Ray Westerfield is pictured prior to the MHSAA Class 4A state championship game as Louisville’s wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator during the Wildcats’ championship season in 2018. He was also a member of Kemper County’s 2016 Class 3A championship staff.

Ray Westerfield is no stranger to championships.

A 2006 Kemper County graduate, Westerfield was on the Wildcats’ 2016 staff under then-head coach Chris Jones when Kemper County went 15-1 and captured the MHSAA Class 3A state championship. Two years later, he was on the 2018 Louisville staff that won the Class 4A state title that fall, and also coached the 2019 Louisville track and field state championship team.

Times have been tough in Kemper County since the 2016 season as the Wildcats have gone just 7-28 the past three years. Westerfield was announced as Kemper County’s new football coach Wednesday evening on the school district’s official Twitter handle, and he said he’s ready to help the Wildcats get back on a winning track. He replaces John McKenzie, who coached the Wildcats the previous two seasons.

“It’s very special,” said Westerfield, who currently serves on Jones’ Starkville staff as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach. “It’s my first head coaching job, and to go back home and be able to do it in front of my family and friends, my classmates, my former teachers and my community, it means that much more. I also think it’ll make me that much more effective because the message will be coming from someone who walked those same halls.”

When new Kemper County Superintendent Hilute Hudson was hired in January, Westerfield said he heard there might be an opening for head football coach at the high school, and once the job was posted, Westerfield applied. His selling point? Build relationships with the players before expecting them to perform to their capabilities.

“There’s an old saying that they want to know that you care about them before they care about what you know,” Westerfield explained. “If that happens, everything else kind of falls in line and takes care of itself. Attention to detail is also important, as is being a tireless worker, a servant leader, and knowing that not job is too big no matter your job title.”

Jones said Kemper County is getting an excellent coach in Westerfield, whose impact will be felt right away.

“Kemper County is a special place for me for many reasons, so to see them hire a top-notch dude and quality coach like Westerfield was huge,” Jones said. “He is well-respected in the coaching community, and he’s a winner. He’s an extremely hard-working, dedicated coach who will do well with kids and has a passion for them. He also understands the dynamics of Kemper because he played there and coached there. I think he will do a good job. Knowing him, I think he’ll preach to his kids about doing the little things right both on and off the field and try to push as many kids as possible toward college. I’ve always thought that he was a really good coach, and I’m excited to see him run his own program and be successful.”

One thing Westerfield remembers from working at Kemper County in 2016 is how the football staff was able to get athletes at the school who weren’t playing football to join the team, which helped put them over the top. It’s something Westerfield says he plans to do when he gets back to DeKalb.

“There are a bunch of kids not playing for whatever reason, and to get back to where you should be, you have to have all of your good athletes on the team,” Westerfield said. “I’m a firm believer in a kid playing everything. The more you do, the more time you have to stay active, and when recruiters come recruiting kids — I have a background as a recruiting coordinator — besides the obvious things like grades and whether or not you can play, they want to know if these kids play another sport, because that’s important to colleges.”

Grateful for the opportunity he’s been given, Westerfield said he wanted to thank his parents, Charles and Geneva Westerfield, as well as his daughter, Trinity Westerfield, for their support.

“I don’t feel like I could have been where I am now without having parents that prayed for me,” Westerfield said. “I have an 11-year-old daughter, and over the years I’ve spent more time pouring into other children rather than her, and she’s never complained. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am.”

Westerfield said his last day at Starkville is March 27, and he hopes to be on campus at Kemper County by March 30. His initial plan is to get the players in the weight room and assessing where each player is and what they can do. Spring practice for the Wildcats is slated to begin around late April.