Warren Central football coach Curtis Brewer is hanging up his whistle for the final time.

A fixture at the school for 40 years, the last six of which he served as head coach, Brewer announced on Monday afternoon that he was retiring after taking the Vikings back to the playoffs after a three-year absence.

Brewer’s record

36-32 overall

2009    6-6

2008    4-6

2007    4-7

2006    5-6

2005    7-5

2004    10-2

His retirement is effective starting after Christmas break.

The veteran coach finished 36-32 in six years as head coach, succeeding Robert Morgan in 2004 as the sixth coach in the program’s 44-year history.

Brewer let Warren Central principal Rodney Smith and Vicksburg-Warren School District Superintendent Dr. James Price know of his decision on Monday before meeting with his players to inform them.

Price took the news with a heavy heart.

“Coach Brewer has had a long and illustrious career,” Price said. “He spent his whole career at one school and few people can say that. There’s been thousands of lives he’s touched in a positive way. That’s quite a legacy.”

Brewer said it was the toughest decision of his life. It was one that he and his wife Janice debated for a couple of months before he talked to Smith and Price.

“I felt like it was time,” Brewer said. “I’ve languished for a month or two trying to make this decision. I love the school and I love working here. I just felt it was best to do it at this time.”

Price said a search will commence immediately, with an eight-man search committee of “school stakeholders” to narrow down and interview interested candidates.

“We’re going to use the same process we always use to fill a major position in the district,” Price said. “We’re going to advertise for the position far and wide. We’ll get a good one.”

Brewer said the timing of his decision was to give the school a chance to find a quality coach and allow his replacement time to conduct off-season workouts and install a new system with the Vikings.

“I love the school and I love working here,” Brewer said. “The timing has to do with the fact spring is coming up and our young players are going to need to develop in order to be productive.”

One sign of Brewer’s influence is the number of former players running their own programs. The branches of the Morgan-Brewer coaching tree extend statewide. St. Aloysius coach B.J. Smithhart and Tallulah Academy coach John Weaver both played for Brewer when he was the school’s defensive coordinator and cite him as a big reason both went into coaching.

Smithhart, whose father and brother also played under Brewer’s tutelage, said that the lessons he learned on the practice fields behind Viking Stadium are something that sticks with him to this day.

“He was hard on you, but you knew he loved you,” Smithhart said. “You never wanted to disappoint him. He meant a lot to us and he made me want to be a football coach.”

Weaver said that Brewer’s ability to bond and get the most of his players is something that influences him to this day.

“He knew what he wanted out of his players,” Weaver said. “He was no textbook coach and he knew how to motivate. I’ve got all the respect in the world for him.”

Smithhart recounted Brewer’s tradition after a big victory at Viking Stadium as a cherished memory.

“He would jump up on top of those red lockers, do his spiel and tell us that ‘another team has done crashed and burned on Highway 27!’”

Brewer said that he’ll miss working with his charges and his staff, many of whom have worked under both Morgan and him and was thankful for his time as an assistant and the work of the staff.

But the person Brewer wanted to thank most for his long tenure was his wife Janice.

“Coaches’ wives are the unsung heroes,” Brewer said. “My wife has stood by me through 40 years of coaching and time spent with other people and away from family. She’s one person I owe a lot of thanks to.”

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com