‘Beloved’ Football Coach Is Dead Unexpectedly At 56 originally appeared on The Spun.
A beloved football coach is dead unexpectedly at 56 years old this month.
A standout high school football coach in Texas has died suddenly. Travis Pride, 56, was the head football coach at Northwest ISD’s Byron Nelson High School. He tragically has died unexpectedly.
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Pride had been the school’s head coach for about a decade. He also served as the school’s athletic director.
The community is in mourning.
“When I think of Travis Pride, I think of someone who supported student activity, from athletic programs to fine arts,” said Joel Johnson, executive director of athletics for Northwest ISD. “Coach Pride lacked an ego when it came to the athletic programs at Byron Nelson. He wasn’t what you would picture as a head football coach, as he was an even-tempered leader who was a kid magnet – students wanted to be around him, because he cared about them.”
High school field. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
Daryl Fowler, president of the Byron Nelson High School Football Booster club, is deeply saddened.
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“I just appreciate the simplicity in which he lived his life. He had farm animals, he just was a hard worker and he was always willing to do the things that other people may not want to do,” Fowler said.
“As simple as setting up the football field, taking down the cones. I mean, he’s the head football coach. He was willing to do all the jobs and to me, that showed just a servant’s attitude about how he approached his job. He was never too big to do the things that he knew needed to be done to make sure his kids were taken care of and his program was taken care of.”
Pride went 60-45 in nine seasons as the school’s head coach. He is a father of five, with his youngest still attending the high school.
A cause of death has yet to be released.
‘Beloved’ Football Coach Is Dead Unexpectedly At 56 first appeared on The Spun on Jun 22, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jun 22, 2025, where it first appeared.