Head Coach Arness Georgetown has won multiple championship games at the Mississippi School for the Deaf. Georgetown has taught and coached at the school since 1991. Mackenzie Salmon, Clarion Ledger

Within the Mississippi School for the Deaf is an office quite like any other. The walls of that office, however, areahomage to the success of the school's football program.

More specifically, they are homage to the success of Arness Georgetown.

The walls of the head coach's officeare lined with print-outs of newspaper articles chronicling eight-man football championshipsalongside photos of title teams as far back as 1995.

"I don't lookat the championships and rings," Georgetown said."The opportunities I've had and the kids I've touched along the way is howI look at [it].

"We've been blessed to have good athletes and good students. It's about the kids I've had. It's all about them."

Georgetown has served as either an assistant coach or head coach with the program since 1993. He took a seven-year hiatus from coaching in 2008 for an administrative role with the school.

In 2015, he returned to the program as a head coach. He's been a part of six national titles for the Mississippi School for the Deaf.

While winning those titles, Georgetown said he was also doing something with more of a lasting impact.

"My main goal is to teach these kids about the game of life," Georgetown said. "I always emphasize to my players that if you play basketball, football, that ball's going to stop bouncing. You can't run and catch that football forever. You've got to have another plan. So we try to instill that in our kids."

Cheryl Kaler, the Mississippi School for the Deaf principal and athletic director, has been at the school for 10 years.She said Georgetown has been a mentor and role model for the student-athletes while helping the program rise to national acclaim.

"He not only coaches the kids on the field, [but he] also coaches them in life when it comes to focusing on their academics, being men of character and making good choices," Kaler said. "They come to him for advice for all teams and see him as a father figure and a mentor."

Arness Georgetown is the head football coach at the Mississippi School for the Deaf.(Photo: Photo submitted)

Many of his players wouldn't have been allowed to play football at the public school level. They likely would have been confined to special education classes. At MSD, they get the chance to be national champions.

Devoris Meeks has played tailback and linebackerfor Georgetown.He was there when Georgetown returned to the program in2015and the team went 1-6. Meeks thought about quitting after that, but Georgetown wouldn't let him.

"He inspired me," Meeks said. "I didn't want to play anymore because we were a losing team and he told me, 'Nah, you're going to stay on my team and we're going to win next year."

And they did.

Thanks to the resolve and patience Georgetown instilled in Meeks, he got to be a part of the 2017 and 2018 national title teams. He played on this year's team, too.

"From then on, I never walked off on the team again," Meeks said.

By the standard Georgetown has established at the school, 2019 was an atypical year.

Deaf All-American Kenmarkis Meeks graduated last year. The team's starting tailback, Jaylon Mays, separated his shoulder in the first game of the 2019 season. One of the starting receivers elected to leave the team to focus on academics.

Georgetown's team finished the year with a 2-6 record and were a far cry away from a national title. Most of the players were part of the last two national titles.

His team may be in a valley now, but Georgetown said he's confident it will prepare them to return to championship form.

"Some kids don't take adversity very well, so it's my job to keep the kids' heads up and keep them going," Georgetown said. "It's tough, but I like it in a sense because it's life lessons. I tell the kids all the time, sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to work out. You have to be able to deal with those things."

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Mississippi School for the Deaf football coach teaches players the game of life - Clarion Ledger