From The Victoria Advocate

Robert Draper will return to work at Edna after the holiday break, but it won’t be as athletic director and head football coach.

Draper, 50, has resigned after one season to become an assistant principal at the elementary school.

“At some point in time, I would like to move into administration and this was an opportunity for me to do so,” Draper said. “My son (Colton) is graduating high school and I got to coach him his senior year. It was a good time for me to try out being an administrator.”

Draper was the offensive coordinator at Edna for two seasons before being promoted in May after the resignation of Jerry Long.

He also worked as an assistant at Liberty Hill, Needville and Sweeny.

Draper led the Cowboys to an 8-4 record and into the Class 3A, Division I area playoffs.

Edna’s four losses came to teams that advanced at least three rounds deep in the playoffs.

“I thought we had a pretty good season,” Draper said. “If we had a couple of breaks go our way one way or another, we might have played a little longer. I thought our kids played well. We played hard. I think they did well. I thought our coaching staff did a great job of coaching. I was happy with what we did.”

Robert O’Connor, superintendent of the Edna school district, said applications would be accepted through mid-January, and he hopes to fill the position by the first week in February.

“It worked out the timing was good for both he and the district,” O’Connor said. “If he was going to do this, he would do it early.”

O’Connor wasn’t completely surprised by Draper’s decision.

“I think that was maybe a thought process at some point in time,” O’Connor said. “That seems to be where all of us old coaches end up. I think there was an opportunity for him to try this out and figure out if this is really what he wants to do.”