Brandon Allman first got into coaching while in college and enjoyed it so much he decided to make it a major part of his life.

He graduated from Brownstown Central High School in 2003 and University of Southern Indiana in 2008.

He played football, basketball and golf in high school and was All-Mid-Southern Conference in football one year and All-MSC in golf for two years.

“Starting off, I knew I wanted to be an English major,” Allman said. “My thought process was to go into law, and I thought about going to the University of Louisville and eventually becoming an attorney or lawyer, but I got into coaching. I volunteered (in Brownstown) for AAU and stuff when I was still in school, and I just knew I had a passion for that, and it just kind of evolved.

“When I was volunteering, I was asked by Heath Howington to help out (in Evansville). I did, and I fell in love with it. I knew that is something I wanted to do pretty much for the rest of my life.”

He began coaching while in college, leading the Thompkins Middle School boys basketball team for one year and serving as the freshman and varsity assistant boys basketball coach at Evansville North High School for three years.

He said an opening for the boys golf coach position at Evansville North was posted, and he applied and coached the Huskies for two years.

They advanced to state both years, placing 17th in 2008 and second in 2009.

“I fell in love with (coaching golf),” Allman said. “I was really fortunate. I had a great group of young men that have become lifelong friends. I was only 21 or 22 when I took over that job, so there was only a few years’ difference between us. We call each other all the time.”

Allman, who teaches language arts, began teaching at Brownstown Central Middle School in 2009. He coached seventh grade basketball before moving up to the freshman team, where he has been the past eight years.

He began coaching the boys golf team in 2012 and started with the girls golf program in 2015. He has won two MSC boys conference tournaments and has had one team qualify for the regional.

“I love golf,” he said. “It’s a lifelong sport, and I love being able to teach that to young girls and young men.”

Allman said he likes playing with his high school golfers when he has time. He said he enjoys the teaching part of golf.

“I’m not a swing guru by any means, but I really try to teach fundamentals to the kids and just the basics of the game and just the rules and etiquette of the game and life lessons that the game of golf teaches you that they’ll carry on for the rest of their life,” Allman said.

He said he would like to see his golfers play more summer events.

“What I’m working on that will be the future for this summer is how I get more kids in my entire program out during the summer,” he said. “We talked about doing an open course or an open field to get kids out there, and that’s all through the middle school program. I want to get my middle-schoolers out there, as well.

“I can’t mimic tournaments in practice. That’s just something they’ve got to get out and practice, and nerves and learn how to deal with those things.”

He said the golfers are different in preferring nine- or 18-hole matches.

“In 18 holes, there is a lot more time to recover if you’ve had a bad hole or two. You have nine other chances to make a birdie or get those shots back that you may have lost,” he said. “Some like nine holes just because it’s shorter, where 18 holes sometimes gets tiring, especially in hot weather. Those 18 holes become really long, especially if they’re walking a course like Otis Park that has a lot of hills.”

Allman said the Brownstown golfers enjoy playing on their home course, Hickory Hills.

“It’s a huge advantage for us because it’s a difficult nine-hole track,” he said. “Chris Baker (former BCHS all-state golfer and state champion) still talks about that, that Hickory Hills is one of the hardest courses he has played.”

Allman believes golf is a sport that his athletes carry into their adult lives.

“Golf is just a lifelong sport that is family-oriented,” Allman said. “My son is 3 and my daughter is 4, and they love for me to take them out to the golf course even if we just go to the putting green and just putt and chip around.

“It has so many life lessons. You talk about honesty, integrity and things some other sports don’t have. If you move your ball and nobody else sees you, it is up to you to call the penalty on yourself. You keep track of your own score. I’ve had minimal instances where I’ve had to get on a kid or had any kind of punishment for kids who have been caught cheating, just those kinds of things, the honesty and integrity and the mental aspect.”

While he says he enjoys coaching golf, Allman said basketball is his passion.

“I am the luckiest man that I’ve been able to coach under (Dave Benter) going on nine years now, and I played for him for four years. There’s not a better coach in the state of Indiana for boys basketball,” Allman said. “Not only that, he’s a better human being, a better man than he is a basketball coach. Any time I have any problems, issues, he’s the first one I go to, and he’s right there to help any way he can.”

Allman has had some successful teams over the years on the hardwood.

“I have a nice job. (Benter) gives me all kinds of freedom,” Allman said. “I run my practices how I want. They’re based under what he expects. I do some of the drills he does, but I’m allowed to put in my own drills and do what’s best for my team.

“What works best in his system for varsity isn’t always what works best for me. There are a lot of similarities. I’ll run a lot of the same stuff he does, but I get to put in my own stuff that works for my guys, for my personnel.”

The Brownstown native likes that he can give back to his community.

“I’ve had several opportunities to go other places,” he said. “The man upstairs, God, said it wasn’t my time and we couldn’t work things out. I think everything happens for a reason, and there are reasons why I’m still here.”

For the immediate future, Allman said he plans to continue to coach all three seasons.

“There are some long nights. If I didn’t enjoy being around these young people, I wouldn’t do it. They keep me young,” he said. “I think we’re at a fortunate place for them for the most part at Brownstown. We still have a lot of hardworking, God-fearing families that want kids to play sports. It’s still a big deal around here.”