After Travis Pride’s death, Byron Nelson Football looks to honor his memory
The May death of longtime Byron Nelson football coach Travis Pride left a void.
For nearly a decade, Pride was a steady presence at the heart of Bobcat football — a guiding force on the field and in the lives of his players. The past month has tested the program in ways no summer workouts ever could, but through grief and uncertainty, the team has leaned on each other for strength.
“Brotherhood is one of the ideologies that we preach,” senior lineman Christopher Lanis said this week. “Brotherhood has been big. We’ve all come together, and we’ve been strong.”
That bond has carried the Bobcats through heartbreak and shaped how they’re choosing to move forward.
A captain in the toughest moment
After Pride’s death on May 28, players weren’t sure what to expect or how to move forward with football.
The first summer workout after Pride’s death was filled with uncertainty. According to Interim Head Coach Zach Woodward, the players were focused on supporting Colt and Brody Pride, sons of Coach Pride.
All eyes in the gymnasium turned to Colt, a senior linebacker and a team captain, to see how he would respond. Whether he chose to step back or press on, the team was ready to follow his lead.
Colt got back to work, bringing the same energy and intensity his father instilled in him. For Colt, showing up was more than football. It was a tribute.
“I think a lot of my teammates look up to me and see how I move past it, and see how I act,” Colt Pride said. “I think I have a huge role just to bring energy, juice, and to be a leader. I just keep my head up and stay consistent throughout the grind and just show everyone how to work.”
Woodward said he would remember that moment for the rest of his life.
“As a person, (Colt) is one of the best there is,” Woodward said. “I really can’t put into words how he has risen to the occasion here.”
Colt’s leadership in a time of profound grief hasn’t gone unnoticed. They called Colt the perfect team captain — someone who sets the tone and lifts others by example.
“When our dad died, (Colt) stepped up,” Brody Pride said. “He’s got a weight to carry for the house, but also on the team. Now, he’s a vocal leader. He steps up, and people look up to him.”
How the Bobcats want to honor Coach Pride
Multiple players stated that the 2025 season presents an opportunity to honor the legacy of Coach Pride. Through effort, discipline, and unity, the Bobcats are determined to carry Byron Nelson Football forward.
“We just remember the name Coach Pride, and then that gives us more motivation, especially in the off-season summer workouts,” sophomore cornerback Quincy Jones said. “Every single time we step on this campus, we do it for Coach Pride.”
With steady progress, Pride transformed Byron Nelson into one of the premier programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
After a 1-10 season in 2019, the Bobcats steadily climbed. In the past two years, they’ve compiled a 22-3 record, with losses only to state powers Southlake Carroll and North Crowley. The pinnacle came in 2023, when Byron Nelson defeated Carroll to clinch the district championship — the program’s biggest win under Pride and a defining moment in school history.
Pride taught his players that expectations are meant to be shattered. Now, they’re determined to carry that lesson into the 2025 season.
“To go out there and play the Bobcat way of football,” Thompson said. “To show pride, to carry on the standards that he set for us.”
Teaching the value of character
When players reflect on the lessons they learned from Coach Travis Pride, one theme comes up over and over: Pride Talks.
Those offseason character lessons weren’t about Xs and Os. They were about life, and Pride knew how to connect with his players, even if the delivery of a Pride talk was unorthodox.
Lanis smiled as he recalled one of his favorite Pride analogies: the chicken and the pig.
“The chicken gave up eggs for the farmer,” Lanis said. “But the pig gave up its life to feed the farmer. So, which sacrifice are you going to take? Are you going to go all in or just work a little bit?”
Did the analogy make perfect sense? Maybe not. But that wasn’t the point. What mattered was that players listened and bought in. That was Pride’s gift. In ways that were often unconventional, he made his message stick.
Another concept Pride preached was the 80/20 rule. According to Pride, 20% of people waste their potential waiting for things to be handed to them. The other 80% put in the work on the field, in the classroom, and in life.
“He made (Pride talks) applicable, not only for football, but for life,” said Andrew Thompson, a senior linebacker. “He told us that not everyone is going to get the opportunity to play at the next level. The goal of these coaches is to make us better men.”
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For Colt Pride, the lesson that stood above the rest was simple: never quit. His father used the metaphor of building a house, one brick at a time, with each brick representing a day’s worth of focused, consistent work.
“If you want to have a strong, structured home, you’re not going to buy cheap wood and cheap material,” Colt Pride said. You’re going to buy brick. And build the best house, or program, that you can build. Always finish, and stay consistent.”
Travis Pride’s lasting legacy
Plenty of football coaches value hard work. For Travis Pride, however, it was never about a workout or a repetition but a lifestyle.
Pride created a mantra that has shaped Byron Nelson football: Work will win.
You can see it plastered on the walls and the team’s uniforms. It’s a repeated phrase that reminds them that, eventually, hard work will pay off, even if it’s in a way you don’t anticipate.
“The harder you work, the better things will come your way,” Thompson said. “Work will win is super big around Bobcat football, and will continue to be for the rest of Byron Nelson’s history.”
While ensuring players reached their potential and overcame expectations, he also made a point to value the person over the player with an emphasis on character development.
“It was always about being a good person,” said Parker Almanza, a tight end who recently committed to Baylor. “That’s what I think really changed our program, was everyone playing together and not being selfish. It’s about wanting people around you to succeed.”
For Colt Pride, those team-oriented mindsets weren’t just about football. They were about who his father was.
“He always put others before him, especially on the field, but even more off the field and at the house,” Colt Pride said. “He was a great man, and he led our family. He was a very selfless man in all aspects of life.”
Continuing Pride’s mission
Woodward, who coached under Pride for 17 seasons, said receiving the call to become Byron Nelson’s interim head coach was “the most humbling experience.” He added that it’s not a duty he’ll take lightly — and that he’ll continue the Pride way, which was prioritizing taking care of the player.
“We have to continue to build and continue to get better, and do it within the framework of the culture that (Pride) helped establish with the values and standards that he worked hard to get here,” Woodward said.
Woodward said he hopes the lessons learned through football will make Byron Nelson football players better husbands, fathers, employees and leaders.
“The football part we do for fun,” Woodward said. “But this is how we get to build young men, and help our community and the world be a better place.”
When the regular season begins in late August, Coach Pride won’t be on the sideline. But his presence and principles will be felt in every snap.
“We’re going to think about him every single time we walk out that tunnel,” said Lanis. “Every single game.”
The mission ahead is bigger than football. It’s about protecting the foundation Pride built — and passing it down.
“It’s about showing (underclassmen) how hard we work,” Almanza said. “Showing them what it takes to be a Bobcat.”
This story was originally published June 24, 2025 at 1:49 PM.
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