High school football coach Gary Gaines - who rose to fame after being featured in 'Friday Night Lights' - dies aged 73 after five-year Alzheimer's battle: Tributes flood in for 'a great coach and a better man'
- Gary Gaines, coach of the Texas high school football team made famous in Friday Night Lights, has died at the age of 73
- His family said he has had a long battle with Alzheimer's disease
- Gaines is best known for his four-year stint leading the football program at Odessa Permian, where he returned later in life
- The 1988 team was chronicled in Buzz Bissinger's bestselling book, which portrayed a school that favored football over academics
- It was later made into a movie, with Billy Bob Thornton playing Gaines
Gary Gaines, coach of the Texas high school football team made famous in the book and movie Friday Night Lights, has died at the age of 73
In a statement, Gaines' family said the former coach died Monday in Lubbock after a five-year battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Gaines has made many stops in West Texas during a 30-year coaching career, but was best known for a four-year stint leading the highly successful program at Odessa Permian, where he returned later in life after coaching some college teams.
Odessa's 1988 team was chronicled in Buzz Bissinger's bestselling book, which portrayed a program and school that favored football over academics and attributed racist comments to assistant coaches.
Gaines, who was played by Billy Bob Thornton in the 2004 movie, said he never read the book and felt betrayed by Bissinger after the author spent the entire 1988 season with the team.
The book, which portrayed Gaines as a compassionate coach caught in the win-at-all-costs culture of a high school program in football-crazed Texas, was also turned into a TV series.
In a tweet on Monday, the Odessa Permian Panthers wrote: 'We lost a great coach and a better man.'
Gary Gaines, coach of the Texas high school football team made famous in the book and movie Friday Night Lights, has died at the age of 73. He is pictured here walking off the practice field after a workout in Odessa, Texas in May 2009
Gaines is best known for a four-year stint leading the highly successful program at Odessa Permian, where he returned later in life
The book about Odessa Permian's 1988 season was later turned into a movie, with Billy Bob Thornton, right, playing Coach Gaines
In a tweet on Monday, the Odessa Permian Panthers wrote: 'We lost a great coach and a better man'
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Permian lost in the state semifinals in 1988, a season that included the loss of star running back James 'Boobie' Miles to a knee injury during a preseason scrimmage. Miles' character played a prominent role in the movie.
The book described scenes of 'for sale' signs being placed in the front yard of Gaines' home following the loss.
But one year after the book and movie took place, Gaines led Permian to the fifth of the program's six state championships with a perfect season.
He then left to become an assistant coach at Texas Tech before coaching two of Permian's rivals, Abilene High and San Angelo Central. He then returned to college football as the coach at Abilene Christian, where he worked for five years.
From there, Gaines went on to serve another four-year run as Permian's coach started in 2009. His record from 1986 through 1989 was 47-6-1.
Gaines also worked as a school district athletic director in Odessa and Lubbock.
For all of his work, Gaines was inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor in July 2013.
'I just can´t find the words to pay respects,' retired coach Ron King, a former Permian assistant, told the Odessa American. 'It´s a big loss for the coaching profession. There are a lot of coaches he took under his wing and mentored.'
Gaines thanked his assistant coaches and players for their work over the years during his acceptance speech after being inducted to Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor in July 2013
The Abilene Christian football team tweeted it is 'deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Texas coaching legend Gary Gaines' who coached for five years at the school
Sonnie Cumbie, the head coach at Louisiana Tech, wrote that Gaines was 'a coaching legend not only by his record and titles, but by how he made everyone feel valued and loved'
Damon Sayles, the NBA editor for the Athletic, also shared his condolences on Twitter
Following the news of his passing, tributes started pouring in on social media.
The Abilene Christian football team tweeted it is 'deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Texas coaching legend Gary Gaines, who spent five years at the helm of the Wildcat program.
'We are sending our condolences to the Gaines family.'
Sonnie Cumbie, the head coach at Louisiana Tech, also wrote that Gaines was 'a coaching legend not only by his record and titles, but by how he made everyone feel valued and loved.'
He noted he is 'grateful that our paths crossed as many times as they did,' and sent his prayers to Gaines' family.
And Damon Sayles, the NBA editor for the Athletic, tweeted: 'Permian has taken a couple of gut punches.
'I wasn't coached by Gary Gaines, but he's a legend in and throughout West Texas.
'I was there when Buddy Hale was an administrator. He was always good to me, especially when I was the new move-in as a junior.
'Geez. RIP to both.'
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