Family matters: Graford basketball head coach focuses on supporters after 1,000th win
About 60 miles northwest of Fort Worth fans pack into a small gymnasium to watch their version of Friday night lights. Graford High School’s boys basketball team took care of business as usual on Dec. 20, but its 90-34 win over De Leon was no ordinary win.
Head coach Jeff Bell led a team to victory for the 1,000th time.
Without a football team, the Graford gymnasium has become the center of the city’s athletics.
“They live and breathe basketball here,” said Bell. “It’s the closest thing to Hoosiers that you’re going to get anymore. Ex-players come and stand against the wall and they expect you to win. As a coach, I wouldn’t want it to be any other way because I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t that way.”
That energy made the job a match made in Heaven for Bell. And the results have followed.
The Runnin’ Rabbits’ recent success has come under Bell’s leadership. Their last two seasons ended with 1A state championship banners. Now, Bell and his team are seeking a third straight title, this time in class 2A.
His wife, Jennifer, said her husband focuses on three things in life.
“God, family and basketball,” she said. “That’s it.”
Family and basketball have always seemed to intertwine in the Bell household.
Jeff Bell coached all three sons, Josh, Jordan and Jake, through their high school careers.
“As the oldest, I’ve seen teams they didn’t see, so I think about those teams in the late 1980s and 1990s — those guys are in their 40s or 50s now and that was a base he built and now, he’s taking what he learned and has built upon that,” said Josh Bell.
Despite coaching 40 years later, his game plan is still the same.
“We all played for him and he was really hard on us,” said Jake Bell. “But he approaches games like he’s never won a game. And that’s how he got to a thousand.”
Jeff Bell coached Josh at Taylor High School and coached both Jordan and Jake during his time at Brock.
“Josh set the example for Jake and I,” said Jordan Bell. “He taught us how to play and we learned a lot from him and from dad’s coaching that led us to be successful men today and we appreciate that.”
He also coached at North Hopkins, Fort Worth Christian Academy, Bland and Midway, among others. While traveling and being a part of so many different teams, Jeff Bell was able to make valuable connections wherever he went.
“We’re his kids, so we’re in touch daily,” said Jordan Bell. “But it’s just one big family, whether you played at Brock or Graford, he knew all his players.”
Jake Bell was inspired by his dad to become a coach, himself. He worked with him as an assistant on his staff at Graford before landing at Southwest Christian Academy, where he currently coaches the girls’ program.
While Jeff Bell was at North Hopkins, Jake Bell coached at Martin’s Mill—a team in the same district as his father. In those games and any following, he took his father’s advice.
“Everybody coaches differently,” he said. “And the best advice he gave me was to be your own coach and to be yourself.”
Jeff Bell acknowledged the sacrifices those around him made throughout his coaching career, especially his wife. He gave her a special thanks in his post-game speech.
“If you have a spouse that will support you, then you will be successful in this business,” he said. “But if you do not, you cannot be successful in this business and I have a spouse that has followed me everywhere. She has let me live my dream.”
He also attributed his success to his three sons.
“It’s not my cup of tea to brag on my boys about when they were players, but they were really great players,” he said. “And they made me successful where I could get jobs like Graford.”
An extended part of that family was assistant coach Steven Stegall.
“Without great assistant coaches, you cannot do this,” said Jeff. “And I have the best.”
Stegall coached with Jeff Bell at Brock, went on to become a head coach and then returned as an assistant at Graford.
“It’s hard to imagine when somebody gets 1,000 wins, that’s a lot of wins, so it’s an incredible feat and proud to be a part of it,” said Stegall.
Stegall said he is thankful for the relationship he has built with Jeff Bell.
“He took a chance on me back in 2002 when I was a pretty young coach,” he said. “He took me in at Brock and showed me what it means to be a coach and to put time in and how hard you have to work.”
One of the most important parts of Stegall and Jeff Bell’s coaching dynamic is their ability to reach their student athletes to help them reach their potential.
“We work together real good,” said Stegall. “We joke around that sometimes I’m the bad cop and he’s the good and sometimes he’s the bad and I’m the good.”
That dynamic works wonders on the teams they’ve built.
“You’ve got to listen to him,” said Stegall. “I’ve seen how he works his magic with a kid. I’ve seen him take kids and make them all-state players.”
Cye Lemley, a senior on the Graford team this year, said Bell helped him find a love for the game that he doesn’t think anyone else could have.
“He’s made us into a family and we all love him, he loves us and he makes us want to win every game.”
In his speech, Bell said he would run for a wall for any of his players. Lemley said he would do the same for Bell.
That dedication and sacrifice has been a recipe for success under Bell. Jake said his dad outworks everyone.
“You call him in the fall, he’s at a fall league game, you call him in the spring he’s at a spring league game, in the summer he’s at the gym watching film,” he said. “It’s really what he loves to do—he has no other hobbies.”
That’s why his energy matches perfectly with Graford—a town with no football team.
“You go down to the cafe or the gas station and they want to talk basketball,” said Stegall. “This is it for us. There’s no football here and they just love their basketball—the fans are die-hard and they have high expectations every year. It’s a neat place to be.”
Basketball consumes the community.
“They live it, they breathe it, they bleed it, they eat it,” said Jake Bell. “It means everything to them.”
Jake Bell said it isn’t just the perfect job for his dad, but probably his last. None of the brothers think their dad has plans to move away from Graford.
“I think God aligned that so he could come here and finish his career,” he said. “That’s what brings us the most joy, that this is the perfect job for him to close his career.”
With four state titles between Brock and Graford, and a good chance at another one this season, Jeff Bell could hang up his whistle as No. 32 in the nation on the wins leaderboard among high school basketball coaches, according to MaxPreps. It would be an impressive career.
Jake Bell gave a speech after the game, but he made sure to put that idea to rest.
“Don’t ask when he’s going to retire because we’ll probably be back here for 1,500 wins,” he said.
After the game, Jeff Bell was greeted by lines of fans that congratulated him and thanked him for what he has done for the program. He said he’s glad he has been able to bring success to the Graford community, but the kids winning and improving is what’s most important to him.
“The win is what’s important to me,” he said. “I think it’s important to the community, as well, that we’ve had success, but I’m going to try to get that 1,001st win and go from there.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
