I've met guys like Buddy. They're emotionally stunted, true "Glory Days" guys. Their lives are often a shambles (broken marriages as an example). But they do have a certain loyalty to some other men, those who make them feel comfortably centered in their lives. Coach is almost certainly one of those men to Buddy. E Love 9 is spot on in this regard. Frankly, I think Buddy admires just about everything that Coach has - I doubt there is a jealous bone in his body about Coach's terrific family and Coach's own personal sense of right and wrong. And if Buddy is being pushed out of his place in the Panthers Boosters it is no stretch at all for him to at least give something of a hand to Coach.

Burning the uniforms is not any sort of oddity. Even major colleges - and some pro teams! - have done it to get rid of the ghosts of games lost.

(The Denver Broncos, btw, burned their original horrific brown and yellow uniforms when they switched to the Elway-classic blue and orange. Not only was that an event with some spiritual significance, the world was actually a demonstrably more attractive place after those uniforms were torched.)