At first, Robert Roberts was planning to leave Newton County Academy after his son, Rob, graduated in 2009.

The plan shifted to leaving when his daughter, Alexa, graduated in 2014. But Roberts stuck around a few more years as the school’s head football coach before informing the school board after football season last fall that he would be retiring at the end of the school year.

In total, Roberts spent 13 seasons guiding the Generals’ football team, and he also coached baseball and helped start the school’s fast-pitch softball program. The 2014 football team won the MAIS Class A championship, the school’s only state title.

His reason for sticking around? It proved too difficult for too long to get away from the students at NCA.

“The kids didn’t want me to leave, so I stayed around another year, then another two years, and it just kept up,” Roberts said. “It wasn’t for money or anything, but I enjoyed it. I had a good time. I coached my son in baseball all the way from T-ball to high school, and I did the same with my daughter and softball. I just enjoyed teaching sports to the kids.”

NCA Headmaster Mike Tucker said the school is losing not just a great coach but a staple.

“It can’t be described what he’s meant to us,” Tucker said. “He’s devoted so much of his time, and the kids and faculty love him, and all of the parents care a great deal for him. His son played under him and wound up helping us win a state title as offensive coordinator. He’s been a friend and mentor to all of these kids, and he and I have been friends a long time. I’ve known him for 19 years, and I can’t say enough about him. He’s really been a mainstay at the school.”

Roberts said he’s always enjoyed the game of football and teaching the game to all of his players through the years, but a desire to spend more time with family finally won out after more than a decade at NCA.

“I have grandkids, so I’m going to enjoy them and my wife,” Roberts said. “Football takes up a lot of time, and it’s basically year-round. You can’t do anything on the weekends because you’re watching film.”

In hindsight, Roberts said he’s happy he didn’t leave after his daughter graduated in May 2014, as the Generals won the state championship that fall.

“It was special; it was a good year,” Roberts recalled. “We thought we were going to go (to the title game) for several years, but that year was the best one. We had a lot of kids that played well together, and it was probably one of the bigger classes that we’ve had. We though we would go again in ’16, but we ended up getting beaten by one point in the playoffs.”

The younger Roberts is currently offensive coordinator at Newton County under head coach Bobby Bass, and Roberts said he will spend the fall following the Cougars as a spectator rather than as a coach.

“I get to sit back and watch instead of having to do all the work,” Roberts joked.

Tucker said the school will announce a new head football coach at 6 p.m. Thursday in its gymnasium as part of a meet-and-greet for parents.