(WVLT) -- When South-Doyle's baseball team lost to Maryville in the region tournament Monday night, it was more than the end of a season.

It was the close of a career.

Coach Robbie Howard resigned Monday after a 28-year span as the Cherokees' head coach, a time period that reaches all the way back to when the school was still known as Doyle High School.

Howard told WVLT Tuesday that he resigned so he could spend time with his daughter and help her through the junior golf circuit, in which she is very active.

"When I started, I never dreamed I'd still be here," Thomas told WVLT, calling his experience "unbelievable."

"It's been a joy to watch baseball grow from just another sport to something that's so important to the school and the community," Thomas said.

Among his list of things to do now that his career's over: helping his daughter along the golf circuit, traveling across the region to watch his former players compete for their college teams, and finally getting around to painting the front steps, something he says his wife's wanted him to do for a long time.