Football At Pittsburg Becoming A Family Affair These Days

[By Mike Craven, Special to ETSN.fm]

God, family and football are cornerstones of life in the state of Texas. The Pittsburg Pirates may define those ideals more than any team in the state.

First-year head coach Brad Baca won his head coaching debut against Pleasant Grove, 35-19, last week. With his dad as the defensive coordinator and his brother playing quarterback, Baca is in an interesting position.

“It is surreal," Brad Baca said. 'It was a little odd at first being my dad’s boss and coaching my brother, especially at a position like quarterback. But, my dad coached me at Pilot Point High School when I played quarterback, so I have some experience with that dynamic. My dad’s experience has been a huge help. He’s forgotten more football than I’ll ever know, so he can control the defense and I get to just worry about the offense. It is a dream come true for all of us.”

The offense he runs saw instant success with his younger brother Brian Baca at the helm. The junior moved in from Cleburne High School when Brad hired his dad Eddy to be his defensive coordinator. The fast-paced style is what the Baca family loves and it is something the program at Pittsburg adopted with open arms.

“It is a really fun offense to play in, so our guys took to it really well,” Brad Baca said. “We want to be as much like Auburn’s offense as possible. We want to move fast. We start each practice with something we call ‘team fast start’ where we run 10 plays against air as quickly as we can and that sets the tone for our practice. The kids love it and getting that win in the first week showed them that all that hard work can pay off and we’re moving in the right direction.”

Brad Baca may be in his first season as a head coach at Pittsburg, but he was no stranger to the program. While as the offensive coordinator at Chapel Hill, he faced Pittsburg last year in a scrimmage.

“I knew I was coming into a good situation because I saw the types of players we have first-hand last season," he said. "This town loves football and the community support is great. It is one of those small towns that rally behind our players and our team and we couldn’t have asked for a better atmosphere in that first game. We preach attitude and effort. Our team played the whole game with both of those in our win.”

The road doesn’t get easier for Pittsburg. The Pirates take on Gladewater this week. Brad Baca’s team scrimmaged Carthage and Chapel Hill before the season, so the team is learning quickly what improvements need to be made.

“It is a great litmus test for us this week and each scrimmage or game we’ve had so far has revealed more about us each time,” Brad Baca said. “Gladewater is very good at what it does. It’ll be a tough test for us, but I want to see that same effort this week. It is going to be a physical game and I’ll get to see who responds.”