Coach Charles Peets was a stellar football coach and athletic director serving schools at Isola, Indianola, Port Gibson, Water Valley, Northwest Junior College, Rolling Fork, Louisville, and Cooper High at Vicksburg. Born in Leland, Coach Peets was most athletic, most versatile, and a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball at Leland High where he was also sports editor of the high school newspaper, Leland Hi-Times. He achieved his degrees at Leland, Sunflower Junior College at Moorhead, Delta State, and Ole Miss. He lettered in football, baseball, and basketball at Sunflower and lettered in baseball at Delta State. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955, he started his 14-year coaching career in 1956 as head football coach at Isola. After one season, he went to Indianola High as an assistant for 1 year before arriving at Port Gibson in 1958. In just two seasons at Port Gibson, he led his team to the 1959 Capital Athletic Conference title, but moved north to Water Valley in 1960. Coach Peets was head football coach at Water Valley, but he also organized the first track & field program at the school. Charles moved to the JUCO ranks at Northwest in Senatobia for one season before arriving at Rolling Fork in 1964. He promptly led his football team to the 1964 Delta Valley Conference title and a victory in the Red Carpet Bowl in Vicksburg. Coach Peets then went to Louisville for three years and completed his coaching career at Cooper High in Vicksburg. He also was athletic director for 11 years at Port Gibson, Water Valley, Rolling Fork, Louisville, and Cooper High. Overall, his football teams won 86 games with 37 losses and 6 ties for a 66% winning percentage out of 129 total games coached. Charles entered school administration following his coaching days working as principal at Carr Junior High in Vicksburg, principal at Vicksburg High, administrative assistant for Vicksburg Public Schools, and principal at his alma mater at Leland. Coach Peets was honored for his coaching achievements with a coach of the year award by the Capital Athletic Conference and serving as the conference’s president for one year. He was assistant coach in 1960 and head coach in the 1968 Bernard Blackwell All-Star football classic. Charles was a loyal MAC member of the MAC and also a member of the Mississippi Education Association, the National Education Association, the National High School Principals Association, and Phi Delta Kappa. He was a clinic speaker, and FCA sponsor, and chairman of the Teacher Evaluation Manual Committee for the Vicksburg Public Schools. Coach Peets was a long serving member of the Lions Club and Kiwanis Clubs where he was 9-time president of the organizations in his community. He served two terms on the Advisory Council of Hinds Community College Vo-Tech and was on the joint advisory board for Hinds CC in connection with Vicksburg and Warren County schools.