Trinity’s Lane steps down, hopeful midseason change allows Crusaders to ‘end on a positive note’

After six games, Bruce Lane sensed the clear need for a change. 

The Trinity head football coach, dissatisfied with the direction of both the season and the Crusaders’ program as a whole, took it upon himself to make one early this week as he resigned midway through a third year at the helm.

The decision to step down, which Lane stressed was “not a knee-jerk reaction,” follows back-to-back losses on either side of an open week that were among a number of growing indicators that the climate around the Crusaders’ football building wasn’t what it needed to be, and that a shake-up was in order if they hoped to finish out the campaign in a better place.  

Trinity (2-4 overall, 0-1 district 2) was set to visit Windsor Academy Friday night. 

“I just think it was best for the kids and best for the program moving forward to give them an opportunity to try to refocus, with such a young team, and hopefully end on a very positive note,” Lane said. 

His meeting with Trinity headmaster Larry Collins to deliver the news Monday morning was not the first conversation the two had had recently about the state of the program, and a growing sense of frustration on Lane’s part about factors that he felt were preventing the Crusaders from playing to their potential. Efforts to resolve those issues had been largely unsuccessful. 

“I think after he spent some time just thinking, he felt maybe the best thing for the future was for him to step away, which I think is obviously very difficult,” Collins said. “Someone on the outside would look and say, well he just kind of quit. I don’t think that’s fair at all. I think he made a tougher decision that maybe the best thing moving forward is for me to step away. 

“That’s always difficult, but as a leader, he felt like in his opinion, things were not trending how he wanted them to, and unfortunately sometimes a change in leadership is necessary. That’s kind of where he was.” 

Lane likened the move to a similar midseason resignation in 2015 by South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier… which was met at the time by a good bit of skepticism. 

The Head Ball Coach, in his memoir published a few years later, would detail his thought process in a decision he felt strongly would be the best for the school in an inevitable process of moving on. 

“You never know unless you walk in somebody’s shoes, and I just didn’t see me remaining as head coach for the last few weeks of the season being a positive for the players,” Lane said. “I just wanted them to have a fresh start. As I said, there’s always highs and lows in any season, and any tenure. I’m going to choose to focus on the good things, and the fact that God brought us here for a reason, and God’s closing this door for a reason.” 

Back on solid footing…

Trinity was Lane’s ninth coaching stop in a long career nearing 40 seasons, and posts in multiple states. But the bulk was spent in Georgia at schools including GMC, John Milledge, Southland, Augusta Christian, Westfield and Bethlehem Christian. His all-time record of 257-172-1 also includes five region titles and two state crowns.

Collins expressed appreciation for the work of Lane and his staff to restore stability to a Crusader football program that had averaged less than two wins per season between 2020 and 2024, when he took over. They finished 6-5 in 2024, and 5-6 in 2025, with state playoff appearances both years.  

“He brought a professional approach to our program,” Collins said. “He really inherited a program that had not had a lot of success, in the previous couple of years, and won 5-6 games in his first two full seasons, which was a lot greater success on the field than what the program had experienced prior to him. I think the structures that he set in place in terms of offseason and summer work will be beneficial for the next person to take over.”  

Lane’s time in Dublin also saw multiple players sign to play in college, notably Wade Register, who is now punting at the University of Georgia. 

“Over the past three years, I’m very proud of the total body of work,” Lane said. “We won 13 ballgames, lost 15, which is not great, but it’s certainly, if you go back and compare the three years previously, I think there had been progress made. 

“You’re obviously disappointed when you can’t get things to be exactly the way you envisioned them on day 1, but overall, it’s been a great experience for me and my family, for my son to coach (with me) and gain experience, and move on to become a head coach, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.” 

As for the rest of this season, four remaining games – two on the road at Windsor and Piedmont, and at home against Flint River and Riverside Military – will offer the Crusaders an opportunity to turn their record back in a winning direction, and vie for a fifth-straight postseason appearance, which would be a strong possibility if they can close out with two or more victories. 

Who will lead them the rest of the way? 

Though there’s no official interim in title, Collins will serve as a de facto head coach when it comes to the job’s operational responsibilities. But on-field coaching duties will fall to the staff’s remaining assistants on a committee basis.

“I will just be kind of providing another set of hands, at practice, it’ll be pretty limited,” Collins said. “My role is more administrative, logistics, because there are so many moving pieces to a football program, just from getting ready for practice and ready for games and the logistics of that, and my role will be to kind of alleviate those kind of responsibilities so those four guys will have even more time to do the actual football, Xs and Os, coaching.” 

John Scargle, the staff’s elder statesman, will continue to run point on defense. Jim Coleman takes over offensive play-calling, with assistance from Quinton Cooley, who will be the special teams lead. Thomas Barnes remains in charge of both the offensive and defensive lines. 

Collins admitted they’re “still talking through” the best way to sort out in-game decisions. 

Lane, who will stay on with the school for the remainder of the academic year as a teacher, said he does intend to continue coaching football in the future. 

“There are opportunities out there,” he said. “I’ve already had a couple of schools reach out and offer me some opportunities for next year, if that’s the direction I want to go, and I’m appreciative of that. Right now, I’m going to pray and see what God has. 

“I love those kids and love the program and the school,” he added. “I’ve always said you’re either part of the problem, or part of the solution, and I just came to the conclusion that the best solution for this situation was for me to step aside and let the kids have an opportunity to refocus, and again, renew their commitment to the program.”