Legendary Coronado High football coach Don Brooks dies at 79

EL PASO, Texas -- Legendary longtime Coronado High School football coach Don Brooks - a name synonymous with gridiron history in the Borderland - has died at the age of 79, a friend of the Brooks family confirmed to ABC-7 on Friday.

Brooks, who was inducted into the El Paso Sports Hall of Fame, retired in 2011 after 35 years at Coronado. El Paso Independent School District records show during his tenure, the T-Birds won 229 games, reached the state quarterfinals in 1979 and earned several district and bi-district championships. 

EPISD re-named the Coronado football stadium as the Quarles-Brooks Stadium in 2016 to honor the coaching legend.

Then last year, former Coronado players traveled from across the region back to El Paso to kick off the "Coach Don Brooks Scholarship Program." The scholarship grants $1,000 to a current Coronado football player who showcases excellence on the field, in the classroom and the community.

It was at that scholarship event that former High School All-America linebacker Lance Taylor, the coach's greatest player during his Coronado career, credited Brooks with "touching so many lives and influencing so many of us."

Brooks is survived by his son Scott, among others. Scott Brooks followed in his father's footsteps and has served for over two decades as the head football coach at Canutillo High School.