Much like his older brother, Union’s Brad Breland went out on top.
Breland announced to his team on last week that he was retiring from the school district and would no longer be the school’s football coach.
Breland finishes his time at Union with more than 140 wins, including six 10-win seasons and one 11-win campaign. Despite going 6-5 this season and losing in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs to Taylorsville, Breland did lead the Mississippi team to a 17-16 win in the Mississippi-Alabama all-star football game as the head coach.
“Obviously, that’s one regret that we were never able to win a state championship,” Breland said. “Every coach dreams of going out on top. We would have loved to have gone 15-0 and won a state championship and won the Mississippi-Alabama game but it didn’t work out that way. We have had a really great run and some great kids that have bought into what we were trying to sell. Nineteen years ago, I would have never dreamed that Union could have had six 10-win seasons. That was unheard of around here at the time. But God has blessed me with some great kids in my time here.”
As for the timing of his retirement, Breland said it was just time after 28 years in the public school system.
“I’ve always prayed for God to lead me to where he wants me to be and he has always done that,” Breland said. “I thought he was leading me in another direction. I don’t know what that is at the moment but I felt like it’s what he wanted me to do.”
Breland said his retirement will be effective on June 30, including his role as athletic director and a district-level administrator.
Breland said one thing he has always been blessed with at Union was strong support from administration.
“I would like to thank the administration and the community,” Breland said. “There are a lot of things that go into making a program a success. From Mr. (Don) Brantley and every superintendent that I have had, all of the school boards and administration, all of them have been supporting and have done everything they could to make the athletic program just as successful as the academy program. Union has been really good for me and my family and I am very appreciative of that.”
Breland said superintendent Dr. Tyler Hansford would lead the search for a new head coach and he would not be involved in that process.
