One of the school’s longest-tenured coaches has decided it is time to retire as assistant wrestling coach Tim Brennan is moving on to different pursuits. Coach B as he is better known, began his career on campus in 2006 when the school opened, and has seen the program take off since it was first launched. 

“It has grown beyond my wildest expectations,” Brennan said. “We started, we had kids who couldn’t even fill out a singlet. I mean our first year, we only had freshman and sophomores, we wrestled a varsity season, and we were 3-29 was our dual meet record. And our goal was to get a lot of meets so we did a lot of dual meet tournaments. We grew from that.”

Brennan’s fingerprints are all over the Redhawks wrestling program according to fellow assistant Justin Koons. 

“The legacy here at Liberty he’s impacted greatly, and what he’s brought is invaluable,” Koons said. “He started the program 15 years ago, he’s built this program, and it runs through him, through his coaching, through his attitude. The wrestlers are really attracted to him, and to replace him is gonna be a challenge for sure.”

For head coach Cody Bridwell, Brennan’s care for the wrestlers is perhaps his greatest impact on the wrestling program.

“Wrestling greatly mimics life’s struggles in many ways, and so with that, it was always Brennan’s goal to help you realize your potential, but also push past the barriers that you thought you had,” Brennan said. “So we say a lot of the same things, we just say it in different ways. So I would just say that was probably one of his greatest attributes caring for the kids, or caring for the athletes long after they’re gone.”

According to coach Bridwell, Brennan’s ability to connect to his wrestlers can be related to Brennan’s inner kid.

“In a lot of good coaches you find a quality, what I call like a Peter Pan,” Bridwell said. “He may be [older] on the outside, but on the inside, that dude is still 15. And so I think if you lose that inner youth, that inner kid, and you can’t enjoy the sport anymore, you shouldn’t be coaching. And I think honestly that was one of his greatest strengths, was that he kept that inner kid alive.”

Before coming to Liberty, Brennan coached at the St. Mark’s School of Texas and a few weeks ago, a former St. Mark’s wrestler wrote Brennan a letter thanking him for all he had done and congratulating him on his retirement.

“I love coaching. I love the kids, I love the good kids, I love the new kids, and I love the goofy kids,” Brennan said. “I love that in the world everybody is different. That we all have different beliefs, but the kids mean everything to me. That’s why I do it, and that’s why I did it this long. The tough part was, when could you say goodbye because there would always be a new group that would come in that you would get attached to, but eventually you’ve got to say goodbye.”

On Friday, the wrestlers held a farewell ceremony for Coach B to let him know what he means to them. 

“What I’m going to miss most about Coach B is his kindness, he approached everyone with a smile, it didn’t matter the day,” senior Chris Figueroa said. “It could be the crack of dawn for an early morning practice, and there’s Coach B smiling, and making everyone laugh. I don’t think I’ve met a more kind-hearted person in my entire life.”

Giving thousands of hours to the Redhawks wrestling program over the last 14 years, Brennan brought his time on campus to a close with some last words for the wrestlers.

“Not everybody is gonna love you and that’s okay, alright. People that matter are your family, and your friends, they matter,” Brennan said. “Okay, but not everybody is going to love you, that’s okay, that’s how you go through life. That’s how I’m always happy because I’ve got family and friends.”

This story was originally published on Wingspan on February 2, 2021.