Kansas City Chiefs Honor Week 8 High School Coaches from Benton, Harmon
On Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, the Kansas City Chiefs honored Benton High School head coach Mark Cole and Harmon High School head coach Ke’Von Smith as the Week 8 High School Coaches of the Week, the team announced. The recognition is part of a weekly program that highlights one coach from Missouri and one from Kansas for their impact on players, programs and communities. The Chiefs hosted the announcement through their public relations office and noted both coaches will be considered for the season-ending Eric Driskell Coach of the Year Award.
As part of the Week 8 honor, Cole and Smith each will receive a $1,000 grant from the Hunt Family Foundation, a Chiefs bucket hat, a certificate of recognition and a custom game ball. The Chiefs said the Eric Driskell Coach of the Year is selected by a panel from the Missouri and Kansas Boards of the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association at the end of the high school regular season. The program is presented by Uncrustables and the selections are made in partnership with PrepsKC.
Benton improved to 5-4 with a 31-20 victory over Midland Empire Conference rival Chillicothe on Friday, Oct. 23, the Chiefs reported. The Cardinals opened that game with an 84-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and have outscored recent opponents by an average of 26.0 points during their current stretch. The club has not reached a five-win threshold since 2010, and the Chiefs noted that Cole has guided Benton to its best record in 16 years while compiling a 27-year coaching résumé.
Cole has spent more than two decades as a head coach at several Missouri programs, including Gallatin, Savannah, Maysville and Milan, and his career résumé includes six district championships, six conference titles, 10 playoff appearances and three semifinal berths, according to the Chiefs. Now in his second season at Benton, Cole said the recognition was humbling and credited his program’s work to improve. Benton was set to host the Van Horn Falcons in district play on Friday, Oct. 30, with kickoff listed at 7 p.m.
Harmon completed its regular season at 4-4 after a 28-8 victory over Schlagle on Friday, Oct. 23, securing a postseason berth and marking the program’s best record since 2011, the Chiefs said. The 2026 season represented a dramatic turnaround from a 1-8 finish in 2025 and a 4-37 combined record from 2021 through 2025. Harmon posted consecutive wins in mid-September over Northeast and Southeast that Chiefs media described as a turning point demonstrating a culture shift under Smith’s leadership.
Ke’Von Smith, in his first season as Harmon’s head coach after joining the program in May 2026, previously coached at KIPP KC Legacy High School and played collegiately at Peru State College, the team noted. Smith acknowledged the honor and credited his staff, players and community for the progress made this season. Harmon finished 2-3 in Meadowlark District play and was scheduled to visit St. James Academy on Friday, Oct. 30, for its next postseason game.
The High School Coach of the Week program is now in its 30th year as a joint initiative between the Kansas City Chiefs and the National Football League, the club stated. PrepsKC assists the Chiefs in selecting weekly recipients from Missouri and Kansas and serves as a longtime multimedia outlet covering area high school sports. Uncrustables serves as the presenting partner for the Coach of the Week program.
NFL Sports Blog Take
Both honorees represent significant turnarounds for their programs and illustrate the emphasis the Chiefs place on community-level football development. Benton has climbed to a winning record under Cole after years without a benchmark season, while Harmon quickly reversed a multi-year slide to reach postseason play under Smith. The $1,000 grants and visibility provided by the program offer tangible support for local programs and also place both coaches in contention for the Eric Driskell Coach of the Year Award chosen at season’s end. Those outcomes underscore how weekly recognition can spotlight progress and energize small programs heading into district and postseason play.