After the end of a 4-6 season, Football Head Coach Jeff Hulme announced his new contract as Defensive Coordinator for Eastern New Mexico University, an NCAA Division II program. Hulme will finish out the year assisting ENMU while living in New Mexico and helping Legacy staff as needed.
Coach Hulme started his tenure at Legacy in 2021, where he instantly impacted his players and fellow coaches.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been five years,” Coach Hulme said. “I’ve loved everything there is to love about Legacy, the people, the community and the leadership.”
Coach Hulme said he worked extra hard to make sure his impact on the community was not just a football coach. He wanted to build relationships with as many people as possible, and continue to learn and grow himself.
“If you’re not learning, you’re dying,” Coach Hulme said. “I’ve grown so much from the wonderful coaches around me, like Coach Morris, Coach Mickles, Coach Knowles and everyone else. They’ve pushed me to become the best coach and leader I can be.”
Over time, grades have been an issue when it comes to in-school sports. If a player fails a class, they become ineligible and cannot play until the grade is fixed. However, this past year, Hulme held each player accountable and varsity football had zero ineligible players because of grades.
“He doesn’t just believe in us as football players, but he believes in us as young men,” junior Jackson Reeves said. “He hopes our chapter of life at Legacy is amazing, but not the best chapter of our lives. He wants us to go on and do great things like become fathers, get strong careers and ultimately become successful men.”
Coach Hulme’s wife, Mindi Hulme, also leaves her impact on students wherever she goes, as she leads the Student2Student Mentorship program that many Legacy students take part in.
“We both have been blessed by the work we’ve been given to do over the past five years and the relationships we’ve built,” Ms. Hulme said. “It brings joy to our hearts when former students and players reach out to update us on their lives or invite us to their weddings or tell us about a life lesson that finally made sense to them.”
In his time at Legacy, Hulme tried to make himself more than just a coach to his players; he wanted to display strong character to ensure these young men had someone to look up to, and he did this in many different ways.
“I think he was a role model to his players by his daily commitment to being there early, staying late, having a positive and energetic attitude,” Ms. Hulme said. “He also built relationships with not only his players and coaches but the managers, trainers and random students as he does cafeteria duty.”
Coach Hulme led the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2019, and this was one of his favorite memories with the team.
“Coach Hulme helped me a lot when he prepared me for my first game on varsity,” junior Cannon Clary said. “He constantly gave me drills to work on from home to better my abilities, and this really benefited me and I’m very grateful.”
Moving forward, Coach Hulme will start the next chapter of his career in early January, working with Eastern New Mexico University and Legacy. Ms. Hulme will continue her leadership here in Mansfield throughout the spring, and move to New Mexico in May.
“Legacy will always be special to me, forever,” Coach Hulme said. “When people say ‘L-Side’, I take that personally, I embrace that, because it really does mean something special.”
