Apr. 5—SOMERVILLE — Nearly two months later, Matthew Crowe is still trying to wrap his head around this past season.
Crowe is the 2025 Decatur Daily Class 5A-7A boys coach of the year for good reason. The Brewer head coach led the Patriots to arguably their best season in school history. They finished with a school-record 25-7 and reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 1973, the first year of the school's existence.
For Crowe, a graduate of Brewer High, the season was like a dream come true.
"It meant the world to me," he said. "I grew up here, my parents are from here, my wife is from here. I am where I am today because of this school and this community.
"This season was just more than I could put into words."
But this special season didn't happen overnight. The groundwork was laid three years ago when Crowe first took the job.
"When I got here, we did talk about Wallace (State) and reaching the regional tournament and all those expectations," he said. "Sometimes you make it and sometimes you don't, but if you don't believe you can, then it's never going to happen. We wanted the expectation every year to be that we can make it to Wallace."
Brewer got its first taste of what the team could be capable of under Crowe in the 2023-24 season, when the Patriots won the Morgan County tournament for the first time in 14 years.
That win ended the Patriots' season on a high note and gave the team high expectations coming into this season, something the program hadn't had in a while.
"I think there was some uncertainty at the beginning (of the season) about how good we could be. But once we started winning and got rolling, I think the guys realized we could achieve all the goals that we had been talking about for three years.
Crowe credited the success of this to his seniors: Austyn Holmes, Carter Raper, Micah Edwards, Kaden Steadham, Jackson Dunn, Carson Oden and Matthew Frazier.
"They were sophomores when I got here, and they just bought into everything we wanted to do," Crowe said. "But most importantly, they were just fun to be around."
Brewer will have some big shoes to replace with those seven departing seniors, but Crowe said the future is bright.
"This was a special year. To win 25 games, only lose seven and reach the Elite Eight, that's not going to happen every season," Crowe said. "But I do think a foundation has been laid and going forward, this kind of season is what we will strive for every year.
"Time will tell, but I want to continue to make this place better every year."
— caleb.suggs@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2
