Published: 07:35 PM, Thu Nov 08, 2012
Lumberton football coach Mike Brill announces retirement
LUMBERTON - Mike Brill, who accumulated 132 victories in 16 seasons coaching prep football in Robeson County, is retiring from his current post at Lumberton High School.
Brill told The Fayetteville Observer he plans to turn in official retirement paperwork to the Public Schools of Robeson County office this morning.
"It's time for a change,'' Brill said. "You're kind of scared about what you're going to do next. But I'm sure this is the right thing.''
Brill was hired at Lumberton in 2007 after taking a four-year break from coaching. He stepped down as head coach at South Robeson High due to health reasons after the 2002 season. Brill departed South Robeson with a 10-year record of 89-35.
Over the next four years, Brill helped develop the Lumberton Football Association, which established a strong recreation football program in the area.
But Brill returned to the sidelines at Lumberton in 2007 and quickly established the struggling program as a winner. After a 5-7 start in '07, the Pirates ran off winning records of 9-4, 9-5, 8-3 and 7-4 in consecutive seasons.
"We proved we could win here,'' Brill said. "A lot of people said it couldn't be done. But we brought change to this place, and that's something I'm very proud of.''
Numerous players under Brill have gone on to play college football. Four of his ex-Lumberton players are members of the Winston-Salem State team that will play Elizabeth City State on Saturday for the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship in Durham: running back Maurice Lewis, fullback Robert Moore, cornerback Larry Hearne and defensive tackle Jermaine Kessler.
But Brill's most prominent former player is Vonta Leach. Leach starred at linebacker and running back at South Robeson, went on to play at East Carolina and is now an All-Pro fullback for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.
"Mike is not only a coach, but he's a father figure to a lot of kids in Rowland and Lumberton,'' Leach said Thursday in a telephone interview. "He took two programs that were among the worst in the state of North Carolina and turned them around. He gave those kids hope and a sense of pride.
"Mike has had a great career. I'm kind of surprised he's retiring, but I understand he's doing what he needs to do.''
Brill ends his head coaching career with a 132-64 record. He coached his final game last Friday when Lumberton fell, 28-14, to Jack Britt in the first round of the state 4-AA playoffs.
Leaving the sidelines will give Brill more time to spend with his wife, Beth, and daughters Elizabeth and Logan, who are both students at Lumberton High.
But Brill isn't ruling out a potential return to coaching at some point in the future.
"I've got two kids to put through college, so I may try to go coach or teach in South Carolina,'' Brill said. "I've talked to some people down there and hopefully something will work out next year. But I'm going to take six months to kick back a little bit, then see what the next phase of my life is going to be.''
Staff writer Sammy Batten can be reached at battens@fayobserver.com or 486-3534.