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Still moving the chains: Trion coach Brown has weathered three catastrophes

In the football field house on Friday, Trion High School football coach and athletic director Justin Brown looks at photos of people who have passed away and of an event that changed his life. The photos are of Brown's late mother, Donna Brown, and wife, Amy Brown, and a Pontiac Grand Am that he totaled in 1993.
In the football field house on Friday, Trion High School football coach and athletic director Justin Brown looks at photos of people who have passed away and of an event that changed his life. The photos are of Brown's late mother, Donna Brown, and wife, Amy Brown, and a Pontiac Grand Am that he totaled in 1993. In the football field house on Friday, Trion High School football coach and athletic director Justin Brown looks at photos of people who have passed away and of an event that changed his life. The photos are of Brown's late mother, Donna Brown, and wife, Amy Brown, and a Pontiac Grand Am that he totaled in 1993.

By David Uchiyama 12 min read

Justin Brown, head coach of the Trion (Ga.) High School football team, retreated to his windowless office in the football field house on a Monday afternoon in late November.

Alone, he let the silence sink in.

There was no “click-clack” of cleats on the tiled floor in the locker room. None of the players were bragging about who they kissed over the weekend. Nobody talked about trap blocks, screen passes or tackles.

For Brown and his 5-5 Bulldogs, the high school football season ended on a Friday night four weeks ago, and the first Monday after a season ends always feels unsettling.

“Some guys came up to me Tuesday in school and said they didn’t know what to do (the day before) without practice,” Brown said. “You get so used to that routine. Then it stops. And we all wish we were at practice.