In an unexpected move, Howard Payne’s head football coach, Kevin Bachtel, is departing the Yellow Jackets and will return to be head coach at Edgewood High School, multiple sources have confirmed to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.

Sources close to the situation said Bachtel desires to return close to his family in East Texas. He returns to Edgewood, where he led the Bulldogs to an impressive 40-17 overall record in five seasons and a district championship in 2016.

Bachtel arrived in Brownwood in the spring of 2021 and spent his first two years serving as HPU’s defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. He was named head coach in December 2022 after his brother, Jason, was named offensive coordinator at Houston Christian. Jason was promoted to head coach for the Huskies after the 2022 campaign.

An East Texas A&M alum, Bachtel led the Yellow Jackets to an 8-12 overall record and a 3-9 record in the American Southwest Conference. HPU struggled against ASC competition in 2024, with the conference using a double round-robin format. Sources have indicated that the ASC will use the same format in 2025, as the future of the conference remains uncertain.

Before arriving at Edgewood, Bachtel spent time as the assistant head football coach and defensive coordinator at Grand Saline High School after serving as defensive coordinator at Willis Point High School.

While HPU will face a challenging conference schedule in 2025, Director of Athletics Dr. Hunter Sims is expected to have a quality list of candidates. Sims has created a Division I pipeline during his tenure at HPU, with 14 coaches departing the university for positions at Division I institutions since 2017.