EAST BERNARD — East Bernard ISD Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Jeremy Jenkins and his wife, Brandy Jenkins, a teacher at East Bernard Junior High School, were killed Saturday night in a single-vehicle crash on State Highway 60.
The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed Sunday afternoon that the crash occurred at approximately 10:07 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, on Highway 60 near County Road 210 in Wharton County.
According to DPS, a 2025 Tesla Model Y was traveling northbound on Highway 60 and approaching a curve when the vehicle left the roadway to the east and overturned.
The driver, Jeremy Shane Jenkins, 51, of East Bernard, and passenger Brandy Renee Jenkins, 46, of East Bernard, were pronounced dead at the scene.
DPS said the investigation remains ongoing and no additional information was available Sunday afternoon.
East Bernard ISD Superintendent Courtney Hudgins confirmed the couple’s deaths earlier Sunday in a letter to the school community.
“Jeremy and Brandy were much more than their titles or the roles they held within our schools,” Hudgins wrote. “They were colleagues, educators, mentors, friends, and family.”
District Mourns Two Educators
Jeremy Jenkins served as East Bernard ISD’s athletic director and head football coach, while Brandy Jenkins had recently joined the district as a teacher at East Bernard Junior High School.
The deaths came just days into the district’s new school year. East Bernard ISD students returned to class Wednesday, Aug. 12, only three days before the crash.
Hudgins wrote that Brandy had already made an impression on her students during those first days.
“Brandy was recently hired in the district, and in just three short days since our year started, her students LOVED her,” Hudgins wrote.
“Brandy loved the Brahmas, their three boys, Jeremy, all of the coaches, and her close circle of coaches’ wives.”
Hudgins described Jeremy Jenkins as someone who “lived and breathed all things Brahma Family.”
“He watched film non-stop, coached up our kids in the most loving way, truly wanted what was best for ALL kids, challenged us to see things through a different lens, loved his fellow coaches, and was an ‘all in’ kind of man,” Hudgins wrote.
The district announced that on-site counseling and support services will be available for students and staff.
“East Bernard has always been a place where people show up for one another, and now is a time when that love and support are needed more than ever,” Hudgins wrote. “In the days ahead, we will need to lean on one another with love, patience, compassion, and grace.”
Community Rallies Around Jenkins Family
The East Bernard Athletic Booster Club also mourned Jeremy and Brandy on Sunday, describing Jeremy as a leader in the community and Brandy as one of the athletic program’s “biggest and most unconditional supporters.”
“Coaches are supposed to live forever,” the organization wrote. “They’re supposed to be there year after year — standing on that sideline, walking through the field house, coaching our kids, pushing them, believing in them and loving this community right alongside us.”
Jeremy and Brandy Jenkins leave behind three sons: Tyson, Gage and Jake.
The Booster Club said supporting the couple’s children and family would now take priority.
“Right now, football doesn’t matter,” the statement read. “Wins don’t matter. None of it does. What matters is surrounding these boys with the same kind of love and support their family has given to so many of ours.”
Jenkins Led Brahmas to State Semifinals
Jenkins was preparing to begin his third season leading the East Bernard football program.
He guided the Brahmas to a 20-7 record during his first two seasons, including a run to the Class 3A Division II state semifinals in 2025.
East Bernard began last season with three consecutive losses before winning 10 of its next 11 games. The Brahmas defeated Poth, Lexington and previously unbeaten Tidehaven during the playoffs before falling to eventual state champion Newton in the semifinals.
East Bernard is scheduled to open its 2026 season Friday, Aug. 28, at home against Sweeny.
Jenkins was hired by East Bernard in February 2024 after two seasons as athletic director and head football coach at Harmony High School in East Texas. He led Harmony to the Class 3A Division II state semifinals in 2022 and a 10-3 record the following season.
Jenkins previously served as head coach at Mount Enterprise in 2019 and Tenaha in 2020 and 2021. He compiled a 67-24 record across seven seasons as a head coach.
A Cayuga High School and UT Tyler graduate, Jenkins had worked in education for more than two decades.
Third Fatal Highway 60 Crash Since Early July
Saturday’s crash marks the third fatal crash reported by Wharton Post on State Highway 60 in Wharton County since early July.
On July 7, two East Bernard residents were killed in a collision involving their vehicle and a semi-truck on Highway 60 north of Hungerford.
Six days later, on July 13, two Bellville men were killed in a head-on collision involving two tractor-trailers on Highway 60 near County Road 205.
With Jeremy and Brandy Jenkins’ deaths Saturday, the three crashes have resulted in six deaths along Highway 60 in Wharton County since July 7.
The latest crash remains under investigation by DPS.
“We will show up,” the East Bernard Athletic Booster Club wrote. “We will wrap our arms around these boys, their family, our coaches and our athletes. And we will carry one another through the days ahead.”
A benefit fund has also been established to support Jeremy and Brandy Jenkins’ three sons, Tyson, Gage and Jake. According to the fundraiser, 100% of net proceeds will be divided equally among the three brothers to help with education, living expenses and future needs. https://gofund.me/fd98ca112
Photo courtesy of East Bernard Sports Photo.