The Brownwood ISD Board of Trustees on Monday night unanimously approved current Brownwood High School assistant principal Brian Harris as the new athletic director, effective at the conclusion of the 2025-26 school year.
Harris – whose career in education spans 27 years, with the last seven spent in Brownwood – will replace outgoing athletic director Mitch Moore, who in January announced he is retiring from the school district at the end of the spring semester after 31 years.
Harris said of his reasons to pursue the athletic director opening, “The first reason is the leadership that we have here in Brownwood. From the top down, we have good leadership. We have good leadership in place with our head coaches, and Mr. Moore’s done a really good job of laying a foundation and continuing to build the program in a positive direction. The school board, the superintendent, the leadership all the way around, I want to be a part of that. I want to join the team in a different role and something that I’m very familiar with. I felt that with my background in administration and coaching, I would be a good asset to the team.”
Harris came to Brownwood originally in the 2019-20 school year as head baseball coach, but the 2020 campaign never got started due to COVID. In the following three seasons from 2021-23, Harris guided the Lions to a 39-39-1 overall record, making the playoffs each year with one bi-district championship.
Though Harris has not served as a coach since 2023, he had not completely abandoned the profession.
“Here’s the thing people probably won’t know, I’m still a member of the Texas High School Coaches Association and I’ve been out of coaching for three years,” Harris said. “I’ve worked as a liaison at the coach’s convention the last few years so I have a lot of contacts. I have a lot of friends that are still coaching and we talk and you never get away from it. I mean, it’s just part of who you are. I love being around the kids, I love watching them compete, I just I want to support our coaches in a different way. I’m not a coach. I’m here to support them and help them in any way I can so that they can do their job and help our kids be the best athletes and best students that they can be.”
Regarding what he’s most looking forward to in his new role, Harris said, “It’s getting to know the coaches and developing those relationships, because that’s how this thing is going to move forward in a positive direction – by having strong relationships. I want to build a foundation of trust and loyalty within our coaching staff, not that it’s not there, but just strengthen what’s already there. Like I said, Coach Moore’s done a really good job of laying a foundation, and I just want to come in and continue to build on that.”
As for the long-term goals of the athletic department under Harris’ guidance, he said, “This is something that I’ll start talking to our coaches about and it will be a common theme for me – be consistent, demand academic and athletic excellence from our student athletes, and it starts with our coaching staff. It starts with being consistent day in and day out and just being that model of consistency that our kids need. From my vantage point being an assistant principal the last few years, we have strong head coaches in place to do that. They’re doing a really good job and I’m looking forward to working with them.”
Prior to arriving in Brownwood, Harris taught and coached at Brenham for 20 years, including with some individuals with Brownwood roots.
“I’m not here because of me, I didn’t do all of this on my own,” Harris said. “I’ve been in education for 27 years and this is my seventh year now in Brownwood. Before I was in Brenham for 20 years. Why? Because the people I worked with, because of the leadership, we had really good leadership in place. I was raising a family, had three kids, and I wanted my kids to be around good leaders and good people, good men and women, teachers and coaches alike. We really got invested in that community and in our school district so we stayed there. God has put a lot of people in my life that have mentored me to help me get to this position that I’m in today, people like Glen West, Lanny Williams, Tim Oehrlein and most recently Lindsay Smith and Mitch Moore. All of these people have played a role in shaping and molding my leadership skills, and have prepared me to do what I’m doing.”
As for what has kept him in Brownwood, Harris said, “I’m still in Brownwood because of the leadership, I believe in it. If I believe in something, I’m going to be loyal to it, and I’m going to work at it to be a productive member of that team.”
Brownwood ISD Superintendent Dr. Joe Young was part of a search committee that recommended Harris to the board. Other members of the committee included head football coach Jeryl Brixey, head girls basketball coach Heather Hohertz, high school principal Lindsay Smith, board members Michael Cloy, Codie Smith and Tim Wilson, deputy superintendent Liesa Land, human resources director Adrienne Horton, and Moore.
“We interviewed candidates and discussed the positives of each of those candidates and how they fit the position and came to a unanimous recommendation that we hire Mr. Brian Harris as our next director of athletics,” Young told those in attendance at the board meeting. “Coach Harris has always been a big member of the team. He came here as a head baseball coach for us and stayed there until a couple of years ago when he transitioned to administration at the high school, and brings a trove of athletic knowledge and also administrative knowledge to that position. We look forward to working with him over the next several years.”