Difference maker

It's not easy being the coach's kid.

Elijah Coffey knows how tough it can be as well as anyone. He's been a coach's kid his whole life.

"I feel like there's more pressure," said Coffey, a senior football player at Siloam Springs. "People look at me different because I'm a coach's kid. I have to have a better demeanor on the field, but I also have to do better. People say (the expectation is) not true."

Whatever the stigma of being a coach's kid is or is perceived to be, Coffey holds himself to an even higher standard.

"I feel like I put more pressure on myself than being a coach's kid puts on me," he said.

The Coffey family moved to Siloam Springs in the fall of 2017 after spending several years in Green Forest where Tony Coffey was a baseball and football coach for several years. Tony Coffey was hired to coach football and baseball for the Panthers.

Elijah Coffey was a freshmen then and immediately made an impact as a ninth-grade football and varsity baseball player his freshman year.

Since then he's become a standout player in both of those sports, including being a three-year starter for the football team, which returns to action this week at home against Van Buren for homecoming.

But with his dad being a coach, Elijah Coffey admits it hasn't always been smooth sailing, but he's better because he has his dad with him.

"It was difficult for a while. Last year, the whole year last year was just hard," Elijah Coffey said. "We figured it out and got through it. Now we have a better relationship than we've ever had. It just makes me happier. We have a better relationship and I wouldn't be able to do as well in practice or in games. Now I'm happier. I want to go out and practice and play and I hope that helps my demeanor on the field."

Tony Coffey, who coaches linebackers on the Panthers football team, said it's been a process for him as well.

"I learned a long time ago to not talk about ball practice at home unless he asks me questions," Tony Coffey said. "I always have to ask him if he wants to talk to dad or coach, because I can separate the two. I just try to support him and listen when he wants to be heard. Thirty years of marriage has taught me that they don't always want a fix. They just want you to listen."

The father-son, coach-player dynamic is something head coach Brandon Craig is familiar with. He coached his son Payton at Oologah as Payton Craig was the Mustangs' starting quarterback for three seasons. And Brandon Craig was familiar with the criticisms that go with it.

"I was probably too hard and a lot harder on my son than I was the other kids, because the expectations for him were off the chart because he was my kid and he was playing quarterback," Craig said. "It's something I personally regret because I didn't get a chance to really enjoy his playing time. I think as a parent you just feel that stress because so many other parents are out there saying he's only playing because he's the coach's kid. It would be a lot easier if he were standing on the sideline not playing, but he did a great job for me.

"I know Coach Coffey's going through the same thing with his kid, and his kid's an outstanding football player."

Elijah Coffey (5-foot-9, 134 pounds) played a big role in Siloam Springs' 34-14 win against Harrison on Sept. 11, intercepting a pass in the end zone to end a potential scoring drive for the Goblins. He also caught five passes for 92 yards.

After the game, Craig said Elijah Coffey was an "old school baller" -- a compliment he doesn't hand down lightly these days.

"He's a guy that can do anything you ask him to do," Craig said. "If we ask him to play right guard, he would give us his best effort and do it."

Coffey started at defensive back his sophomore and junior years. Coffey earned 6A-West All-Conference honors his junior season after recording 68 total tackles, seven pass breakups and one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He also played a role on special teams returning kickoffs and punts.

"I told coach I'd do anything it takes to be on the field," Coffey said.

Coffey has added a starting role at wide receiver this season and leads the Panthers with 215 receiving yards on 10 catches through three games. He's caught three touchdown passes. He also has served as the deep snapper and punter. On defense he's recorded 12 total tackles, including six solo, one pass breakup and one interception.

"He does everything for us that you could imagine," Craig said, "and he's a great football player. He's just a kid that wants to compete all the time."

Coffey also competes with confidence.

"He's definitely got confidence and that's part of it," Craig said. "But he also knows the game and has a good background of the game and that helps him out."

Coffey said he watched an ESPN 30 for 30 special on former NBA legend Larry Bird when he was younger and saw how Bird carried a confident swagger.

"He would say, 'I'm going to do this, this and this to you and go out and do these things against guys who were better than him," Coffey said. "That's what I've tried to live by."

Coffey said the coaches at Siloam Springs, particularly Craig, give him and his teammates a reason to be confident.

"Coach Craig instills a lot of confidence in us, because he believes in us," he said. "All the coaching staff, they all believe in us. They don't think that we can't beat this team. They think we're going to work hard every week. We're going to work harder than them, and we're going to be more physical than them. That's kind of burned in our brains now that we're going to have this confidence to go out and win every game. It doesn't matter how many people are down or injured, we're going to work harder than them. We work on that in practice. It carries over into games."

Coffey also said his parents have taught him to be humble as well. As a senior he said he feels like he's grown up a lot and he wants to bring leadership to the Panthers. And he isn't alone.

"A lot of guys stepped up that I didn't think were going to step up," he said. "A lot of seniors that were kind of quiet stepped up and starting leading. We all had to take it upon ourselves to take this team and guide them in the direction the program's been going."

Not bad for a coach's kid.