Abilene High turns to Big Spring's Harman as program's next baseball coach

Abilene ISD did its homework before luring Brad Harman away from Big Spring to be Abilene High’s next head baseball coach.

Harman, too, took a long, hard look at the Eagles program and the community, and he liked what he saw.

“As coaches, we make calls as well,” Harman said. “I try to be extremely thorough, and I did a lot of homework on this. The reputation of Abilene High and the amount of pride that ‘A’ and the Eagle seem to have.”

Harman, who was introduced as the Eagles head coach Thursday, said he talked to people who hadn’t lived or worked in Abilene for more than 30 years – and some who still live there.

All had the same message – it’s a great place to work and live.

“I go back to pride,” Harman said. “I’m huge on pride. I have a lot of pride in what I do, and it makes it a lot easier when those around me have that much pride. It just seems that the black and gold here and that block A with that Eagle head is a huge deal. My No. 1 goal is to continue to make it a huge deal.”

Harman takes over for Lee Fletcher, who was 26-59-1 in four seasons as the Eagles’ coach. Fletcher had been with the AHS program for 12 years overall. He also was an assistant with the football team.

Fletcher has moved across town to Wylie, where he will be an assistant baseball and football coach. Fletcher said he made the move to spend more time with his two oldest youngsters, who are in the Wylie school district.

“As they’re getting older, it just gets to be a big challenge to be able to see them and go watch their extracurricular activities and all the good stuff,” said Fletcher, whose wife, Nicole, also works in for Wylie ISD. “It’s just kind of a family move to get in a position where I can watch my kids grow up and do the things they love. It’s probably a good time for Abilene High to get a breath of fresh air and the same for me as well.”

Fletcher’s oldest child, Jossalyn, will be a freshman at Wylie High School, while son Gehrig will be a seventh-grader. The two youngest children – daughters Millie and Hazel – are still in the AISD school system as fifth- and third-graders.

Big Spring turnaround

Harman comes to AHS after finishing his third year at Big Spring and first as the Steers’ head coach.

He also was the defensive coordinator for the Big Spring football team. He has 24 years of coaching experience overall.

After going 9-23 in 2021, the Steers went 22-12 under Harman this past season and won the District 3-4A title. Big Spring won its bi-district playoff series against Hereford before being swept by Seminole in the second round.

Harman also had stops at Coahoma (2003-08), Llano (2008-12), Lago Vista (2012-13) and Monahans (2013-2018) as a head baseball coach before going to Big Spring. His wife was expecting their third child when he arrived at Big Spring, so he took a job as an assistant baseball and football coach to spend more time with family.

“That’s my backbone right there,” Harman said about his family. “A big chunk of the year in the fall and the spring, they don’t get to see me a lot, but they’re always there. This wouldn’t be possible without my family.”

Abilene ISD Athletic director Jim Garfield had high praise for Harman, who is 317-167-6 as a head baseball coach.

“I’m excited for the adventure that our coaching staff is going to go on with him and our athletes that are going to be part of this project,” Garfield said. “It’s truly going to be a tremendous adventure.”

Garfield said he was impressed with what others in the coaching profession had to say about Harman.

“The phone calls that came in about our new head baseball coach to me was unbelievable. … These are some of the things that every one of them talked about – his experience, his knowledge, his passion for the game, his passion for the kids, his accountability, his professional demeanor and being part of a professional organization. He's organized, and he has great lines of communication.”

Harman said he only knows one way to coach or live, and that’s to do it passionately.

“I just finished Year 24, and I still feel like I coach today like I did Year 1,” Harman said. “The same excitement. I get up in the morning, and I’m ready to go when my feet hit the ground.

Tough task with Eagles

The Eagles haven’t made the playoffs since 2018, when they tied for second in District 3-6A with a 9-3 record. AHS finished the year 21-13 after losing to Odessa High 7-3, 5-11, 7-3 in the second round.

AHS this year was 6-22, winning only two of 18 district games.

Harman, who graduated from Marble Falls High (1994) and Angelo State (1998), understands what he’s getting into with the AHS baseball program.

“Lago Vista hadn’t been (to the playoffs) in like 13 years, and we got over the hump,” Harman said. “Big Spring had a two-year hiatus. Monahans had a seven-year drought. So, I’ve been in that situation before.

“I know it’s going to be an uphill battle. But again, if you’ve got kids who take pride in what they do and they’re willing to work hard, you can make up a lot of ground really, really fast. Just by working hard and doing a small number of things really, really good. … We’re going to take the true fundamentals of the game, and we’re going to get really, really good and we’re going to rep it, and we’re going to compete.”

The Eagles’ best year under Fletcher was his first season when they went 16-10, including 5-7 in district. They were 3-7-1 when the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season in 2020.

“I’ve been there a long time. I enjoyed my time there,” Fletcher said. “There’s nobody better than (AHS head football coach Mike) Fullen and Coach (James) Williamson and those guys I worked with on the defensive side of the ball (in football). It’s just a point in time where my kids are getting older, and I need to be able to watch them. I’ve got four years left with my daughter before she goes to college, and time goes by pretty fast.”

The Eagles will play in the UIL’s second-largest class this year for the first time in program history. AHS has always been in the state’s biggest class.

The Eagles will play in District 4-5A with Abilene Cooper, Wylie, Lubbock Coronado, Lubbock Monterey, Lubbock High and Lubbock-Cooper. Lubbock-Cooper is the two-time defending district champion – going unbeaten in district both seasons. Wylie has finished second in the district both seasons. Both the Pirates and Bulldogs bowed out in the Region I-5A semifinals this season.

“People that look at it and say we’re dropping from 6A to 5A, this is going to be easy. It’s not,” Harman said. “This is an extremely tough baseball district with the traditions those schools have. … There’s no cakewalk by any means.”

Yet it’s not the wins and losses that are the most important part of coaching to Harman.

“I tell my players this all the time when they cross the stage, I will not remember in 10 years what their ERA was or how many home runs they hit,” Harman said. “In 10 years, what I want to know, are they successful? Are they good husbands and fathers? Do they have careers?

“That’s what it’s about for me. The winning is fun, and I know we get caught up in sometimes. But at the end of the day, it’s about the player. It’s about the young man. I believe that’s why after 24 years I have the passion I do.”

Joey D. Richards covers Abilene high schools and colleges, Big Country schools and other local sports. Follow him at Twitter at ARN_Joey. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene High lures Big Spring's Harman away as Eagles' baseball coach