Former coach of the USC Trojan Debate Squad and renowned musician Brian McBride died at age 53, his band Stars of the Lid confirmed via social media on Sunday. The cause of his death has not been shared.
McBride started working with the Trojan Debate Squad in 2006, where he was the assistant director of debate until 2019. Prior to his time at USC, he was already an accomplished debate coach with experience working at Northwestern University and the University of Redlands.
He was also a fierce debater in his own right. McBride started debating at Westbury High School in his home state of Texas and continued as an undergraduate at the University of Texas, where he received a first-round-at-large bid to the National Debate Tournament three years in a row, winning multiple tournaments and several top-five speaker awards.
The Trojan Debate Squad shared a message on Facebook on Sunday writing that their “hearts are broken” over the loss of their “coach, mentor and friend.”
“Brian was unlike anyone else. He was funny, quirky, sarcastic, incredibly smart and so kind. Regardless of when it happened, you didn’t forget that you spent time with Brian,” the post continued. “He left a big impression on each of us. So many Trojans benefitted from his genius and his kindness. We are so fortunate to have been able to know Brian and so deeply saddened.”
Many of McBride’s students recalled fond memories from their time working with him, from his quick wit to his compassionate guidance.
“He led weekly practices, took us to tournaments, drove the rental car, brought us to restaurants (often Thai) and made us laugh ‘til we cried along the way while he recollected his own debate war stories,” said Beau Larson, a member of the Trojan Debate Squad from 2014 through 2018. “He taught me so much about argumentation but most importantly, life and how to live it. The impact of his coaching and mentorship on my life cannot be understated.”
Larson and their debate partner Aron Berger worked closely with McBride and his guidance shaped the duo into a top-ten team at the National Debate Tournament.
“He was, first and foremost, a really creative person and he released some really great music, but it also came through with respect to his coaching and intellectual work,” said Berger, member of the Trojan Debate Squad from 2014 through 2018. “He was always really deep in thought about everything about everyone, which showed he had great consideration for the people he was around.”
Avi Munoz, who was a member of the Trojan Debate Squad from 2009 through 2013, said that the opportunity to work with McBride is what led him to apply to USC in the first place.
“I don’t think I’d be who I am or where I’m at today without the influences I got from Brian—both in debate and in general,” Munoz said.
In a 2008 interview with L.A. Weekly, McBride spoke of his role at USC and the perseverance of his students, saying “the amount of research a college debater does is the amount one would do to write a PhD.”
Beyond his role as an influential coach, McBride was a well-respected ambient musician and one-half of the music duo Stars of the Lid. McBride and bandmate Adam Wiltzie formed the duo in 1993 and incorporated multiple instruments like guitars, piano, strings, horns and untraditional everyday sounds into their music.
“I loved this guy & he will be missed,” Wiltzie wrote in a social media tribute to McBride.
McBride also released solo albums and collaborated with the musician Kenneth James Gibson through their formation of the band Bell Gardens.
Even those who worked with McBride through debate admired his creativity and talent, especially his longtime Trojan Debate Squad colleague Gordon Stables, who called McBride “an artist whose brilliance took so many forms.”
“I just keep coming back to the simple observation that he loved to teach debate,” said Stables, who is also the director of the school of journalism at USC Annenberg. “As I talk to so many alumni who recall the way in which Brian meant so much to them, I realize he truly found a way to understand each of them. When he coached someone, the topic might have been a debate argument, but he was truly helping that person find themselves. I consider myself so lucky to have been able to spend so much time with him.”