By Derrick Smith

Zac Briscoe wears a few different hats around the Rejoice Christian School campus. He serves as the Assistant Athletic Director for the middle school and the high school. He is also the head boys’ basketball coach and the head girls’ volleyball coach for the Eagles. While wearing all those hats can make for a busy life, coach Briscoe says that he has enjoyed every moment of his career so far.

“I have coached two state championship teams,” he said. “In volleyball we beat the defending state champs who had their best kids back, including a girl who went on to be an All-Big 12 volleyball player at the University of Oklahoma. It went to extra points in the fifth set, and we had game points against us three times. Then on the basketball court, we won six games in ten days with only five guys playing essentially every minute to win our championship. We were going back to state the next year when Covid hit. We thought we had a better team that year than the year before when we won it. Those three teams were incredibly special.”

Zac had his first taste of coaching when he was in college, and he says that he knew immediately that it was what he wanted to do. 

“I started coaching while I was in college and fell in love with it,” he said. “I loved the challenge of building teams each year and building a program overall. I loved getting to know kids and families and being a part of their lives for several years. One of the best things about coaching is seeing the kids grow and develop on and off the court from year to year.”

Throughout his coaching career, Briscoe has had a number of coaches that he looked up to and that have had an impact on him as a person and as a coach.

“Ryan Wakley is a great friend and mentor to me,” he said. “He helped put some confidence and life back in me after I had been fired from Lincoln Christian. Also, Marc Langebartels was my high school soccer coach and my first athletic director. He taught me a lot of things about being a coach, how to run a program, and how to be organized and communicate with the families and other coaches.”