Longtime Bethel football coach Jeff Turner retiring

A teaching and football coaching career spanning nearly three decades comes to the end of the fourth quarter on Thursday when Jesse Bethel's Jeff Turner officially hangs up his whistle in retirement.

A ceremony will be held on Thursday at 12:45 p.m. on Bethel's campus for Turner, along with John Baptista, a longtime coach and athletic director who is also starting retirement. The ceremony will be a chance for students, family and friends to thank Turner and Baptista for their hard work and dedication.

Along with being a longtime atheltic director at the school, Turner was also Bethel's first and only head football coach from 1999 through 2021 when he stepped down to become just a teacher at the school. Five years later he will now step away from Bethel for good.

From 1999 through 2021 Turner coached some exceptional teams, especially in 2007 and 2011 with 11-2 squads. He's also had some teams that struggled, including a few squads that failed to win a game (2000, 2015). Many other teams finished at 5-5 or 4-6 that hit their stride late in the season. Since 2004, Turner was 95-77-1, according to maxpreps.com.

However, during each of those 27 years at the school nothing mattered more to him than one aspect.

"The number one thing for me is helping the kids, especially the football players I coached," Turner said on Wednesday. "I always wanted to see them go to the next level. Everything I did, whether it was coaching or teaching was always about the kids. Whether we were 0-10, 11-2, beating Grant in the playoffs, it was never about me. Always the kids."

He's also helped guide players like Rodney Cook, who is now a basketball coach at ELITE High, along with former NFL star running back C.J. Anderson, who is now a head coach at Benicia High.

On Wednesday Anderson told the Times-Herald that "Coach T means the world to me" and that he received his greatest advice from him.

"He told me to love the game the right way and if you don't like your situation, then change it," Anderson said. "Words I live by in my career. We had some good times at Bethel, but when I showed up at Laney my first year I was struggling and not getting the carries I felt I should get. He told me that if I didn't like, fix it. I don't think I ever worked harder than that offseason and summer before my second year at Laney."

Less than a decade later Anderson would score a rushing touchdown in a Denver Broncos' Super Bowl win over the Carolina Panthers.

"I'm not the man I am today without Coach T," Anderson said. "I wouldn't be the person, coach or player I was without Coach T."

Turner originally planned to retire in a year, but admitted on Wednesday that, "it was time."

"I wanted my end date to be next year, but I think the higher ups wanted all the old farts to get out," Turner said. "The last two weeks have been an emotional time. The clock kept ticking and during the student's finals it's been a happy time. I've really loved this group of ninth graders being sucessful. The majority of those kids have been very positive."

Although Turner has done a lot on and off the football field, his most rewarding may have been the last two years when he was an assistant coach on the junior varsity team with his son, Mal Turner.

"I never dreamed of anything like that and it's been the best thing ever," Jeff said, getting emotional while he talked. "It was one of the best things ever to see my son take a leadership role on and to see how he challenged his players. Now, we also battled a few times, but that's what coaches do, it just happens that this time it was my son. You can't put a price on that."

Jeff Turner said he's not sure what retirement will be like yet, but he knew he was going to miss the kids but not the rollercoaster like ride that comes with being a coach, athletic director or teacher.

"I'm going to miss the kids and all my co-workers," Jeff said. "I've been very blessed to be around good people, not just the ones around the football and physical education office, but all the coaches. But running a program, it's tough. It's an emotional rollercoaster. It's frustrating when certain things don't go your way. That part, I won't miss."

Turner went on to thank the media, including many members from the Times-Herald like this reporter, along with former Times-Herald sports reporters Matt O'Donnell, Ken Hart and Tom Zuzelski.

"It's been great with all you (the media) as well," Turner said. "I've had a blessed life so far."

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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 7:27 PM.