Bryan Winegeart meets the Robert E. Lee High School volleyball team on Thursday Feb. 14, 2019. Winegeart joins the Lady Raiders as the new head coach after spending the past nine seasons at All Saints Episcopal School. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Robert E. Lee High School didn’t have to look far to find its new volleyball coach.

Bryan Winegeart, who has spent the last nine years at All Saints Episcopal School — the past seven as head volleyball coach, will take over the Lee program.

Winegeart, who is a 2002 graduate of Lee, was introduced to his new team Thursday afternoon at REL Varsity Gymnasium.

“I’m extremely excited,” Winegeart said. “Robert E. Lee is somewhere I graduated from, so to be able to come back and be able to invest in the lives of the kids that are here is something I couldn’t be more excited about. It’s a fantastic opportunity for me, and I’m ready to get to work.”

Winegeart quickly introduced himself to the players before taking questions. One of the questions he received is if he played volleyball, and he said he played beach volleyball growing up and then played club volleyball at East Texas Baptist University.

Winegeart said the main thing he wants to see from his team is hard work.

“That’s the biggest thing I want to instill to the girls on the court,” he said. “Hard work can get you a lot of places.

“My philosophy is always serve/receive well and play great defense. That will get you a lot of places in high school volleyball, no matter what level you’re playing at.”

Tyler ISD athletic director Greg Priest said the school district wanted to find a new coach that wants to be at Lee.

“As we started going through the list and identifying people, I think the biggest thing was building some consistency and some continuity,” Priest said. “We’ve had coaches that have been here and stayed two years. To be able to find somebody that has ties to Tyler and to the school as well as somebody that has already had a solid career in volleyball, that was important.”

Winegeart said he informed his players at All Saints of his new position Wednesday and that he will finish out the school year fulfilling his roles at All Saints.

Winegeart and his wife, Jennifer, have a 10-month-old son, Lincoln.

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