BAKER — One morning in early August 2020, Matt Brunson and a sportswriter sat down in his office to talk football.
The better part of the past four months have been reduced to nothing because of COVID-19, with spring football canceled and an offseason of uncertainty as to whether a fall season would even be played.
But Baker, a town so small that it had a population of 900 at the 2007 census, seemed strangely unaffected by the pandemic. Players lifted weights without a care, no masks were in sight. Life continued to revolve around fall football.
One of those players was senior Joe Brunson, Matt's son. His backup was a freshman named Caleb Wagner. Paired with a defense that featured Ethan Edge, Jared Labon, Brandon Moss and Brodie Sharp, the team's preseason preview was “Wing T and veteran D.”
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That year, Baker qualified for its sixth consecutive Final Four, ending a 25-season state championship drought in the Daily News coverage area.
It had been four years since the 1A crown with a 27-14 win over Hawthorne at Doak Campbell Stadium. It was Brunson's fifth championship at Baker, having won three as a player from 1983-85 and one as an assistant in 1993. Three years had passed since Brunson walked off into the sunset, and there was nothing more to accomplish.
But he never left Baker, even as he blazed a new trail across the state line into Alabama last year at Opp. This is where his kids graduated, where he graduated. This is where he lives, this is where his wife works. And now he'll walk the halls here again.
Yes, Matt Brunson is back. Not as a visitor. Not as athletic director. Not as a legend from the past who led the Bakers to a 114-21 record during an 11-year tenure that ended in 2021. Brunson is the future, and he is once again the head coach of the Baker Gators.
“Baker is my home,” Branson said, “It's where I graduated, where my kids graduated, where my wife still works. I've never moved. It's a great place to live and I've always felt supported here.”
This blue-collar community is built around faith and an education system. Football is like a religion to the community, and their five state titles are by far the most in the area.
While Branson doesn't guarantee there will be more trophies during his new term, he does promise one thing: “The Baker kids are tough. I guarantee you, no one will work harder or compete harder than us.”
During his 213-73 record as Florida State's head coach, he led Vernon and Crestview from last place to the Final Four, and now he'll take over a Baker team coming off a 3-6 season under coach Barry Gardner, who went 11-10 in his two years at the helm.
Brunson has benefited from not having to serve as AD, allowing him to spend more time with his family and prioritize life off the field. Of course, with no spring to familiarize himself with the team, an offseason is essential for Brunson to hit the ground running. The first day of football practice is July 29, with the season opener on Aug. 23 against FAMU at Douglas Griffith Memorial Stadium.
