Brownwood High School Athletic Director Sammy Burnett on Tuesday afternoon announced that Blake Sandford would be returning for his second stint as head coach of the Lions baseball program.
Sandford, who most recently served as an assistant coach for Howard Payne, was Brownwood’s head coach for the 2013 campaign – where the Lions posted a 20-13 record and advanced to the second round of the playoffs, Sandford also served in the same capacity twice at Early and was an assistant coach at Bangs.
“It’s a blessing, it’s a humongous honor and it’s exciting as well,” Stanford said Tuesday evening. “Being here before, you understand the pride and tradition of what is expected, but that also comes from within as well. When you’re involved in something as big as this, and the baseball landscape as it now, there’s lot of great players and lots of great teams and lots of well-coached teams in this area. You’re expected to do well, and you’re expected to coach your tail off and that’s exactly the mindset I’m going in with.”
Sandford replaces Brian Harris, who spent four seasons at the helm of the Lions program before taking a position as assistant principal at Brownwood High School. The Lions finished the 2023 campaign as bi-district champions with a 22-11 overall record.
“I was fortunate enough to speak with Coach Harris and I want to uphold the tradition set before me and try to continue what he’s done and build on the foundation of what all his teams accomplished as we move forward,” Sandford said. “They had a mighty fine year last year and the expectation for me going forward is to win at least 20 games and then some. The second set of expectations is to not just go one or two of three rounds deep, but to get to the regional final and be state-ranked, state-noticed, and play for a state championship. If you don’t set the highest mark as your goal, then why are you doing it anyway? That’s what I’m going to try and do with any team.”
Along with his coaching career, Sandford for 12 years served as a professional baseball scout for MLB’s Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees, helping both organizations in talent development. In 2015, the University Interscholastic League awarded him the highly-regarded Sponsor Excellence Award, recognizing his community leadership programs. In 2019, Sandford – then serving as head football coach and athletic director at Early – announced his retirement from coaching. For the last two years, however, Sandford has served as an assistant for HPU baseball.
“I want to thank Howard Payne University and Coach (Stephen) Lynn for the opportunity that gave me to coach there,” Sandford said. “I also want to thank Coach Burnett and the Brownwood administration team for asking me to come aboard.”