Five years ago, then-Reagan High School volleyball head coach Mike Carter’s plan was to walk away from it all — the national prestige, the yearly state-championship-or-bust expectations, and the success.

Kayla Keller Quintana, a standout outside hitter for three seasons (2008-2010) for Carter at Reagan who played at Central Florida and is now an attorney, remembers hearing about her former coach’s impending retirement. She also recalls her reaction.

“I think I told my parents, ‘There’s no way that lasts,” Quintana said of Carter retiring from coaching in high school.

A few months later, Carter was hired at Cornerstone Christian, a private school. He had a new job, but as has been the case throughout his career, the same winning ways followed.

With Saturday’s 25-22, 25-12 victory vs. Fort Bend Ridge Point in the quarterfinals of the Gold Bracket at the John Turner Classic in Pearland, Carter earned his 1,000th career win. Cornerstone (10-1) defeated Class 6A powerhouse The Woodlands 22-25, 25-22, 25-21 in the final to capture the title at the three-day, 44-team tournament.

Carter, who previously coached at Holmes and Randolph, is the first San Antonio-area high school coach and only the seventh in Texas history to reach the 1,000-win milestone. He joined Port Neches-Groves’ Barbara Comeaux (1,285), Bellville’s Susan Brewer (1,145), Amarillo High’s Jan Barker (1,116), Jewett Leon’s Billy Bob Evans (1,079), El Paso Franklin’s Flo Valdez (1,076) and Austin Westlake’s Al Bennett (1,012). All but Brewer are retired.

Making Carter’s feat even more impressive is he only needed 1,223 matches to achieve the milestone.

“I feel his key to success all these years has been his passion for the game,” said Stacey Garner, who played for Carter at Holmes in the mid-1990s and is now a teacher in the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD. “When someone is passionate about what they’re doing, it shows. A successful coach is a motivator with a positive attitude and enthusiasm for the sport and the athletes. The ability to motivate and inspire is part of the formula for success. Getting athletes to believe in themselves and achieve comes far easier for some coaches than others. He has the ability to help athletes believe in themselves and always want to give their best. He builds that relationship.”

The camaraderie has been felt at each of Carter’s coaching stops, helping him transform from a virtual self-taught coach who once thought recording 100 wins was a measure of success to one whose number of wins now includes a comma.

Carter coached at Randolph from 1990-94, leading the Ro-Hawks to a 101-39 record, including the program’s first playoff berth since 1980 in his first season, and a district title and trip to the Region IV-2A final in his final season. He coached at Holmes from 1995-98, amassing a 103-35 record. Carter inherited a program that had only two wins the season before his arrival and led it to 30 wins just two years later.

At Reagan, Carter guided the Rattlers to the postseason in each of his 19 seasons, 14 district titles, three UIL state tournament appearances (2005, 2006, 2016), six regional finals (2000, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2017) and seven 40-win seasons. Reagan was 676-116 during his tenure.

“He has an unrelenting pursuit to succeed,” said Christa Moen Henarie, who played for Carter at Holmes, went on to play at Notre Dame, and is now a real estate agent. “He is tireless. He is reworking lineups. He is developing a team where they respect one another and can use each of their strengths on the court. His knowledge of the sport is exemplary, however, his true success stems from caring for the growth of his athletes.

“The 1,000 wins are great, but the life success of his thousands of athletes is the ultimate win.”

Krista Kolbinskie Smith can attest to as much. She transferred to Reagan in 2012 after two seasons at Incarnate Word, including helping the Shamrocks within one win of capturing a TAPPS state title in 2011. Smith joined a Reagan squad that featured Division I players Brooke Sassin, Morgan Reed, Ashlie Reasor, Bailey Shurbet, Dayna Kramer and Ashley Brueggeman.

The Rattlers, ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation, were stunned in the third round by Smithson Valley during Smith’s junior season in 2012. They advanced to the regional final in 2013 before falling to district rival and eventual state finalist Churchill in five sets.

“My thought process was very much so focused on competing with the best every day,” said Smith, who went on to play at the University of Arkansas and St. Thomas University in Miami and recently was hired as director for character formation at Baylor University’s Student-Athlete Center for Excellence. “If I wanted to accomplish my goals of becoming a Division I student-athlete, I knew I had to be in competition daily with the best. Coach Carter was the best and the Reagan volleyball team was the best in the state.

“Carter is really good at communicating to his players what their role is and he’s really good at getting student-athletes to buy into what he’s trying to do. He’s never going to be subliminal. He’ll tell you what he expects and he’ll help you be successful.  It was never like, ‘You need to get this many kills. You need to get this many digs.’ He wasn’t really outcome-oriented; he was very much process-oriented. Give perfect effort and the outcome will naturally come. We loved what we did volleyball-wise, but having someone who we trust, who we love, who we appreciate, who we respect, that’s why all of his teams are so successful.”

terrence@terrencesports.com

Twitter: @sa_terrence1