Every Coach Has a Story :: Coach Mac
Coach MacPherson got his start in coaching as a Graduate Assistant at St John's University in 1996 and 1997. As a receiver at St. John's he was a 4 year starter from 1991-1994, catching 133 passes with 40 of those being Touchdowns. After receiving his Masters Degree in Education he moved to Jacksonville, FLA in 1998 to become an Assistant Football Coach and History teacher at Ridgeview High School working under Long Island legend Jimmy Bernhardt. He would become the Head Coach at Ridgeview High School the following season. In 14 years at Ridgeview he won 2 District titles and made 8 playoff appearances. His next stop was Baker County High School in 2014 and 2015 where he coached University of Florida Defensive Lineman Cece Jefferson. After 2 seasons as Head Coach at Baker County he would move on to take the Head Coaching job at Orange Park High School, the job he has held since 2016. He has spoken at National Clinics like Glazier Tampa and Glazier Atlanta and published an article in USA Football's 2017 High School Coaching Notes.
In 2013 he created the YouTube channel Coach Mac's PlayFast Football, a football information channel designed to help coaches learn more about all 3 phases of the game. The channel now has over 18,000 subscribers and his videos have gotten over 2 Million and 4 Hundred Thousand views. Thanks to the success of the YouTube channel Coach Mac hosted his own National Coaching Clinic called the PLAYFASTFOOTBALL CLINIC in St Augustine, FL on January 24th, 25th, and 26th in 2020. You can catch him hosting Twitter Chats on Sunday Night's at 8PM Eastern under the hashtag #flhsfbchat. He has been married to his wife Samantha for 16 years and they have two daughters Macy and Meia.
PlayFast Football
Orange Park High School Football
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In addition to Coach Mac’s impressive bio, we asked a couple key questions about his coaching life.
Q: What’s the motivation to keep coming back to the grind of high school coaching?
Coach Mac: Football has been a part of my life for 41 years. I had several coaches when I was younger that molded me into the person I am today. I continue to coach because I want to give back to the game that helped shape the course of my life.
Q: In your mind, what’s the biggest problem today in the coaching profession?
Coach Mac: In public high school it’s simply trying to keep your neighborhood kids in your program. Trying to build a community atmosphere that we have lost over the last 10-15 years. Combine that with sub par compensation for the job we are expected to do and you have the main reasons our state loses some of their best coaches every year. Winning and losing has become the #1 priority and it’s effecting our ability to help make football players become good young men.
