about some of the murders that have happened in the Breckenridge area. Pearce talked to the students “just from the standpoint of being an observer who paid attention to everything that was written and published in the local paper, because we had done a unit on forensic psychology,” Best said. “He was telling us about some of the dynamics in the early oil patch and some pretty brutal things. He knew all those details.”

Best said it’s going to be difficult returning to BHS and especially Buckaroo Stadium without Pearce there. “I’m going to really miss him. I’m going to miss his friendship,” he said.

Bill Pearce is survived by his wife, Lilla “Teeny” Pearce; his son Casey and wife Monica, and his grandson Gunnar, all of Breckenridge; sister, Patty Ratliff and husband Mickey of Lubbock; nieces, Bonnie Shahan and Joli Gray; brother, Frank Pearce and wife Cydney of Richland Springs; niece Paige Moats; and brother, Raymond “Cubby” Pearce and wife Teresa of Richland Springs; nephew, Jacody Sealy.

A memorial service will be held  at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 30, at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Breckenridge, followed by burial in the Richland Springs Cemetery. Visitation will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 29,  at Morehart Mortuary in Breckenridge.

According to Morehart Mortuary, Clear Fork Bank of Breckenridge will “light the B” atop the bank building in honor of Bill Pearce.

Click here to recent the full obituary for Bill Pearce.

BHS athletic trainer Bill Pearce carries his equipment off the Buckaroo field following the 2024 game against Sweetwater. Pearce passed away on Dec. 26 after 48 years of working with the Buckaroos, from coach to trainer. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Cutline, top photo: Student athletic trainer Reyse Hash, left, and trainer Bill Pearce keep an eye on the Buckaroo football players during the first practice of the 2025 season in August. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)