Gary Gaines, who was at the center of the book and film Friday Night Lights, has passed away. His family confirmed that the former Odessa Permian head coach died on Monday at the age of 73 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Gaines served as the Panthers head coach from 1986 through 1989. His ’88 team was the focus of the book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream.
In 1988, Gaines led the school to the state semifinals. The ’89 team went a perfect 16-0, winning the Texas 5A state championship.
During his time at Permian, Gaines record was 46-7-1.
After the 1989 season, Gaines left Odessa to become an assistant coach at Texas Tech. He returned as the head coach of the Panthers from 2009 through 2012.
During his career, Gaines also was a Texas high school head coach at St. Petersburg, Denver City, Tascosa, Monahans, Abilene and San Angelo Central.
Aside from his time at Texas Tech, Gaines was also the head coach at Abilene Christian University.
