Brandt: 'A really hard decision'

 MARION -- This was a difficult season for Michael Brandt, and it had nothing to do with wins and losses."It was hard not to see (son) Jordan play, because he did a lot of good things for the (Linn-Mar varsity) boys' (basketball) team," he said. "And I got to see (daughter) Mykaela (play collegiately), but not as much as I'd like."Brandt confirmed Monday afternoon that he has resigned as the Linn-Mar girls' basketball coach after 13 seasons."It was a really, really, really hard decision," he said. "I still love coaching. I love what we've done and what we've built here. But there comes a time that you have to make that tough decision, and now is that time."Brandt, 46, posted a 204-99 record, including a 26-0 season in 2009-10, when the Lions captured the Class 4A state championship.Linn-Mar was 15-9 this season.Tonya Moe, associate athletics director at Linn-Mar, said, "I couldn't have asked for a better working relationship with a coach. He has always been professional, and very passionate about his job."I fully support his decision, and I also know he'll be back coaching soon. It's in his blood."Brandt coached Jaime Printy (who played at Iowa before coming back as an assistant coach) and Kiah Stokes (now a junior at Connecticut). He piloted the Lions to four straight 20-win seasons from 2007-08 through 2010-11."It's been a blast, the quality of kids we've had here," he said. "You could go down the list from Jaime and Kiah, and everyone else. They've been very coachable, great kids."But, for the near future, his own kids take priority. Mykaela is a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville; Jordan just completed his sophomore season at Linn-Mar."I was lucky when Mykaela went through here because, obviously, I could see all of her games," Brandt said. "Now, it's just really tough. You can't get these years back."Brandt will continue as an art teacher at Westfield Elementary in the Linn-Mar district.