Gary Gaines, the Texas high-school football coach whose inspirational leadership was immortalized in the book and movie Friday Night Lights, died Monday. He was 73. In a statement, Gaines’ family said he passed away in Lubbock after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Over the course of a 30-year coaching career in West Texas, Gaines became best known for his four-year period heading the Odessa Permian football program. Buzz Bissinger’s book chronicling Gaines’ 1988 team showed the coach as a devout leader who held an unshakable commitment to winning no matter what. The book also attributed racist quotes to the team’s assistant coaches. Gaines, who was played by Billy Bob Thornton in the 2004 movie adaptation, said he felt betrayed by Bissinger and claimed to have never read the book, which was also turned into a TV show.
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