First-year Myers Park football coach Chris James: ‘I’m going to be here for my kids’
When folks around Charlotte think about Myers Park football, they think of one word: winning.
The Mustangs just haven’t done much of that lately.
From 2016-20, Myers Park was 57-8. Since then the Mustangs are 5-17. Now, new head coach Chris James hopes to change all that recent history.
James was promoted to head coach in February, replacing Jason McManus, who led the Mustangs to a 3-7 finish in the 2022 season. James was the defensive coordinator for the Mustangs for the past two seasons. Before that, he coached the linebackers and secondary at Charlotte Latin as well as the secondaries at Porter Ridge and Independence.
“I’ve been fortunate since I’ve been in the Charlotte area,” James said at the SoMECK conference media day Saturday at Palisades High School. “I was under Justin Hardin in my first job, who is now the head coach of Kannapolis. I left him and went to Porter Ridge under Michael Hertz. Really two great offensive- and defensive-minded coaches.”
Coaching turnover a constant at Myers Park
James is wanting to end the recent turnover that Myers Park has had at its football head-coaching position by establishing his own brand.
James replaced McManus, who replaced another one-year coach, Curtis Fuller. Fuller, who left Myers Park to become an assistant coach at Texas A&M-Commerce, is now an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina.
Prior to Fuller, Myers Park was coached by Mark Harman in the 2021 spring season and by Scott Chadwick before that.
Despite having new coaches repeatedly, the Mustangs were able to keep winning until the 2022 season.
Before then, the Mustangs had grabbed at least a share of conference titles under each of the previous four coaches, including N.C. regional championship games appearances in 2021 under Harman and in 2018 under Chadwick.
Fuller’s team was 8-4 in the fall 2021 season and reached the second round of the playoffs before the N.C. High School Athletic Association ruled that the Mustangs had to forfeit all of their games for using at least three ineligible players on a roster that included players from California, Georgia and Texas.
Those athletes had moved to Charlotte and lived in three houses rented by the parents of the Myers Park quarterback, who was from California. NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said some of the ineligible players were from out of state and some from the immediate area. Myers Park principal Robert Folk self-reported the eligibility issues to the NCHSAA.
‘I’m here for the kids’
James said he wants to provide stability at the head-coaching job that he said Myers Park needs. He said he will also be an advocate for his student-athletes.
“I’m going to be here for the kids,” James said. “I’m going to be here for the kids once they leave the program. It isn’t a ‘See you later.’ I am truly going to be here for them. And they will be better football players when they leave here.”
Mustangs quarterback Wendell Thompson is thankful for the leadership that James has brought to Myers Park. He feels like the team has grown a lot since James took over.
“Coach James has been around the program now for a while,” Thompson said. “So, it is a familiar face who we all know. We know what he is going to bring to the table. Ever since he has taken over it has been very high energy and a high level of excellent competition at every practice.”
Thompson’s teammate, Parks Cromwell, said that having someone who players knew helped smooth the transition to the new coach.
“Coach James has definitely been a great leader for us,” Cromwell said. “From a coaching perspective as well as being almost like a father to a lot of the guys on the team. He stays with us after practice and it is really great seeing a familiar face.”
James’ goal now, of course, is to bring that winning feeling back to a place that had become used to it.
“We are looking to build something special,” James said. “I love Myers Park and think it is a great place. I think we have a lot of work to do, and to do it you’ve got to be there for an extended period of time.”
PHOTOS: SoMECK media day
This story was originally published August 6, 2023 at 7:30 AM.
