SAN ANTONIO – “I saw why people love this man so much,” Kenneth Roberts, a Brackenridge alumnus says. That man – Willie Hall – once coached Olympic Gold Medalist Joe Deloach, then later changed the lives of some inner city kids who needed lots of work.

Now, Roberts and Hall, both in their 60s, reminisce about the glory days. Hall retired as high school football coach last spring.  

Although connected by Brackenridge High School, located south of Downtown San Antonio and known as Brack by locals, they didn’t know each other back then. But 40 years later, Roberts is finally meeting the man he calls a legend.  

When Hall arrived at Brack in 1983, he didn’t see himself being there too long. However, Hall ended up being at Brack for nearly 38 years, 26 of those as the head coach, making him the longest-tenured head football coach with one team in San Antonio history.   

“So I’ll be 65 this month,” Hall says while standing in his office. “So, I went from a very young man to an old man.”

Additionally, Hall has the most wins for a football coach at one school in San Antonio ISD history. But his success can also be accredited to the resources and time he invested in his inner-city athletes like when he flipped the old ROTC building into a weight room.

“I did the measurements myself, I did everything, measured everything for the racks,” Hall says.

In his 26 years as the head coach, he’s produced two NFL players, Sam Herd and Ramon Richards. Throughout his tenure he’s been offered jobs to coach at powerhouse programs, but each time he’d quickly turn them down.

“I said, if I leave these kids who is going to take care of these kids like I am?” Hall says. “Not that I did a great job, but I just know I cared and I gave it 100 percent.” 

That’s what kept him going for nearly four decades — the kids — but this past 2020 season, which ended with a playoff appearance, was Coach Hall’s last.

“I felt that I put enough time in. I felt like it was time to go – somebody told me ‘you’ll know when it’s time to go, nobody will have to tell you, you’ll know yourself,’” he says.

Coach Hall says he’s proud of his career, not because of the wins and losses, but for the impact made off of the grid iron.

“You want to help these young men grow into be productive young citizens in the community and doing the right thing,” Hall says.