Coach Chad McClure
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Chad McClure, the principled, classy coach who led the Hayesville girls basketball team to 231 wins, a Final Four appearance followed by a Sweet 16 berth and nine seasons at or above .500 during 17 years, has resigned.
McClure is stepping away from the program to devote more time and energy to family and football after six demanding years of coaching two varsity sports that overlapped seasons.
“It’s stressful doing both. People don’t realize how stressful it is,” said McClure, who will continue as head football coach. “Nobody knows what the job entails until they do it. Time is the biggest thing, the planning. Summers were tough because you’re preparing for football and you also have basketball camps. There were days I’d go to a basketball camp all day and come back and had football practice. If I hadn’t had great assistant coaches, it would have been a lot harder.”
His greatest assistant kept the home fires burning.
“She’s a good one. I definitely out-kicked my coverage,” McClure said. “She knew what she was getting into. She’s a sports fan. She’s happy I’m going to have a little more time. The kids miss out a lot. Especially when my older two were in middle school, playing sports, you miss a lot of their games because you’re playing on the same night or you have to stay for practice. It’s exciting that I’ll have some more family time. I don’t know what it’s going to be like. I’ll miss coaching the girls, but I’m already looking forward to the holidays and having a little extra time at Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
Hayesville Athletic Director Mike Cottrell already misses his girls basketball coach.
“Chad was a class act,” Cottrell said. “We appreciate and respect the job he did for our school and athletic department. He’s a high character person who has always been a great example to our student/athletes. The time and energy that goes into coaching is always a factor in success. Chad worked extremely hard with all of his teams and took multiple teams to championship games.”
McClure will obviously be missed and will miss coaching a team that won 37 games and made back-to-back appearances in the championship game of the Smoky Mountain Conference Tournament the past two seasons.
Earlier this week, the longtime coach with a record of 231 wins and 215 loses and one Smoky Mountain Conference championship, reflected on the past and looked forward to the future in an exclusive interview.
How did you end up coaching girls basketball?
“Growing up, I always had the dream of being a head football coach, so I didn’t coach basketball my first few years of teaching. I was an assistant in football. I started doing that in 2000 and I coached middle school softball for a couple of years, then coached varsity softball for several years. When Keith Thompson took over the girls basketball program from my dad, I helped him and then I stepped in after him. I never thought I’d do it for 17 years.
What would you like people to know about a coach who coaches more than one sport?
“Well, we’re not in it for the money. We’re here for these kids. We try to treat them like our own. We love each one of them. When you get to the high school level, unfortunately not everyone can play. You want to give your team the best chance to win. I’m a parent as well, so I understand that you want to see your kid out there. I just wish more people would embrace the idea that just being part of a team is special and encourage their kid to accept their role on that team, whatever that may be, whether that’s sitting on the bench and being the biggest cheerleader or going in for one minute and doing what you’re supposed to do for that one minute. The biggest piece of advice I’d like to give parents is just enjoy the experience and not put so much pressure on your kids. Just enjoy watching them play because very few athletes go on to the next level. They’re not going to make a career out of athletics.”
What has changed the most in your career, the kids or the parents?
“I’d say the kids. I think there’s a lot more distractions, with technology. Phones are the biggest thing and social media.”
What advice would you give to a young Chad, just staring out as a coach?
“One of my favorite Bible verses is Colossians 3:23. If you’re going to do something put all your heart and effort into it and do it the right way. Don’t get so caught up in the wins and losses. That’s hard because you want to win and people want to see that, but to me, making an impact on an athlete that goes far beyond sports is much more important. Teaching them about good character and work ethic. Because these kids are going to be fathers and wives and mothers. Just being committed to everything they do.”
What was the highlight of your girls career?
“We had a couple of years where we had a team that bought into all the stuff we’re talking about, that really had a good chance to win a state championship and lost in the semifinals, 2014. I remember playing in Greensboro and it was packed full of Hayesville fans. Looking back on that team, we had some really good players but there were two players who didn’t play a lot, but they bought into their role. They were always supportive, they were great teammates. When something good happened, they were the most happy people on the team.”
Your dad had incredible success, was it difficult following in his footsteps?
“I think it was worse early in my career. It was tough because what he did was pretty remarkable, to win six state championships in a row. When he did that I think it was the longest consecutive streak in the state of any sport. Then Bishop came along and I think they won eight or nine in a row to beat our streak. We were the ones who actually ended their streak. They beat us the year we went to the semifinals. Amanda Thompson got in foul trouble. Terrible calls. I still lose sleep over it. That was her junior year. Her senior year they had to come here and play and we beat them here and we ended their string of eight or nine championships. That night was probably the most memorable win of my career. Then we had to turn around the next day and go to Winston-Salem.”
How did you handle things when times weren’t as good?
“I had some rough years too, where we didn’t have a lot of talent or the girls didn’t buy in or both. Just like in life, you just get up and face the day. You can’t quit, you just gotta try to find small victories, not necessarily winning the game. We would give smaller goals, like let’s have less than 10 turnovers in a quarter, things like that.”
Are you tempted to stay one more year?
“The last couple of years I thought we were pretty successful. We had a really good team in our conference, Cherokee and we made it to the conference championship two years in a row. That’s a game that a lot of teams in our conference haven’t been to that game in several years. It’s just time to go. My dad always told me I’d know when it’s time. I did. It was difficult. Any time you make a big decision like that, that not only affects me and my family, the girls, it was a big decision, but I know it was the right one for me. I’m excited for the girls. It’s a new opportunity for somebody. When the time came I’ve always wanted to leave whoever’s next a pretty good group. I think they’ve got a good group coming back, some things to build on, whoever that person may be.”