A Texas head football coach and his wife were killed together in a crash, rocking the small, tight-knit community they called home — and leaving 3 kids without their parents.
A Texas head football coach and his wife were killed together in a crash, rocking the small, tight-knit community they called home — and leaving 3 kids without their parents.
Three boys just lost both their mom and dad.
Jeremy and Brandy Jenkins were killed Saturday night in a crash on Texas 60 between Hungerford and East Bernard, according to the Houston Chronicle Sports.
Jeremy was the athletic director and head football coach at East Bernard ISD.
Around town, he was Coach Jenkins.
The guy on the sideline.
The mentor pushing other people’s kids to become better athletes and better young men.
Brandy was one of the athletic program’s biggest supporters and had recently joined East Bernard ISD as a junior high teacher, according to the Chronicle.
Together, they were deeply woven into a community where people knew them, loved them and expected them to be there for years to come.
Three boys just lost both their mom and dad.
Jeremy and Brandy Jenkins were killed Saturday night in a crash on Texas 60 between Hungerford and East Bernard, according to the Houston Chronicle Sports.
Jeremy was the athletic director and head football coach at East Bernard ISD.
Around town, he was Coach Jenkins.
The guy on the sideline.
The mentor pushing other people’s kids to become better athletes and better young men.
Brandy was one of the athletic program’s biggest supporters and had recently joined East Bernard ISD as a junior high teacher, according to the Chronicle.
Together, they were deeply woven into a community where people knew them, loved them and expected them to be there for years to come.
That’s why one line from the East Bernard Athletic Booster Club hit so hard:
“Coaches are supposed to live forever.”
They’re supposed to be there season after season.
Standing on that sideline.
Walking through the field house.
Coaching your kids.
And then going home to their own.
Jeremy and Brandy had three sons: Tyson, Gage and Jake.
Today, those boys are facing life without either parent.
And suddenly football doesn’t seem very important.
The booster club acknowledged exactly that:
“Right now, football doesn’t matter. Wins don’t matter. None of it does.”
Jeremy was preparing to begin his third season leading the Brahmas. The Houston Chronicle reports he had taken East Bernard all the way to the state semifinals last season.
But I suspect his greatest legacy won’t be measured in wins.
It will be measured by the people showing up for his boys now.
Because that’s what this community says it intends to do.
“We will show up. We will wrap our arms around these boys, their family, our coaches and our athletes. And we will carry one another through the days ahead.”
That’s what a small town does when one of its families is shattered.
So let’s help East Bernard wrap its arms around Tyson, Gage and Jake.
Pray for three boys grieving both Mom and Dad.
Pray for the players who lost their coach.
Pray for the students who lost their teacher.
And pray for an entire Texas community trying to carry one another through something no community is ever prepared for.
If Coach Jenkins or Brandy touched your life or your child’s life, leave their boys a memory below.
Someday, those stories may help Tyson, Gage and Jake understand just how many lives their mom and dad touched
