SUMMERVILLE, Ga. – Jeff Bennett is something of a legend in Chattooga County.
Over his long career coaching local high school sports, he has brought home more than 700 wins on the baseball and softball diamonds, earning him the title of winningest coach in the county’s history, and he has touched the hearts of hundreds of student-athletes who fondly refer to him as Coach B. Now, after 45 years as a coach, he is preparing to hang up his whistle and walk off the field for the last time when Chattooga High School’s softball season comes to an end this fall.
The announcement of his impending retirement was marked with an especially important moment earlier this month. The Lady Indians’ softball field, where he has coached hundreds of games and hosted thousands of practices, was given a new name: Jeff Bennett Field.
“I had no idea they were going to do that,” Bennett said of the dedication. “It was a huge shock, and it’s an honor. I had no idea it was coming but it does mean a lot to me, you know, to see that. I’ve spent a lot of time out on the fields around here.”
As a student at Trion, the other high school in Chattooga County, he played three sports for the Bulldogs and was a member of the baseball team that won the GHSA Class B state championship in 1973. He went on to play college baseball at West Georgia and was the Carrollton school’s star pitcher from 1973 to 1977.
Then he began a coaching career in which he has had stints at both Chattooga and Trion. He spent 27 seasons coaching football and 33 seasons coaching baseball, and for the past 23 years he has coached softball. If he weren’t still struggling with the lingering effects of having COVID-19 last September, he would likely continue.
Grand opportunity
Asked whether he will still follow sports in retirement, Bennett laughed: “I don’t know how not to.”
“I was very lucky to have a good high school coach and team when I was playing. I loved playing, and I became a coach because of how much I loved it,” he continued. “I kept doing that because I love being around the kids and seeing them grow as players, but I never stopped just loving baseball. I’ll still be watching.”
Mainly, Bennett said he is looking forward to watching his granddaughter Emma Howard, a senior pitcher at Chattooga, play softball at his college alma matter.
He began teaching her to play when she was 3, and as she got older, she joined him at practices and wandered around the outfield with the players he was coaching. Pretty soon, she wanted to go out to the field every time he did. Then she became a player on one of his teams.
That moment changed everything, Bennett said.
“Teenage girls don’t always want to hang out with their Pop, but she does,” he said. “It’s an honor to coach her. I’m probably a little biased here, but she is a heck of a ballplayer. It’s going to be really emotional that last game, for both of us. I don’t know how we’re going to handle it, to be honest with you.”
Howard wants to make Pop proud and carry on his legacy the only way she knows how.
“I get emotional sometimes thinking about it being my senior season and his last season,” she said. “We’ve been out on the field together for 14 years, so I don’t know if I am ready for it to end. I’ll probably miss it forever, but I am excited about following in his footsteps as a player and coach one day. I don’t think I’ve ever met a coach as good as he is.”
Staff photo / Jeff Bennett encourages his Trion High School softball team during a game against Gordon Lee in August 2009. In a coaching career that has included baseball, football and softball and spanned generations of local athletes, Bennett has worked at both Chattooga, where he plans to retire after this softball season, and Trion, his alma mater.‘He really cares’
Bennett is known around town as someone students can count on to be there whenever they need him, and former players said that remained true even after they graduated.
Shane Tucker played for Bennett from 1986 to 1989, worked with him as a fellow teacher at Chattooga for 27 years and then coached baseball alongside him a few years later. Tucker described Bennett as “a coach, a mentor, a role model and a friend” whose influence extended far beyond the field.
Tucker said Bennett used to be the sort of coach who could get riled up with his students and throw a glove or a bat off in the grass. He has mellowed recently, but his fuse was shorter in the late 1980s, when he was known for difficult practices, strict rules and high expectations. He pushed his players to their absolute limits, and then he pushed them further.
“While he is a great coach, I think his best characteristic is that he truly listens to you. When you are talking to him, he is looking at you and taking in everything you say,” Tucker said. “It’s hard to explain. He makes you feel like you truly matter because he really cares about you and what you have to say. That’s how he has always been able to get the maximum effort out of his players. He listens to them and cares about their lives.
“I know that sounds corny, but it is the absolute truth. His influence is beyond wins and losses. I would do anything in the world for him or any member of his family.”
Julie Chambers played for Bennett, then later watched as he coached her daughter. It’s just one example of his impact across generations.
“He’s been here for a long, long time. He’s coached children and their parents, which is really special and not something that happens very often,” Chambers said. “For a lot of people in Chattooga County, Coach B is the person who was most influential in their life. Then he got to be that for their kids, too.”
Contact Kelcey Caulder at kcaulder@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6327. Follow her on Twitter @kelceycaulder.