Breland retiring as head coach, AD
Longtime Union football coach and athletic director Brad Breland has announced he will be retiring at the school year.
Breland, 51, has been the head football coach of his alma mater since 2001.
"I have always loved Union and it has been an honor to coach here," Breland said. "Even when I was a Madison or Pearl or Noxapater, every Saturday morning I would check the newspaper to see how Union did.
"I have been kicking this around for a couple of years and now is the time. Coaching is a lot different now then it was 21 years ago. I still enjoy parts of it, but I'm not sure about some aspects of it."
Breland is a 1986 graduate of Union High School. He went on to graduate at East Central Community College and played football at Arkansas Monticello. He went on to finish his bachelor's degree at Mississippi State University.
Breland began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Madison Central from 1992 to 1996. He then coached two seasons at Pearl and one season at Noxapater before returning to Union as the head football coach. In 2003, he was named athletic director as well.
While Breland was at Union, the school grew from a Class 1A to Class 2A. He had many good memories but said when the Yellowjackets made it to the South State playoffs during his second season was a big one.
His career coaching record is 143-85 according to one website.
He was also involved in two victories in the Mississippi-Alabama all-star football game. In 2015, he was an assistant coach on the team that beat Alabama in 2015. Brad's brother, Jeff, was the head coach. In 2019, Brad Breland was the coach when Mississippi beat Alabama 17-16.
"I was very proud of that," Breland said. "(Before 2015) Mississippi hadn't won in a while, and now we have won four-of-the-past five games.
And part of his legacy will be the "Breland Bowls" when Jeff was the head coach of Lake and the two teams were region opponents.
Breland does not plan to sit around very long.
"I'm going to do something," Breland said. "I'm not sure what just yet. I feel like I am leaving the program in good shape. We have a good group coming back and I wish them the best this coming season."