Meeting for the first time in 1987, head football coach Chris Burtch and defensive coordinator Matt Swinnea have been working together for a decade and have known each other longer than any member of the football team has been alive.

“My older brother is friends with him,” Burtch said. “Coach Swinnea is a year older than I am. He was in school a year before I was so when I went down to college at Angelo State my brother introduced us. We weren’t great friends in college but we were buddies. Then through coaching, we became closer.”

On and off the field, the two have shared moments, like playoff runs and comebacks, that have made their bond that much stronger. In fact, Swinnea believes they sometimes even feel like a married couple.

“I would say at the end of the day, probably so,” defensive coordinator Matt Swinnea said. “We’ve been around each other long enough I can finish his sentences and he knows what I”m going to say in certain situations and knows what I’m going to do so when it comes to familiarity, I’d say yes.”

Given the opportunity to coach on campus together, both Swinnea and Burtch moved to the district for the 2014 football season and introduced the idea of PFD, which still stands as the football team’s motto today.

“Probably not, not necessarily,” Burtch said. “I would definitely say we know each other. We can finish each other sentences, we already know what each other is thinking in a situation on the football field. He knows by my demeanor if I’m going to go for it on 4th down, if I’m going to go for the 2 point conversion or whatever it is. You often hear that friends are closer than brothers, and that’s exactly what coach Swinnea is; as good of a friend and a brother I could have asked for.”