After graduating from Brazosport High School, Kent Bachtel earned a scholarship to Howard Payne, where he was an All-Lone Star Conference guard. He was named the team's most valuable lineman as a senior. Bachtel graduated from Howard Payne in 1970 and coached high school football in Texas for nearly 40 years. He won 169 games as a head coach, including 157 in 23 years as the leader of the Midway Panthers for the most in program history. After retiring, he rejoined the coaching ranks and worked as a defensive assistant coach on his son John's staff at Fairfield High School, helping the Eagles reach the state championship game in 2013. He died in 2015. He was inducted into the Midway Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015. Bachtel and his brother Mark were the second set of brothers to be inducted into the HPU Athletics Hall of Fame.