Patterson defined what it meant to teach and coach
Brian Patterson often carried an umbrella with him. If there was even a chance it might rain, he had one in his hand when he was outside. He even walked up and down the sidelines coaching football games holding his trusty umbrella.
Kip Klein, who coached alongside Patterson for all of Patterson’s 17 years at Ridgeland, said when he was finally asked one day about the ever-present umbrella, Patterson replied “well, I just don’t do wet.”
But there’s this thing about umbrellas. See, you can keep them to yourself, or you can use them to help out and take care of multiple people all at once. And judging by the responses on social media in the past weekand-a-half, Patterson subscribed to the latter theory.
The world unexpectedly lost Brian Patterson earlier this month at the age of 59. An official announcement of his passing was made on Ridgeland High School’s Facebook page around 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6 and was immediately met with shock and sorrow, but also plenty of well-wishes for Patterson’s family, for the people he worked with at the school and for the students he taught.
He was a coach and a special education teacher at the school during his time in Rossville, but Patterson’s reach extended far beyond the specific athletes and students he taught. He was a father figure, a mentor, a cheerleader and an overall encourager to every kid he came in contact with.
Ridgeland principal Karen Hughes said that Patterson was “beloved” as both a teacher and as a coach.
“He was an amazing relationship builder with our students and athletes,” Hughes said. “Through his 17 years at Ridgeland, he mentored so many of our Panthers. He will truly be missed.”
RHS faculty member Tuck Watts said that he firmly believed that Patterson felt the love back from the students at the school.
“He knew how much the students loved him because they showed him every single day,” Watts explained. “He knew how big of an impact he was making in the lives of students because he saw it in their work. He knew how important the role of ‘coach’ was on the athletes he worked with because he actually saw them become better people.”
Countless other social media posts came in from fellow faculty members, as well as current and former students and players, describing their love and admiration for a man they called “amazing”, “wonderful” and “special”.
“Brian was one of the more amazing people I have come across in my years as a teacher and coach,” said Klein. “He cared more for his students most times than even himself. He always wanted to remind you as a coach that it was your job to love the kids up and they will play hard for you. His storytelling and just his way of talking to people made him endearing to everyone he met.”
Klein also shared how “extra special” it was to see Brian and his son, Jake, coach together for the first time this past fall as the Patterson’s guided the Ridgeland freshman squad.
“Watching the two of them together showed you where his love for other peoples’ kids came from,” he added. “He was the truest of friends. He was with you
through thick and thin and he’d tell you when you were doing things right and when he thought you were screwing up, and it was usually because you weren’t loving kids to his standard.
“He’ll truly be missed and I, for one, was blessed to have had him with me and around me for so many years.”
Patterson, an alum of LaFayette High School who went on to play football at the University of North Alabama, was previously on the staff at Dalton High before being hired to join the Panthers’ staff in the second year of the tenure of then-head coach Mark Mariakis.
Mariakis called the loss of Patterson “sad for so many.”
“There’s a lot you can say about Brian and the first thing is that he loved kids and the kids loved him,” Mariakis said. “He never saw a kid in a bad light. He always found something good in every kid. He always gave them hope and he always had a positive outlook for every kid, no matter what situation they were in or what kind of trouble they had been in. He was always willing to give that kid one more chance. He always just found good in everybody.”
Mariakis also said Patterson just had “a servant’s heart.”
“Whatever we asked him to do in the football program, he did,” he continued. “Whether that was working with varsity receivers or working with our young kids on the freshman level, Brian poured his heart and soul out into everything that he did. He loved Ridgeland and he loved the community and it’s a tremendous loss .”
Those sentiments were echoed by many others in the past several days, including new Ridgeland head football coach Craig Pritchett, who also coached alongside Patterson for many years during Pritchett’s run as an assistant with the Panthers.
“He had this amazing heart for the students of Ridgeland High School,” Pritchett said. “He always found the best of every kid and focused on the great things about them. He had a great sense of humor, and was loved by many. He was just a great man with the heart of a champion.”
However, Patterson’s love for Ridgeland wasn’t only reserved for students. Numerous co-workers talked about Patterson’s willingness to offer advice and give “pep talks” to other teachers and coaches, especially ones new to the profession.
One of those is Dusty Wright, a former Ridgeland quarterback who joined the Panthers’ football coaching staff in 2017.
Wright’s first practice came just four days before Ridgeland’s first preseason scrimmage and he said it was Patterson who showed him the ropes.
“He dubbed me his wing man for that special season,” Wright recalled. “I followed him up and down the sidelines, signaling in plays, getting him the subs he needed on the field, and communicating what we were seeing to the offensive coordinator in the box, as if we had been coaching together for years, rather than weeks.”
Patterson briefly stepped away from coaching, but returned to the Ridgeland sidelines in 2019 and immediately went back to work mentoring Wright and some of the younger coaches on the staff.
“I think he saw it as two of his ‘kids’ were struggling with orchestrating an offense to score enough points to win some ballgames,” Wright added. “We went on a run to finish that season and ended up claiming the region title.”
Wright added that he would miss his talks with Patterson about history and about life itself, as well as his ability to see the positive in kids.
“I will forever be grateful for the love and compassion (he) showed this young coach that first season, as well as the bond of our friendship,” Wright said.
Watts also spoke of the times he leaned on Patterson when he first started teaching at Ridgeland.
“Not education-speak and not what the handbook says, but real, actionable advice, and that advice was not just limited to teaching either,” Watts said. “We talked as much about life as we did school, and I know I’m not alone. There were countless other teachers and students that knew they could turn to Brian for the exact same advice and encouragement.”
“Sure, we’re going to miss Coach Patterson a lot,” Watts added. “He’ll of course live on in the stories we tell, but the great thing is that the halls of Ridgeland High School are filled with young men and women who carry a piece of him with them.
“We’ll still see him every day in those students. And after so long at the school, there are countless folks in the surrounding area who have been impacted by Brian and will ensure that his legacy never fades.”
Yes, that legacy will live on and remain at Ridgeland for a long time to come, covering the school and the Ridgeland community with a spirit of caring for others and making a difference in the lives of those who walk its halls as students and teachers.
Covering them all...just like an umbrella.