When asked what she wanted to do when she grew up, young Cathy Brewster never hesitated: She wanted to be a world traveler.
So she married a football coach.
“And off I went,” she said.
In the midst of the biggest coaching shuffle in Mike Shan- ahan’s 12 seasons in Denver, Tim and Cathy Brewster’s family is one of several to be uprooted.
In Denver, the moving trucks are on the way. Jobs are taken and lost, houses are bought and sold, friends are lost and made, schools are changed.
“The hardest part is what it does to your family,” said Andre Patterson, fired this month as a Broncos assistant coach. “That’s what hurts about it. You feel bad for your family. As a coach, you just keep going. But your family doesn’t ask for the change.”
Added Dennis Cordell, a former executive with the coach’s union and now an agent who caters to NFL coaches: “What is happening in Denver is unusual. There has been unusual stability. The average stay in the NFL for a coach is three years. It’s just the way of life.”
For the Brewsters, life on the move isn’t a bad ride. Tim Brewster, who spent the past two seasons as the Broncos’ tight ends coach, recently was hired by the University of Minnesota – his first major head coaching job.
Brewster already is entrenched in the Twin Cities, scouring the area for recruits. Cathy and sons Clint and Nolan, star football players at Mullen High School, are remaining here. The family is in the early stages of figuring out what to do and when to move, but that will wait until after the school year. It will be the family’s seventh move in 21 years, right on that three-year average.
“What makes it easier is that we are moving for a great reason,” Cathy Brewster said.
That’s not always the case, though. Three Denver assistants, defensive coordinator Larry Coyer, Patterson and linebackers coach Kirk Doll were let go. Some other lower-level assistants may leave the team as well. While those families work on leaving, others will come in.
New assistant coach-defense Jim Bates and defensive line coach Bill Johnson already are on the way. Joe Baker, a linebackers coach, and Scott O’Brien, a special-teams expert, are expected to take up residence here, too.
“It can be a revolving door,” Patterson said. “It’s life in the NFL. You accept it when you sign up. Still, it’s not easy.”
It’s particularly difficult for Patterson, his wife Donna and their two children, Andre Jr. and Ashmera. Even though the Pattersons were in Denver for only two years, they felt a connection to the community. Andre Patterson loved being part of the Denver staff, the family became friendly with other coaching families, the kids loved their schools in Parker. Andre Jr. flourished as a youth football player.
The night before Andre Sr. received the stunning news he wouldn’t be retained, Andre Jr. received word that he was accepted to Regis, where he was planning on becoming a football star. That dream has changed.
Andre Patterson has talked to teams about jobs, but his future and his family’s remain in limbo. Patterson has one more year remaining on his Denver contract and is spending time with his family, enjoying the rare chance to take his kids to school and to their sporting events.
The family will soon have to worry about selling their house and finding a new one, wherever that may be. They have grown used to it. In 25 years, Patterson has had 13 jobs.
“You try to accept it,” Donna Patterson said. “You always think it’s never going to happen, so when it does, it is hard. You start to put down roots … But now it’s time to wait and see again.”
Family considerations led Brewster to shy away from other college interest before he took the job at Minnesota. Son Clint, a senior, is committed to play at Illinois, and Brewster hoped to stay one more year to get Nolan, a highly sought junior safety, through school.
“I had to take the job at Minnesota because it is such a great opportunity,” Brewster said. “But I wanted my kids to stay put. It really weighs on you.”
Kyle Kennan was a football kid. By the time he was 18, he had lived in eight states, all because of football. His father Larry was an NFL coach and was on Dan Reeves’ staff in 1988 as the receivers coach. Kyle was in the fifth grade and soon on the move. He spent his junior year of high school in a Seattle suburb. His senior year, Kennan was in the New Orleans area.
“Major culture shock for a kid,” said Kennan, now in the coaching agent business. His father is the executive director of the coaches association. “As a kid, you deal with it. You learn to make friends fast and to enjoy life. It, at times, is a crazy life, but it is also a life with a lot of perks for kids.”
Cathy Brewster said her family will miss Denver, but she knows a new life awaits in the Upper Midwest.
“It’s time to go again,” she said.
Staff writer Bill Williamson can be reached at 303-954-1262 or bwilliamson@denverpost.com.
