Published: June 30, 2009 11:32 pm      

Breland honored

By STAN CALDWELL

Hattiesburg American

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Harry Breland has never been one to blow his own horn or pat himself on the back.

“I don’t feel like I’m anything special,” Breland said. “But some good things happened to me from the very first. I guess I was just due to be a coach.”

Breland is much too modest. The fact is, Breland was more than just a coach.

Over the course of his 41 years in coaching, Breland was a trailblazer, a mentor, a winner. And you’ll soon be able to call him a Hall of Famer.

“I’d heard it was a possibility, but it had kind of gotten past me,” Breland said. “This is the most elite Hall of Fame for high school coaches, and it’s really, really special to me.”

Breland will be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame Wednesday night in Chicago, becoming just the seventh Mississippian to be so honored.

“Harry Breland is a very talented coach, but he has always gone far beyond teaching baseball fundamentals,” said Ennis Proctor, executive director of the Mississippi High School Activities Association in a prepared statement.

“I am pleased to see this fine individual recognized on the national level for his contribution to high school athletics.”

The honor recognizes Breland’s 37 years as the head baseball coach at Oak Grove High School, where he started the current program and built it into one of the state’s elite.

Along the way, Breland’s teams won 824 games and nine state championships at every level in the school’s growth from a small country school into the large suburban school it is today.

“It’s a proud moment, not only for him and his family, but also for our school, our school district and, really, for the entire state of Mississippi,” said Oak Grove Attendance Center principal Wayne Folkes.

“He’s very deserving of this honor.”

Breland always seemed to be in the right place at the right time for his career, going back to his first job interview.

“I went into the interview at John Jefferson High School (in Purvis), and the principal there was Thomas Todd, who was the brother of one of my high school teammates,” Breland said.

Breland was hired as an assistant football and assistant basketball coach at the all-black school, but quickly moved into the job as head basketball coach.

“The man who was the head basketball coach, his wife drowned in an accident and he decided to leave the state,” Breland said. “So, for the next four years, I was assistant football coach and head basketball coach.”

When Lamar County integrated its schools in 1970, Breland moved to Oak Grove as an assistant basketball coach, and he eventually moved into the head coaching position.

But his destiny lay elsewhere.

Breland was asked to restart the Warrior baseball team that had been dormant for several years.

“Pascal Lott and Robert Taylor were the principal and assistant principal, and they felt like I was the right guy to start the program,” Breland said. “I think the experience of my being the assistant basketball coach formed the relationship with the kids who made up that first baseball team.

“I owe them a lot for giving me the opportunity. It was something very special for people to want you, and that gave me the confidence to do my best.”

The Warriors had an inglorious start to their program, going 0-6 that first year, but the next season, they had a winning record, and four years later, in 1976, Oak Grove won the first of its nine state titles.

“That first state championship is always rewarding,” Breland said. “Even with only four or five years under your belt, you begin to ask yourself, ’Can I win the big one?’ We were in good shape, and the program was young, but you never know until you actually do it the first time.”

Looking back on his career, Breland said he has a soft spot for the teams that won when the odds were stacked against them.

That was especially true in 1982 and 1987, when Breland put a handful of sophomores into the lineup and watched them win state titles.

Breland’s last team, the 2007 team that won the Class 5A championship after finishing third in its region, also earned a place in the coach’s honor roll.

“We went through so many ups and downs with that team,” Breland said. “Not giving up on kids is something that really meant a lot to me. It was rewarding to see those kids bond together at the end.”

Players and teams, even assistant coaches, came and went during Breland’s career as the Warriors’ coach, but the one constant has been his wife, Rachel. The two met in seventh grade and were married not long after his graduation from college at Mississippi Valley State.

“He loved sports, and I knew he could never be anything but a coach,” Rachel Breland said. “I knew he’d be a hard coach, because he hated to lose. But he usually figured out a way to win.”

Wednesday’s honor is the crowning achievement in a raft of honors for Breland.

He was inducted into the MVSU Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame in 1997. He was District 6 National Coach of the Year three times, in 1993, 2003 and 2007, and was National Federation of High Schools Baseball Coach of the Year in 2005.

Breland said he expects to be a little nervous being the center of attention at this week’s induction ceremonies, but that’s not unusual.

“I never coached a ball game where I wasn’t a little nervous,” Breland said. “I coached more than 3,000 games and I never thought I’d be successful if I wasn’t nervous. I imagine that’ll be the case this week.”