Even back in high school in Ruleville, Ge’Rell James knew that he was going to return home one day and make a difference in his hometown.
Currently the head football and a basketball coach at Ruleville Middle School, James was inspired to go into coaching and education by the legendary and late Riddell Flowers.
“I think that man was a blessing to a whole lot of us, because the way he disciplined us, without profanity, that molded a lot of us,” James said. “A lot of us went on to play high school football, and we were good.”
James, the son Linda and George Allen, of Ruleville, became obsessed with athletics during his high school years.
“I was so doggone obsessed with football,” he said. “I could not see my life without football…I knew that If I’m able to make it to college, if I don’t make it to the NFL, I want to coach somewhere. I want to be Ruleville’s coach. It’s always been an aspiration of mine.”
James did go on to play in college, and he graduated from Henderson State University.
He took a couple of jobs outside of Sunflower County, including the offensive coordinator position at Yazoo City High School and another coaching job in Holmes County.
But Ruleville was always calling him, and he returned three years ago and took the assistant coach position on the middle school football team.
That first year, the team did not win a game, he said.
“The next year, I became the head coach,” James said. “We turned the season around to 5-3.”
This past year, the team went 6-1.
But it’s not all wins and losses for James. A championship mentality, he said, encompasses every aspect of the team and the players. That includes how they perform in the classroom.
“The way I do it is, we want to be a champion, but a championship mindset doesn’t start on the field. It’s a lifestyle,” James said. “Champions have to have a lifestyle. It comes with a lot. In their case, academics are first. You can’t be an athlete without being a student. School has to be emphasized by the coach.”
In order to reach the student and the athlete within a player, James said the coach has to be involved in their lives, on and off the field.
“I try to extend beyond school with my kids,” he said. “I have relationships with parents. A lot of things that are going on at home, I want to know about too. We touch our players’ entire life. Instead of just molding a player, we mold a person too.”
On the field, the work can be intense, but it is rewarding if the players buy into the program.
“My goal is to give my hometown’s kids a great experience in sports, while keeping all integrity intact,” James said.
James said that he is looking forward to seeing where the future takes the Ruleville Middle School teams he coaches.
He said he would like to see some drastic improvements, on and off the field, in the next five years.
“I would like to see the bleachers fixed, full of fans and my gym fixed. As far as the amount of success we have, that’s going to be on me,” he said.
He also wants to see his players succeed in life.
“Not just in sports,” he said. “I want them to be well-rounded people. I want them to eventually see everything I’ve been telling them about, and they start responding in the right ways. I want them to go over (to the high school) and become better people than they were when they were here.”
Currently, James teaches computer science classes at the middle school.
He hopes his students, athletes and non-athletes, can benefit from learning about a subject that could lead to a well-paying career one day.
His football team will be entering a new conference next year, the Delta Valley Conference. If the team does well enough in the regular season, they will have an opportunity to play a one-game playoff for the conference championship.
