STARKVILLE — Jamie Mitchell and Jeff Terrill are responsible for putting high school football in the city of Starkville at the front of the line in the state of Mississippi.
Mitchell, at Starkville High, and Terrill, at Starkville Academy, thought they were a year away from getting to their programs to the state title games in the Mississippi High School Activities Association and the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools state title games, respectively. But now that the Yellow Jackets and Volunteers have played for championships, Mitchell and Terrill want to make sure things don’t change.
“We thought it might be longer than anybody thought, and in year one people told me we might not win a game, and we were blessed to win three,” Terrill said. “I thought two years ago maybe we’d win four or five games and be tagged as competitive. Nowhere did we dream we could finish 10-3.”
Starkville Academy lost to Washington School 20-0 in the Class AAA, Division II state championship, while Starkville (12-3) lost to Picayune in the Class 5A state title game.
For their accomplishments, Mitchell and Terrill are The Dispatch’s Large School co-Coaches of the Year.
The goal for both men is to prove they’ve built solid programs and not just had memorable seasons.
“We’ll be back. I promise you this isn’t the last time in a while people will hear from Starkville football,” Starkville Athletic Director Stan Miller said. “When you reach this point you want to win it.”
Both coaches faced rebuilding jobs when they took over, but they shook their head at how much talent in their schools wasn’t playing football.
Terrill inherited a program that lost 20 straight games from 2008-2010 before it won three games, including two of its last three, in 2010 to build momentum entering what he hoped could be its first winning season since 2005.
Terrill, who coached Columbus native and former Mississippi State starting quarterback Tyson Lee at Itawamba Community College, got more than he bargained for.
“The kids bought in and believed in what we were doing and had a strong commitment of belief,” Terrill said.
The Volunteers won their first five games in dominating fashion this season. Following a loss at Jackson Prep, Starkville Academy won four in a row to clinch its district for the first time in six years.
“I really think it was probably one of the most satisfying coaching seasons of my career,” Terrill said. “I had a lot of people tell me you couldn’t win (at Starkville Academy), but I guess that just motivated me to try and prove them wrong.”
The Volunteers had a solid offensive backfield of quarterback Drew Pellum and senior fullback Ryan Mann, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Mann paced Starkville Academy with 226 rushes for 1,236 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Led by All-Conference offensive and defensive lineman Angus Catchot, Starkville Academy allowed less than 10 points seven times this season.
As for Starkville, Mitchell knew something good had to happen soon, but he didn’t know so many juniors and sophomores would mature so quickly.
Starkville began the season with victories against Class 6A powers Madison Central and Tupelo and went on to a 7-0 mark in region play. The region title was the Yellow Jackets’ first in a decade and helped them earn a trip to Jackson.
Mitchell said a 26-23 come-from-behind victory at Ridgeland was the turning point because it was a game past Starkville teams would have lost.
“Our kids, not the coaches but our kids, made up their minds they weren’t going to get beat that night, and that’s when the whole attitude around our program changed,” Mitchell said.
The state title experience was bittersweet after a loss to Picayune, but with so many players, including every member of the starting backfield returning next season, Starkville and West Point figure to be favorites again in Class 5A in 2012.
“The fact we’ve gotten to be in the same breath as West Point so quickly is a great thing for us and the community that loves the rivalry,” Mitchell said. “I think everybody in 5A football now knows you’re going to have to go through one if not both of us to get to Jackson in the North Half.”
Said Miller, “It has to be (the most important hire at SHS athletics) and I’ll tell you why. My job is to win an all-sports championship at Starkville. It starts with the football program. It starts with the excitement on Monday morning around your school when your football team is winning,”
Starkville had 10 All-Area selections this season, and Mitchell, who was part of winning traditions at Itawamba Agricultural and Olive Branch high schools, knew the talent was at Starkville the moment he arrived.
“All we had to do is keep our kids grounded and keep them out of bad situations on and off the field,” Mitchell said. “They want to be coached and they want to succeed. We’re getting the pride back in this program by doing it one kid at a time here.”
Starkville is building a new field house for the football program that is supposed to be ready next fall. It is another piece that could help the Yellow Jackets make back-to-back trips to Jackson for the first time since 1994-95.
“Consistency is the first key,” Mitchell said. “We can’t be a shot in the dark. If we’re not able to follow up next year we’re not a great program. This is the beginning of that process. We got to prove we can do it over and over. That’s what Starkville football fans expect.”
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