It was quiet, humble and perfectly befitting the man who had earned the respect and admiration of his players and fellow coaches.
And so with a wave to the cheers and standing ovation he received at the Wildcats’ baseball banquet Friday night, Haynes called it a career.
“I’ve been teaching for 32 years, coaching for 32 years. I’ve missed a lot of things,” Haynes said quietly in his office Friday afternoon. “They were long years but enjoyable years.”
The leader of the Temple baseball program since the summer of 1986, Haynes compiled a record of 335-324, won three district championships and qualified for the Class 5A playoffs in 10 seasons, including regional semifinal berths in 1994 and ’95. In his final season, the Wildcats finished 11-19 and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2005.
As much as Haynes will be remembered for his successful 23-year run with the Wildcats, those who know him best say his integrity and commitment to Temple stand out most.
“Coach Haynes, foremost, is a tremendous person and a tremendous man,” Temple athletic director Bryce Monsen said. “He’s been a stalwart of our community. His character and reputation is unmatched.”
“He is truly going to be missed.”
The news of Haynes’ retirement first came Thursday evening at the Temple ISD faculty banquet, where Haynes was introduced, along with the rest of the district’s retirees.
Sitting near the front of the room was J.J. Villarreal, the district’s Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction and a key member of Haynes’ first team.
Seeing Haynes - whose name wasn’t listed among those retiring at the end of the semester - walk forward to be honored with a standing ovation sent a wave of emotion over Villarreal.
“I just wasn’t ready to hear that,” he said. “It was seeing somebody change what they’re doing in life, but all those years of fabulous experiences just started rolling through my head.”
Haynes’ current team had no word of his retirement before Monsen made the announcement at the end of Friday’s banquet. Even after greeting Haynes, the players still were in shock.
“He taught us a lot,” Temple junior shortstop Isaac Matamoros said Friday evening. “It’s real surprising. We weren’t expecting it.”
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Coming to this point hasn’t been easy for Haynes.
He admittedly had been mulling over leaving the program he’s lead for more than two decades for a while. And in the end, a desire to spend more time with family made the decision-making pull at his heart.
“I want to have some flexibility to visit my grandkids and my mom whenever I need to or want to,” Haynes said. “When you’re coaching, sometimes you just can’t get away. I’ll have the flexibility because I’ll be my own boss.”
Leaning back in the chair in his office Friday afternoon surrounded by photos and mementos of his time in Temple, Haynes rattled off names that fill the school’s record book and events from the past as if they’d just happened.
Haynes came to Temple in 1980 after spending three years in Laredo, his hometown. He started out at Lamar Middle School before being promoted to the high school in 1983.
Haynes’ first duties were as a varsity baseball assistant to then-coach Larry Hennig, now softball coach at Temple College. In the summer of 1986, Haynes was promoted to the head coaching position and, as he said, “I’ve just been here the whole time.”
Starting with Villarreal, whom Haynes called his “first marquee player” and still owns the school’s best single-season batting average, the Wildcats made themselves into a Central Texas power in the late 1980s through the mid-’90s.
When Temple started beating perennial heavyweights Round Rock and Round Rock Westwood regularly with players such as David Meyer, Patrick Stanford and Pittie Castillo, Haynes knew the Wildcats had established themselves.
“The greatest compliment we were paid was by Coach (Bart) Bratcher at Westwood,” Haynes said. “He started sharing with people that the district championship would have to go through Temple. We knew that we had arrived as a baseball program and as a quality team.”
During that stretch, the Wildcats won a district championship in 1995 and made their deepest playoff runs under Haynes, advancing to the regional semifinals in ’94 and ’95.
“When they came to the field, they came to play,” Haynes said. “They were all business.”
Haynes and the Wildcats put together another run in ’97, led by current Killeen Ellison coach Craig Martin, Joey Alvarez, Derek Stanford and Olympic javelin thrower Mike Hazel, reaching the regional quarterfinals and setting a school record with 27 wins.
Temple claimed its most recent district championship in 2004 before falling in the area round. The Wildcats returned to the postseason this year after a three-season drought but lost in the bi-district round in a closely contested series against Tyler Lee.
“We never won the big one at the big show,” Haynes said, “but we certainly gave a lot of people a great run for their money throughout those years.”
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Having played for Haynes during the Wildcats’ heyday and then facing him as an opponent in three seasons at Ellison, Martin saw the same man.
Haynes was gracious in victory, the same in defeat and always wanted to put his teams in a position to win.
“He’s as genuine a person as I’ve ever been around,” Martin said. “He cares very much about the the kids and helping them be a success.”
From his earliest days in Temple, Haynes formed a unique relationship with the coach at a school people around town wanted to beat most. But having come to the area around the same time, Haynes and longtime Belton coach David Tidwell, who resigned after last season, struck up a friendship that has spanned decades.
They’d talk several times a week throughout the year and often went on vacations together.
On the field, though, it was all business.
“Our friendship was pushed aside for three hours,” Tidwell said. “They were always ready to battle us and we had a great game on our hands. It was always sad that one of us had to get beat.”
Monsen worked with Haynes in his first stop at Temple as a football assistant coach beginning in 1995. When he returned as head coach in 2005, Haynes’ word, whether as a football assistant or just a friend, was his bond.
“If he tells you something, you can take it to the bank,” Monsen said.
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Moments after Haynes’ wave to the crowd that stood and applauded in his honor, he was greeted by a line of well wishers and players seeking a photo or simple handshake.
For a man that tried to avoid the spotlight, insisting it instead shine on his players, the goodbye was typical Larry Haynes.
“Coach Haynes is a true Wildcat,” Monsen said. “He exemplifies everything that is good in Temple, Texas.”
