A fixture on the sidelines in Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach has decided he's coached his final game.

Following 22 seasons as the program's longest tenured and most successful Head Football Coach, Chris DeWitt is retiring at Kellam High School. Of the 49 public schools in Tidewater, only Hampton High, where Mike Smith has resided at his post for 50 years with more victories and state titles than anyone in VHSL history, has an active Head Football Coach with a longer run.

Both DeWitt and Lake Taylor's Hank Sawyer began their tenures in 1999.

"Boy, it was hard. I tell you it was a tough, tough decision. I've been here 22 years. I had a discussion with my Principal earlier this week right after spring break ended. My wife was a teacher and is already retired. We've been moving towards the next chapter. We already started preparing ourselves for retirement from teaching. I actually have been so happy here at Kellam that I could've been a teacher and a coach here for the rest of my life. No doubt," DeWitt told VirginiaPreps.com.

"This was not an easy decision because during this chapter I'm always walking around smiling and I've been the happiest guy. We don't win all the games and I've had a lot of my old players reach out and say some wonderful things to me.

"But because my wife already retired and we've started looking into what we're doing after this, it's like you're reading a chapter of a book, you love that chapter, you don't want to put the book down or that chapter to end, and you're drawn into it every day. With COVID and my wife already being retired, I kind of messed up and opened up the next chapter and read a page. So I'm ready to move on to the next chapter."