By Rick Breland

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ &8212; It&8217;s hard to quantify the impact of Ken Beesley&8217;s 38-year career as a coach and teacher at Cathedral High School, but if you ask him the numbers are not the real story so much as are the individual lives he&8217;s touched.

Last Friday, Beesley joined a select club of coaches with 200 career victories. What makes his accomplishment all the more rare is the fact that all of his wins came while he was at one school.

During Beesley&8217; career he&8217;s coached in excess of 1,000 players, taken 18 teams to the postseason, won 10 or more games in a season six times, won seven district championships, been to the three south state championships, won two state championships in baseball and touched the lives of countless others both in the classroom and on the sidelines.

&8220;He&8217;s special. It&8217;s almost as hard as complimenting your wife &8212; that&8217;s how much he means to me,&8221; Joe Joe Eidt said. &8220;To have given 38 years to one school with the morals and values he teaches to kids and exhibits in his own life is something you can&8217;t overstate the value of.

&8220;I&8217;m not looking forward to the day when he hangs it up, because the shoes he&8217;ll leave will be impossible to fill.&8221;

The group of former players that gathered on the field after Friday&8217;s win spoke volumes about coach Beesley&8217;s legacy.

&8220;This was my first time back since I played in the Catholic Bowl Championship in 1987,&8221; Michael Hall said. &8220;I was a wild one back then and we butted heads. Coach Beesley instilled in me the discipline I needed to become someone in life.&8221;

Hall was just one of several, who after the game retold of their favorite memories as a player under Beesley.

&8220;I remember we were playing Bogue Chitto and coach put up this plaque in the locker room that had a quote on it about making a stand,&8221; Daryl Woods said. &8220;I took the plaque after the game and to this day I saved it. It was awesome to have played under him &8212; these are some lucky kids on this field tonight.&8221;

After graduating in 1986, Woods went on to play football and graduate from the Air Force Academy. He credits Beesley as being a constant source of inspiration in his life.

Beesley said that it is the relationships such as that one and all the others, who call from time to time, that he values above all the wins.

After reflecting on the accomplishment over the weekend Beesley said he felt blessed to have coached so many players over the years, and credited them all for having helped him reach the milestone.

But in consummate coaching fashion Beesley added that there are no games more important than the one ahead.

&8220;It&8217;s a big milestone. I&8217;m glad I finally got it,&8221; Beesley said. &8220;I feel honored to have had all 200 with one school. It was a big deal for the school and the entire Cathedral family. I give so much credit to the players who played for me over the years.

&8220;Now not to downplay it, but we have homecoming this week and we&8217;re trying to make the playoffs, and that&8217;s all we need to focus on right now.&8221;