New North Meck football coach Damon McKee: ‘Relationship building is important’
Former Mooresville assistant Damon McKee is the new head football coach at North Mecklenburg High School.
McKee, 43, was introduced by new Vikings athletics director David Casavecchia during a Zoom video conference call Tuesday afternoon.
McKee replaces Eric Mormon, who left to take a job at Northwest Cabarrus.
Morman was 16-20 in three seasons at North Mecklenburg.
Casavecchia said more than 50 people applied for the position from all over the Southeast. The job won’t be easy, particularly given that McKee’s Vikings play in the I-MECK 4A, perhaps the state’s toughest conference.
Since 2013, I-MECK 4A teams have played in six of the seven N.C. 4AA state championship games, winning the title four times. Vance beat Raleigh’s Leesville Road High, 24-3, last December in the final.
North Mecklenburg, meanwhile, has had two winning seasons 2006, including Morman’s 9-4 team in 2017 and Brad Baker’s 7-5 team in 2015.
“I’ve been in this game a long time,” McKee said, “and I’ve worked on both sides of the ball and I’ve coached tremendous athletes. I understand how to meet kids where they are. Relationship-building is very important with these kids. Our kids will come from various backgrounds. Our staff will come from various backgrounds.”
McKee said that staff will include North Mecklenburg graduate and former Tennessee player Daryl Vereen, who will be the defensive coordinator. Another Vikings graduate, former Western Carolina player Nolan Beasley, will also be an assistant. McKee said he is still looking to fill out his staff.
McKee, who will begin his 21st season in education this fall, said he wants to develop strong young men on the field and off.
“I am huge on the mentorship piece,” McKee said. “We are blessed to get in front of these young men and young women on a daily basis. I take that responsibility to heart. We want to mentor these kids and help these kids make key decisions and develop these kids from within. Oftentimes, these kids don’t have positive role models in front of them. ... We’ll show them what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s important for our kids to have success on the academic side as well as the athletic side.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 2:04 PM.
