Briarwood Christian School former football coach Fred Yancey has been lauded as a man who put the growth of his athletes as people ahead of his goals for the teams he has coached.
Not that his teams didn’t win; they did.
Yancey led Briarwood teams to the state playoffs 26 years in a row and to championships three times. He is third all-time in Alabama for most wins at one school, fourth all-time in area/region games won and fourth all-time for most playoff games won.
But when asked about Yancey’s leadership on the occasion of his retirement, in 2018, then-team captain and senior defensive lineman Dalton Brooks said: “He is one of those type of guys to just light up a room and you can’t help but smile when talking to him. He led every team he coached in the right way. He is truly one of the greatest to ever do it.”
For his success, Yancey is being inducted into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame. He will be joining 11 others in the Class of 2020 who will be honored June 22 during a banquet in Montgomery.
“His devotion to using sports as a resource in teaching his players the importance of … character-building qualities was unwavering,” said Yancey’s former boss, Byrle Kynerd, who was Briarwood’s superintendent from 1976 to 2006.
Yancey is a 1963 graduate of Messick High School in Memphis and a 1969 graduate of Memphis State University, from which he also holds a master’s degree. He coached in schools in Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia before he was hired as head football coach at Briarwood in 1990. When he retired, he left a legacy of a 278-95 coaching record at the school, a winning percentage of 74.5% and the 11th most AHSAA wins in Alabama history. He closed his coaching career with an overall 319-115-1 slate in 35 seasons.
Yancey was named Varsity Football Coach of the Year by the National Christian School Athletic Association for the 2017-18 season. He served as head coach for the Alabama squad in the 2010 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game.
He had more than 100 players named to All-State teams and 11 selected for post season All-Star games.
Godly Impact
When he retired at the end of 2018 play, then-senior J. R. Tran-Reno, now at Vanderbilt University, said: “We are sad to see him step away from being head coach, (and) we seniors sure are honored to be in this class. He brought the same attitude to every day with a smile. He was fun to play for. Words can’t describe how much he has meant to us as players and this school. He has surely left a positive and Godly impact in everyone’s life he has touched.”
Last season, Briarwood held a celebration of Yancey’s impact on the lives of thousands of students and adults and named the field in his honor. Hundreds of his former players gathered and walked onto the field to give him thanks.
Briarwood athletic director Jay Mathews said Yancey’s commitment to coaching at a Christian school was a ministry in its own right.
“All of the people who have been in contact with Fred throughout his 29 years at BCS will say the same thing,” Mathews said. “Coach Yancey was a man who clearly demonstrated a passion for Jesus Christ and always understood his work to be primarily a ministry of disciple-ship.
“The image that will forever capture this ministry is both teams meeting at midfield after a hard-fought game, where coach Yancey would always commend the opponents and their coaches whether Briarwood won or lost. He would always direct the conversation to the Lord and His blessings as both teams prayed together.”
Kynerd also remembers Yancey as valuing people and evoking respect throughout Briarwood’s athletic program and modeling good relations among Alabama High School Athletic Association members.
“Impeccable character distinguished his example and decisions,” Kynerd said. “He always did the right thing, and countless people valued and sought his counsel. Coach Yancey’s style had an invigorating influence on his players, their parents and every coach in the athletic program at BCS. Coaches, parents, players and administrators sought and usually followed his counsel and suggestions. … His leadership and service helped prepare students for success in football, school, life and eternity.”
—Virginia Martin
