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'I still love it.' Central Catholic’s Debbie Coffman at 600 wins and counting

A girls high school basketball team stands in a circle as the coach raises an open left hand while giving instructions to her players
Eric Stock
/
WGLT
Debbie Coffman, center, talks to her team late in Saturday's victory over Decatur St. Teresa at Central Catholic High School in Bloomington. The win was the 600th in Coffman's career as the Saints' girls head basketball coach.

As the waning seconds ticked away Saturday, Debbie Coffman could breathe easy. There would be no frantic finish at Central Catholic High School’s Cvengros Gym. Coffman’s team had a comfortable lead long before the final buzzer in a 56-26 victory over Decatur St. Teresa.

The win was No. 600 in Coffman’s career as the Saints’ girls head basketball coach. Her 600-184 record, amassed over 27 seasons, includes a state championship, two state runner-up finishes and a third-place trophy. According to Illinois High School Association records, she is the 18th girls coach to reach 600 wins and the 13th to do it at one school.

That’s a lot of success and staying power.

Speaking of staying …

“Everyone keeps asking, ‘When are you done? When are you done?’” Coffman said. “I don’t know that I’m done yet. I still love it. I still enjoy the families. The families support us here at Central Catholic.

“The administration has been very supportive over the years. I just say one year at a time now. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me when I’m going to be done, I’d be rich.”

Money aside, Coffman is rich. She’s rich in relationships, from the basketball family she grew up in – “It’s in our blood,” she says of the Kessingers – to the one she has built with her husband, Mike, and their children, Braxton and Bailey, both former Central Catholic athletes.

Two women smiling and posing at the camera wearing navy blue shirts with a gold fleur-de-lis logo
Eric Stock
/
WGLT
Assistant coach Mendy Smith, left, has served with head coach Debbie Coffman for 27 seasons at Central Catholic High School.

She is rich in friendships, most notably with assistant coach Mendy Smith, who has been at her side for all 600 wins. They have established a program centered on work ethic, pressure defense, unselfishness and a family feel.

They began at Central as “Coach K,” for Debbie Kessinger, and “Coach T,” for Mendy Thompson. It’s been many years since either went by her maiden name, but the Coach K and Coach T references live on.

Asked what the 600-win milestone means, Coffman said, “It means I’ve had a lot of good athletes come through the program. That’s what it’s all about … athletes buying into what Coach T and I have been doing for the last 27 years.”

A former Prairie Central standout player, Coffman has been at Central Catholic 31 years in all, serving as an assistant to JoAnn Bowers for four years prior to becoming head coach. Smith was an assistant at Bloomington before joining Coffman at Central.

They have plotted strategy together, raised families and even were pregnant at the same time: Coffman with her daughter, Bailey, and Smith with twin boys, Lucas and Thomas.

“I haven’t met anybody in the (coaching) field who cares more … cares more about doing it the right way, making it a family atmosphere for our two families as well as the school,” Smith said. “She just dedicates her time to trying to make people be the best they can be.

“No matter what group comes, she’s going to demand the same amount of work ethic. They see it from her, so we always have kids who play hard.”

That pays off on the scoreboard, but also in deeper, more meaningful ways. Coffman said “six or seven” former players have returned as assistant coaches over the years. This season, 2014 graduate Molly McGraw, who went on to star at Illinois Wesleyan, is in her sixth year. Bailey Coffman is in her first.

“That (the former players) says a lot for the program, wanting to be involved and give some time,” Debbie Coffman said. “It’s fun to watch those kids come back and give back to the program.”

Smith agreed, saying, “We want to make sure they feel like this is home to come back to.”

It has felt that way for McGraw, who said the cornerstones of the program – hard work, pressing defense, etc. – are ‘“the same as when I played.”

What’s changed is watching Coffman from the perspective of a coach.

“I gain more and more respect for her every season,” McGraw said. “She’s smart. She knows what she’s doing and I’m trying to learn from her.”

Coffman has learned during her career. After seeing her children experience “the grind and everything it takes to be a student-athlete,” she has a better appreciation for her players’ workload on and off the court.

She admits players “sometimes can talk me out of things a little bit more” than they could in the past.

But don’t be misled. Coffman may be softer around the edges, but she is not soft.

Mike Coffman, who met Debbie Kessinger when both were at Eureka College, called 600 wins “awesome.” He thought back to 2010 when his wife’s team reached the coveted state tournament after several near misses and “the fight she put into it.”

“She’s still got some fight left in her,” he said. “It’s quite an accomplishment to get to 600 and she’s just going to be moving on to the next game, right? She knows the drill.”

An accountant, Mike Coffman is a numbers guy. So is Braxton, who has followed his father into accounting and works for him.

Braxton Coffman also is coaching basketball for the first time, serving as freshman coach and assistant varsity coach at Heyworth.

With 600 wins and having coached nearly 800 games, his mother is a great resource for coaching advice, he said.

“My entire life, I’ve seen her coaching,” he said. “At this point, 600 is such a big number, I’ve forgotten 200, 300, 400. It’s like, ‘Oh, when is her next milestone going to be? I’ll be there.’”

The milestones have earned Debbie Coffman a place in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Now, Smith will be joining her. It was announced earlier this month Smith will be inducted in the Career Coach category as part of the 2025 class.

“That was unexpected and I felt very honored,” Smith said. “That again goes back to Debbie, her letting me do this with her and the school supporting us being mothers as well. I was just very humbled.”

Coffman’s eyes got moist when talking about her friendship with Smith. She said the two “question each other” occasionally, but are always on the same side.

Both have jobs outside of coaching and have juggled work, parenthood and basketball.

“You can’t do this without a spouse,” Coffman said. “I hope other young female coaches just look at that … that you can do it, but it does take a family commitment. Mendy and I have had that with our families and our spouses. John (Smith ) and Mike have done a lot for us.”

And now, as Mike Coffman said, it’s on to the next game. The Saints’ season rolls on and so do their coaches.

They’re not done yet.

Veteran Bloomington-Normal journalist joined WGLT as a correspondent in 2023. You can reach Randy at rkindred58@gmail.com.