A Franklin High School fixture is returning to his longtime post.
When head football coach Josh Brooks announced his intent to step down from the top job last month, it appeared the reign of FHS’s all-time winningest coach would come to an end. After careful consideration and consulting with his family, Brooks has decided to remain as head coach.
“Well, I guess it was a combination of a few things,” said Brooks of his decision. “My dad was a longtime coach and loved us to coach, and when he passed I had a number of people reach out and talk about my dad and the impact that he had made on them. I was very humbled about that. Seeing that impact, they weren’t talking about wins and losses and all that stuff. … We hired a new principal, and he and the superintendent reached out, and we discussed a few options. We felt like what was best for our program, our school, and our community at this time would be for me to remain as coach.”
After his father and longtime Sylva-Webster/Pisgah coach Lionel Brooks passed away on May 8, several people contacted Josh to share stories of Lionel’s impact on their lives. Rather than results in between the lines, what people remembered most about his dad seemed to be the relationships he fostered, mentoring a generation of young players in Western North Carolina on being better men and members of the community. In his 15 years leading Panther football, Josh has sought to provide the same resource to Franklin, where his father’s passing has reaffirmed his mission toward both his players and his own kids.
“The biggest thing was that I wanted to make sure my daughter had someone there when she was playing volleyball,” he said. “When my dad was alive, my mom was my dad’s caregiver, so they didn’t do a lot of travelling, and they weren’t going to be able to go to her games. Now my mom can go, and I’m going to be there too. Myself, Coach [Ryan] Haley, Coach [Seth] Adams, Coach [Matt] Bradley, we’ve all got kids playing ball at the middle school or high school level. I think it’s important that they see and go and support, and I like for our players to see that because it’s important for them to see how we are as fathers and everything else. It all goes full-circle.”
Having consulted with Macon County School Superintendent Dr. Chris Baldwin, newly-named FHS principal Mickey Noe, his wife and FHS head volleyball coach Bekah Brooks and the couple’s four children, Brooks felt the best thing for FHS football and his players would be continuity as Noe assumes his new role. While Brooks is far and away the most successful coach in FHS history with 80 more wins than the next closest competitor, he said his most important role is preparing Franklin’s students for the rest of their lives.
“I think that everybody has a calling,” said Brooks. “Everybody has a purpose set before them, and I’m not going to get into a message, but I think that’s led by God. God has blessed me with the opportunity and the platform to teach, to coach, to lead, and he deserves the credit for that. I felt like when I stepped away that I was going to miss out on most of that stuff, and I wasn’t going to have the chance to impact more kids in our school and our community. … The kids were happy. They were very happy, and coach Bekah basically talked to me like I was one of her players, coaching me up.”