One of the area's most respected high school football coaches, Brent Kornegay of George West, recently announced he is retiring at the end of this school year, but he said he is not retiring completely.
For 32 years, Kornegay has been a familiar face to South Texas high-school athletics.
He's coached just about every sport there is, but 18 years as a head football coach is where he made a name for himself.
He was always a winner wherever he went, including stints at Orange Grove, Yoakum, and the last six at George West, where the Longhorns made the playoffs every year.
On this day, he was coaching hurdles and reflecting on what coaching has meant to him.
"I think the relationship with the kids and the ability to have an impact on their lives,” he said. “I tell them all the time ‘Hopefully I will have an impact on you, but more importantly, you guys don't realize the impact you have on me.’ ”
And for the majority of the seniors, he's been their coach since the seventh grade.
"He has been a father figure to us, and he always tells us he loves us more than anything and it's all about us,” said John Zuniga. “And I don't think you get many high-school coaches who say that."
"He is a good life coach, and any situation you find yourself in he is there,” said Ryan Thomisee. “He helped me get a lot of my college recruiting done for football so I could go play at the next level."
Just 55 years old, Kornegay said he's ready to begin his next chapter. He and his wife are moving to Fredericksburg, where he will work for the Texas Farm Bureau.
But he admits he will always miss the kids.
"They give you everything they have, they play hard, and with class," he said.