Q and A: Foothill’s Vince Brown steps aside but says he may return to coaching one day

Coach Vince Brown (far right) was joined by (from left) mother-in-law Bonnie Wilkinson, sons Dillon and Tommy, wife Cherie and son Zachary after a drive-by salute by Foothill parents honoring Brown’s career with the Knights. (Photo courtesy Brown family)

Long-time Foothill High School baseball coach Vince Brown doesn’t plan on coaching anywhere next season.

But he’s not ruling out a return to coaching down the road. For now, he’s looking forward to watching his son Dillon, play baseball at Concordia University in Irvine. “He begins his graduate program, Dillon played four years and graduated from Cal State Fullerton,” Brown said. Dillon Brown gets another year of athletic eligibility at Concordia.

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In addition, another son Tommy is a sophomore redshirt with the University of Alabama football team and his youngest son Zachary will be a sophomore at Villa Park High School, where he plays football and baseball. So he will keep busy following his son’s careers.

Vince Brown announced after the shortened season in May that he was stepping down as Foothill baseball coach. Brown has had an illustrious 24-year career in which he won 14 league titles, including nine crowns at Foothill where he coached for the past 15 years.

Brown’s final season was cut short when the coronavirus pandemic struck. At the time, Foothill was 8-2. When it was clear the season would not resume, Brown wrote a heartfelt message to his seniors.

Brown, 60, is planning to teach for one more year at Foothill before planning his next chapter, which he said could include coaching again somewhere.

Brown has recorded a 442-187 overall record and wracked up numerous memories coaching the sport he loves. Brown has made an impact wherever he went, starting at Mater Dei.

“In 1982 I was hired to teach freshman science and coach baseball at Mater Dei,” Brown said.

“In the summer of 1985, I was named the head baseball coach at Tustin High School.  Then after stepping down in 1992 at Tustin I attended an event during the summer of 1992 that made me feel God wanted me to coach at Woodbridge High School.My goal wasn’t to become the head coach but Dave Cowen (athletic director) convinced me that I should. Those two years were two of the most special and memorable years of my career.  I was an assistant at Foothill with Gerry Sedoo in 1995 and was named the head coach at Foothill the summer of 1995. I’ve been at Foothill ever since.

He also served as athletic director at Foothill from 1996 to 2013 and was the softball coach at the school from 2009 to 2011 before returning to coach baseball.

Brown led the Knights baseball team to numerous semifinal and finals appearances. In 2018, Foothill reached the CIF Division 1 title game before losing to Capistrano Valley 2-1.

I never won a CIF title, was fortunate to coach in multiple title games as well as multiple semifinals . . . but bottom line I couldn’t win the last one. My assistants who took over for me have won titles: 1993 Tim O’Donoghue (at Tustin) and 2006 Gary Fishel (Foothill).

Brown also coached two Major Leaguers: Shawn Green when he was at Tustin and Phil Hughes while at Foothill.

OC Sports Zone asked Brown about the past 24 years.

What are your top five memories of coaching?

Brown: The number one memory is all the players, boys that became men . . . I really love to seeing how they’ve become great fathers and incredible men!

—Tustin years, I was 25 when hired . . . I was way over my skis, but my athletes and community were incredible.  Rich Knopf donated over $60,000 in 1988 to allow us to build a new baseball field.  We had such a great coaching staff like Marijon Ancich (football), Tim O’Brien and Tom McCloskey (basketball), and an incredible principal in Peggy Lynch.  I had so many great players at Tustin but the name everyone knows is Shawn Green.

—Woodbridge: I got to open Windrow Park as the head coach, I took over a program that had struggled and we won their first baseball League title in 1993.  Though I only spent two years at Woodbridge, the community and the support was overwhelming.  I was lucky to have coached Ryan Lemmon during his senior year.

—My first eight years at Foothill are special. By the time I stepped down after the 2003 season Foothill had become extremely competitive. We had great talent and though I didn’t coach Phil Hughes his senior year he played for me as a sophomore and junior.  

—My last seven years as the head coach at Foothill have been so much fun.  In 2014, I had a great group of returning players, they had struggled in 2012 and 2013 not making the playoffs but 2014 was magical as that group went from last to first in league and played for the CIF-SS Division 1 championship.  In 2018, we returned to the CIF-SS Division 1 title game.  I take great pride that our program played in two CIF-SS title games in a five-year span.  

What’s your favorite part about coaching?

Brown: At 60 years of age, I’ll tell you my favorite part is the ‘process’ of taking a bunch of boys and seeing them become men of character, ‘Champions for Life.’  Baseball has allowed me to be a teacher, coach and person of Influence for thousands of young men.  I’ve coached over many phases of my own life have and become a head coach at 25 . . . I was a crazy crazy young coach who cared more about ‘my wins’ but over many years I believe I became a better teacher. . . my love for the players has never changed so I believe somehow through all the crazy my love won . . . but I always apologize to my guys who played for me in my early years! 

How was it coaching your son Dillon?

Brown:  Coaching Dillon may have been my most difficult challenge . . . not because of Dillon but because of how I’m wired.  Dillon worked hard and was a great teammate and had an outstanding high school career, but I didn’t enjoy the ride. If I talk with Bob Flint, Chris Conlin, Bob Ickes and other head coaches that coached their boys they loved it, I can’t say I loved it and it’s part of the reason Zachary is at Villa Park and my intention is to be a dad and watch him play the next three years.

Talk about the new baseball coach at Foothill:

Brown:  Chris Price is the new head coach at Foothill.  He has been my assistant for the past six years and being the head coach at Foothill High School has been his dream for years.  Chris teaches Film/Television Production and has been a long time teacher at Foothill.  Chris has also retained all of my coaching staff.

What was this last year like being cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic?

Brown: There was a part of me that felt this last spring was going to be my final season at Foothill.  I knew I needed to make time to watch Zachary play.  But with the way the season ended, I struggled for almost two months with what I should do.  When the season ended Foothill baseball was number 66 in the country and number 14 in California by MaxPreps.  We were playing extremely well, our seniors were doing an incredible job leading and the team chemistry was so good.  I honestly think we were on our way to a special season!  I talk often about enjoying the moment, the season is short and you don’t know what God has planned . . . I never ever thought that this would ever be a lesson we would deal with!

What do you see in the future for sports in light of the pandemic?

Brown: Today I don’t know what the 2020-21 school year has in store for our kids.  I know that we all want to be back to ‘normal’ and I also know that most of our teenage athletes will likely only have light symptoms from the virus . . . however I also could not live with a single player, parent, or grandparent becoming ill and dying because I rushed back.  I think college athletics has a unique opportunity since they have greater access to testing, but high school athletics would be a tough call to resume.

Will you still teach at Foothill or retiring altogether?

Brown:  I plan to teach one more year at Foothill, since returning to the classroom in 2013, I teach PE.  However, the one thing the last three months have taught me is I better have a ‘next’ plan . . . I have no hobbies, I don’t golf, I’ve only done one thing for the last 35 years and I love coaching.  So next June I may ‘retire,’ but I do know that I will need to have my next job all lined up.

What do you plan to do in your time now? 

Brown:  Number one is to make time to watch my boys the next couple years . . . but honestly, I’m going crazy at home!

Do you see yourself returning to baseball as either a head coach or assistant coach or in a baseball-related field?

Brown:  I do hope to return to the field or I’d love to be an athletic director again.  I have a young family and I’d love to coach or mentor coaches.  Today, I don’t know what God’s plan is for me but I hope he will open a door for me!

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com