COACH OF THE YEAR
CHAN BROWN Parkview, Lilburn, Ga.
Key stats: Won his third state title in the last five seasons. His team finished 34-2. He has been a coach at Parkview for 12 years, including the last 11 as head coach with an overall record of 326-121. He turns 43 on June 24. He played baseball at Tucker, Ga., then at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa and at Georgia State. He is married to Teaneal Brown, and they have two sons, Cade, 10, and Beckett, 7.
Biggest disappointment: Losing the two games. We didn’t feel like we should have lost either of them.
Favorite teacher: David Roman was my high school baseball and football coach and was also a teacher at Tucker. He is the reason I got into this job. My reality TV competition: “Naked and Afraid” or some type of grilling reality show. Three objects on a deserted island: A baseball, because I always walk around with one. A machete (I learned that watching “Naked and Afraid”) and probably a pillow. Mistake I’ve learned from: As a young coach, I put so much pressure on myself, and I think some of that pressure leaked onto my teams.
My inspiration: Coach (Hugh) Buchanan was my mentor at Parkview. He was here for 28 years. He and Roy Massey, who is his 52nd year as a coach, helped groom me into what I am. Defining moment this season: We won the Perfect Game Showdown in early March. At that point, we were 8-1, then lost our first region game to Brookwood. We had a team meeting and came up with the saying, “Be special.” We won our last 26 games.