Little Cypress-Mauriceville’s Eric Peevey talks keys to success after winning Bum Phillips Coach of the Year
Published 3:26 pm Tuesday, March 1, 2022
- Longtime NFL coach Wade Phillips, left, offers his praise to Little Cypress-Mauriceville's Eric Peevey for winning the Bum Phillips Coach of the Year in 2022. (Chris Moore/Special to the Leader)
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PORT ARTHUR — Little Cypress-Mauriceville Head Football Coach Eric Peevey Tuesday was named the Bum Phillips Coach of the Year.
The ceremony took place at the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur with Wade Phillips in attendance to present the ring.
Peevey went 11-3 in his first year with Bears, making it to the fourth round of the playoffs for the second time in the school’s history.
The coach took over the program last year after leaving West Brook. He managed to turn around the program in his first year, winning 10 more games than the team did in 2020.
Peevey took time to thank his coaching staff and the administration.
“When your bosses are your best friends, it makes things really easy,” he said. “I am a firm believer that if I am the smartest guy in the room, I am in the wrong room. I am not that bright of a guy. The first thing I made sure to do was to hire unbelievable coordinators.”
The coach said he was always pulled towards Bum Phillips because of the way he cared for his players.
“He was different,” Peevey said. “I have always been enamored by and infatuated with the way he acted and the way he coached… One thing about us here in Southeast Texas is that we try to put up a hard front. We try to act like we are tough and we are… One thing we do is we love hard. One thing you could see about Coach Phillips is that he loved his players and that is the strongest point with me as a coach.”
LCM finished 4-1 in district play, splitting the title with Vidor.
“This area is special to us,” Wade Phillips said. “This award is special to us. It is an honor to present the award on behalf of my dad and our family. This guy won 10 more games than the previous year. I have never heard of that. I have known some good ones, but I haven’t heard of a year like that. It was their first district title since 1997. They had one playoff win since 1997, but had three this year. What a tremendous year.”
Peveey is the third coach to win the award along with Silsbee’s Randy Smith in 2020 and Nederland’s Monte Barrow last year.
— Written by Chris Moore, special to The Orange Leader.
