Photo by Jose Delgado
Sean Lorance has been a high school football coach for decades. But when he finally got the chance to coach the school right in his own neighborhood, he wasted no time finding success.
After coaching in Garland and Irving, Lorance came to Bryan Adams in April. He lived a few miles from the school. His commute was shorter, along with his time to work with the new team before the school year ended. When he arrived, he saw room for improvement, but he knew they had talent.
After hiring a trusted coaching staff and having intensive summer workouts, Lorance was confident that the team had potential to do great things. They weren’t the biggest, but they were fast. Lorance implemented a running offense and a rotation of players to keep his athletes fresh throughout the game, allowing them to prevail over tired opponents in the fourth quarter.
Photo by Jose Delgado
The season started slowly, but once the cougars got to district, they put things together. The team became co-district champions with Woodrow Wilson High School and has now won their first playoff game against Samuell High School.
It wasn’t easy for Lorance to take over a team so late in the year and convince the players to play a new style, but he eventually won them over. “The kids jumped in with both feet,” he says.
There’s been great support from the community and faculty in his first season, too, he says.
“Everyone has been excited.”
For decades, no Adams team has won a second round playoff game, Lorance said. He knows it will be a tough game, but they will have an opportunity to make history against Mansfield Lake Ridge High School at the Gopher Bowl in Grand Prairie (250 E Tarrant Rd) on Friday at 2 p.m.
Photo by Jose Delgado
