By LEE BRECHEEN, Louisiana Football Magazine/TV
Bryant Bell played for one of the state’s greatest high school football coaches, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame member Don Shows, at West Monroe.
Bell now occupies the same job Shows once had – head coach at Pineville High School.
And as the son of a well-respected coach himself, he couldn’t be happier as the 2023 preseason fast approaches.
A 2003 West Monroe graduate, Bell was a football player for Shows, hit the baseball diamond for a well-regarded Jeff Schexnayder, and powerlifted for his father (Billy Bell).
He crossed the Ouachita River and went to college at ULM, “and loved it,” he told me. He didn’t try to play college ball. Instead, he got a fast start in coaching.
“I was an average Joe athlete and did not want to waste time chasing a playing career that wasn’t there, so I began coaching football at 19 years of age,” he said.
It was a natural fit for a young man whose hero was his dad – the most influential person in his life.
“This answer is easy for me. It was my dad,” said Bell. “He coached at West Monroe for about 20 years, much of that as the head freshman football coach. He positively impacted thousands of lives, including mine. He was old school, and pushed you to get the most out of you as a player.”
The Rebels’ head man has a coaching philosophy obviously influenced by his dad’s approach.
“This may sound cliché, but it’s just to be the very best that you can be every day. If you prepare your body, your mind, and your character the very best that you can in the offseason and in season, then you’ve done all that you can. On the field, we know that we must be physical and tough — mentally and physically. We must play fundamental football.”
When it comes to which side of the ball that’s been his specialty, Bell was not influenced by his own playing career – but rather, opportunity.
“I never played defense, but in 2004 at my first job at Good Hope Middle School in West Monroe they needed a linebacker coach, and I was up for the challenge,” he said. “That’s where I’ve coached since. I was a defensive coordinator for seven years before becoming a head coach.”
Looking at the 2023 Rebels, Bell is encouraged by what he saw in spring ball.
“Spring training was most definitely a step forward for our program. We had nine good practices and a productive spring game,” he said. “We are changing some things on offense and defense, so it was good to see what we had been talking about all offseason put in motion for the first time on grass.
“On our coaching staff, we have some new faces so it helped to get those guys in front of our team and get to know them in practice and game-type situations.
“Our staff is continually getting better. We’ve had a good core that has stuck together and stayed consistent through thick and thin of our first two years. We have been lucky to add a few amazing coaches, but more importantly amazing men. Our offensive coordinator, Justin Webb, has been with me from Day 1. He eats, breathes and dreams football.
“We worked together for two years previously, and I know what a great coach he is. Some things will be different on offense — we’ll be more productive, and it will be because of him.
“Our defensive coordinator is Justin Charles. He came to us in the offseason and has made an immediate impact,” said Bell. “He is very knowledgeable and the players gravitate to him. He holds them to a higher standard, nothing less. Our defense will be better because of him leading them.”
Bell is proud of the history of Pineville football, which has been brightened lately with players like Kenny Mixon and Cody Ford starring in Power 5 college programs (LSU and Oklahoma, respectively) and going on to play in the NFL.
“Cody Ford puts on a free kids camp every summer for our kids here, and it is great,” said Bell. “That means a lot.”
Away from the Rebels, Bell stays busy with his family and some fishing and golf.
“I have 9-year-old and 6-year-old boys. They keep my wife and I busy!” he said. “I love coaching their baseball teams and that is my biggest hobby right now.”
His boys and other youngsters look up to older players as role models, often players they see on TV. Bell kept his dreams right at home as a kid.
“Growing up in West Monroe, those players and the coaches from their powerhouse days in the ‘90s were who I looked up to,” he said. “Some kids want to be an LSU Tiger, or a New Orleans Saint, but all I ever wanted to be was a West Monroe Rebel.”
While he wasn’t an outstanding athlete, his dad played football and baseball at Southern Arkansas in the 1970s, and his brother Brad won a powerlifting world championship in 2008.
Now Bell is chasing championships, hoping to restore the Rebels to status they’ve enjoyed under coaches like Don Shows.
Lee Brecheen has operated Louisiana Football Magazine for over 30 years and is one of the state’s foremost experts on high school football and especially recruiting. Based in Baton Rouge, Lee travels statewide to watch practices and games and has broken down film and tape since the late 1980s. He has converted the printed product to an online website (Lafootballmagazine.com) that will preview every high school and college football program in the state before kickoff this fall. Lee also hosts a football-centric TV show on YouTube, The Sports Scouting Report, on weekdays. Contact him at lbrecheen@aol.com.