The 2014 Legacy Banquet

Mendell Beattie: A True Yellow Jacket “I believe profoundly that athletics and education should be integrated into a balanced whole. My real policy is to endeavor to stimulate young men to do a better and broader piece of work in the field of education. The true mission of football is not just to win a game and I like to win as well as any one, but to develop courage, sportsmanship, reliability, character and moral stamina.” – Mendell Beattie Reprinted from Cedars February 2013 article “Hall of Fame Honors More Than Athletics” by Nathaniel Bond. Cedarville and its athletic program may not still be in existence if it were not for Mendell Beattie. He has been widely recognized as significant in keeping the school functional during his time at Cedarville from 1946–51. Beattie did just about everything for Cedarville. He was the school's Athletic Director, football coach, basketball coach, baseball coach, track & field coach, physical education professor and Dean of Men. With the United States just coming out of World War II, Cedarville had just 24 male students. Beattie played a critical role in recruiting men to attend Cedarville. One semester later, the number had increased to more than 100. Beattie had a lasting effect on the men he recruited. Many of his former players have become public school teachers, administrators, and coaches. In 1946, Beattie revived the dormant football program that had not played a game in 14 years. The Yellow Jackets' first game that season was played in Xenia against Ohio Northern. The game became widely publicized, and then-Ohio Govenor Frank J. Lausche was in attendance. Beattie also coached the first Cedarville athletics team in any sport to participate in an NAIA national tournament. In 1949, his Yellow Jacket basketball squad became the first to receive that honor and traveled to Kansas City. "Beattie was a true gentleman. He was dedicated to his athletes. He wanted them to be the very best they could be for Cedarville," said Jay Fry ’51, one of Beattie's former players. "Cedarville used to just be a small college, and now it is a great university. That is due in large part to the efforts of Coach Beattie."