This is an opinion piece.

Paul Benefield didn’t expect to be the head football coach at Fyffe High School for almost three decades when he took over in 1997.

“It seems like just yesterday that I started,” he said this week. “I was young and dumb. It was kind of a struggle when I first got here. I was just thinking one day at a time, one week at a time. Time has flown by so fast. It doesn’t seem right.”

Benefield will coach his 345th game at the school tonight at Ider.

Remarkably, if the Red Devils win, it will be his 300th victory at Fyffe.

“It’s something to be proud of,” he said. “Hopefully, it’s something for all the kids who played a part of it to be proud of. They were a big part of it. I was just a minor part. They did all the work and were on the field.

“Truly, it goes back to longevity I guess. The good Lord has blessed me with health enough to do it for this long. It’s unbelievable really to think about being at one place for this long in this day and age. But we’ve got a good community here that loves football and supports the program and lets me coach.”

Whenever the next Fyffe win occurs, Benefield will become just the second head coach in Alabama history to win at least 300 games at one school. All of longtime Vestavia Hills’ coach Buddy Anderson’s 346 wins came with the Rebels.

Jamie Riggs won 293 games in 27 years at T.R. Miller. Danny Horn, currently second on the all-time wins list, has 287 victories at Central-Clay County and Clay County combined. All-time wins leader Terry Curtis has 276 wins at UMS-Wright.

“I don’t know that there will be many more reach 300,” Benefield said. “It’s just difficult to stay at one school long enough.”

Benefield’s record – both at Fyffe and overall – is remarkable. He spent his first five years (1992-1996) as head coach at Sylvania before moving to Fyffe, his alma mater. In 32 years overall, Benefield has never had a losing season. Not one.

His first Sylvania team went 5-4. His fourth Fyffe team went 5-5.

That’s as close as he’s come to a losing season.

Benefield was 45-11 at Sylvania. He’s 299-45 at Fyffe. He has won 172 of 189 region games and is 63-23 in the postseason with six state championships. In an anonymous AL.com poll of statewide coaches in 2022, he was voted by his peers the best active coach in the state.

He’s also one of the must humble. What’s his key to success at Fyffe?

“We just had some scrappy little hard-nosed kids that came along and stuck with the program and just kept plugging,” he said.

I’m thinking that’s a part of it, sure. But Benefield is they key.

His first four teams at Fyffe went 8-3, 8-3, 7-5 and 5-5 before winning at least 10 games in seven straight seasons.

“I think we had 17 players that first year,” Benefield said. “We probably didn’t have any more the next year and a little less the next year. They didn’t even field a junior high team the year before I came in. It was headed toward rock bottom.

“But we went 12-1 in 2001 and those were some of the kids that were in seventh and eighth grade when I got there. We’ve just been blessed through it.”

Benefield’s first state title came in 2014. He’s won one at least every other year since, including three straight from 2018-2020. The Red Devils went 15-0 and won again in 2022.

This year’s team opened the season with a 17-6 loss to Geraldine but has outscored the competition 375-62 since.

“We are playing four freshmen a lot, starting three on the offensive line,” he said. (Star running back) Logan (Anderson) has just gotten to where he is 100 percent healthy in the last month. He was probably 80 percent when the season started. We weren’t blocking then either. We still have a long way to go.”

Benefield, 64, has hinted at retirement a few times over the years. But he also realizes how special it is to coach at his alma mater, live two miles from the school and to have built a legacy at Fyffe. He says the losses still hurt more than the wins are celebrated.

“It’s sad but true,” he said.

Benefield is one of the true characters in high school football – a great coach with a down home attitude who has done it his way and been a huge success.

It’s not just a blessing for Fyffe to have him, but for the state of Alabama and high school coaching in general.

The strength of Saraland

Reigning 6A champion Saraland has won 14 straight games entering tonight’s matchup at home with Theodore and most of them haven’t been close.

The No. 1-ranked Spartans have a rare collection of future college players that includes Texas QB commit KJ Lacey, Alabama WR commit Ryan Williams, Alabama DT commit Antonio Coleman, Memphis LB commit Jamison Curtis and a host of other quality players.

Are they one of the best teams ever in Alabama high school sports. Jason Caldwell of Inside the Auburn Tigers and the 247 Sports network has been covering prep sports/recruiting in the state for more than two decades.

Here is what he said this week on Sports Talk 99.5 in Mobile.

“You think about some of those Hoover teams and some of those recent Thompson teams we’ve seen. I think they are very comparable even though they are 6A,” he said of the Spartans. “The one I measure everything against is the team I was on the field against – though I wasn’t on it much – and that’s Anniston in 1989 with Steve Christopher and Orlando Waters and Larry Bowie. They had a load of talent and went 15-0 and won a state championship. Obviously, the Vigor roster (in 1988) was so good. This Saraland team is right up there in terms of talent. Obviously, Ryan Williams and KJ Lacey and those guys get a ton of attention, but that defensive front with Antonio Coleman is so tough as well.”

Caldwell played on a Sylacauga team that got beat 39-0 by Anniston in the regular season. Berry Halladay’s Bulldogs averaged 32 points a game and gave up just 7. They defeated Larry Henderson’s Murphy 12-6 to win the Class 6A state title at Legion Field.

Recruiting notes

Four-star junior DE Jared Smith has officially enrolled in Thompson High School, officials confirm. Smith transferred from Spain Park.

McGill-Toolen 2024 DB Shemar Welch committed to Troy.

Andalusia DT and Georgia Tech commit Landen Marshall offered by Houston.

Buckhorn basketball star and Mr. Basketball candidate Caleb Holt offered by Tennessee. (Side note: High school basketball season kicks off next week)

QBs Trent Seaborn (Thompson), KJ Lacey (Saraland) visiting Texas this week. Lacey is committed to the Longhorns.

Vigor OT and Georgia commit Micah DeBose visiting FAMU.

Cottage Hill 2026 LB/DE Shadarius Toodle received his first Big 12 offer from Baylor.

Gulf Shores 2026 ATH/LB Jamichael Garrett offered by Ole Miss.

Thought for the Week

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” – Colossians 3:23.

Ben Thomas is the high school sportswriter at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected]. He can be heard weekly on “Inside High School Sports” on SportsTalk 99.5 FM in Mobile or on the free IHeart Radio App at 2 p.m. Wednesdays.