Thumbing through a manila folder full of sepia-colored Polaroids, Benny Coffee is taken back to the good old days.
There’s Coffee as a linebacker, prowling the middle of the Plant City High gridiron, looking to hit a Lake Wales Highlander.
There’s Coffee on the sideline, getting his ankle taped by a trainer so he can get back onto the field quickly.
There’s Coffee with his teammates, his coaches, people that helped make his playing days fond memories.
Coffee poured his heart and soul into the game of football, and the game rewarded him with the ability to look back and smile.
He’s been back in Plant City for about two and one half years, after spending his post-Raider days playing, coaching and working around the South. Coffee, since retired, moved back to be closer to his family.
Although he loved few things more than living in Mobile, Alabama, Coffee’s content with coming full circle.
RAIDER DAYS
Plant City is where Coffee grew up and where his football career began.
His high school career started at Marshall High, now Marshall Middle, where he played defense for the Dragons under head coach Kelly Williams. Coffee first enrolled in the 1966-67 school year, just a year removed from the Dragons’ famed undefeated season.
As he played through his freshman, sophomore and junior years, he developed into a strong, athletic linebacker known for his physicality. In 1969, integration brought Coffee to Plant City High.
Coffee says that there were notable differences between playing at Marshall and playing at Plant City, where Williams became an assistant to head coach Hank Sytsma, but that those differences had no effect on his morale.
“Everything changed,” Coffee says. “I found that the practices were much easier. When we were at Marshall, we had real hard practices every day. Over time, you got used to it. Plant City High, the preparation was a little bit more intense. I guess, with the talent that was already there, our biggest thing was preparation — making sure things were done right. Hank Sytsma did a good job with that.”
He also says that the transition from schools was so smooth, he and his teammates had no problems on or off the field. It helped that three of his cousins — Chester Sikes, Jerry Sikes and Willie James Morrison — were also members of Marshall’s and Plant City’s defenses.
“I enjoyed it,” Coffee says. “I didn’t have problems with nothing. I got along with everybody — teachers, students — it was just like family. A lot of guys, it was the same way for them.”
That year, Coffee’s hard work paid off: he had college offers coming on most days, won county and state All-Star awards and, at one point, made the South Florida team in the state All-Star Game in Jacksonville.
RATTLER DAYS
Even thinking about Tallahassee puts a smile on Coffee’s face.
Attending Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University, he says, was one of the best decisions he’s made. Coffee, a physical education major, played linebacker for the Rattlers until graduating in 1974. Those four Rattlers seasons saw three head coaches and went 21-22.
Although the Rattlers’ record wasn’t spectacular during Coffee’s time there, Coffee’s play was. His physicality and football IQ made him a force on the field and landed him a spot in the school’s athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
PROS TO PREPS
Coffee’s play with the Rattlers and the World Football League’s Houston Texans and Jacksonville Sharks earned him some NFL recognition. It landed him a spot in Detroit Lions training camp in August of 1974. Things were going well for him, and it appeared that he would survive the final wave of cuts and make the team.
Then, tragedy struck. Head coach Don McCafferty, with whom Coffee and his agent were on good terms, died of a heart attack. Rick Forzano was given the reins, but he and Coffee did not have as good of a relationship. Coffee knew that his days with the Lions were numbered and, when he didn’t survive the final cuts, moved on to other ventures.
Coffee put his degree to use and went into teaching physical education and special needs students. He coached at Lake Wales High School for a year and spent five years teaching and coaching at Shaw High in Columbus, Georgia. He also spent a year as a counselor at Tampa United Methodist Center.
It was a former Lions offseason teammate, Ray Parker, who convinced Coffee to join a football program in Mobile, Alabama.
He had a 25-year run as LeFlore High School’s defensive coordinator.
“You can’t beat it,” Coffee says. “It’s very, very competitive. They’ll run you out of there if you’re not winning.”
After his 25 years in Alabama, Coffee decided it was time to retire. He moved to Plant City for good in 2013.
“I always think about going back to work,” Coffee says. “I hear some people say they enjoy retirement. But I don’t enjoy retirement I’d still like to work.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.