The football community lost a legend Feb. 26 as longtime offensive line coach and current Columbia Academy assistant football coach Mark McHale passed away at the age of 74.
A graduate of James Wood High School and Shepherd University in Virginia, McHale coached under legends such as Mack Brown at Appalachian State, Bobby Bowden at West Virginia and Florida State and Jeff Bower at Southern Miss. He also coached in the World Football League and NFL Europe.
McHale came out of retirement one last time to join Joey Hawkins at Columbia Academy ahead of the 2024 season, where the two helped turn around the Cougar football program and reach the MAIS Class 4A Semifinals. The coach was honored at a memorial service Friday morning inside CA’s gym.
“Coach McHale meant a lot to us. In one year, he did a lot for us, for the student body and this campus,” Hawkins said. “He loved it here.
“He could watch film for eight hours and never take a break. He was such an amazing person. … You can call most people in a college arena and ask them who the greatest offensive line coach that ever was, and most of them would say Mark McHale – true story. We were honored for him to coach with us this year.”
Two players – Ethan King and Zach Zehentener – and numerous coaches spoke at Friday’s ceremony with glowing memories about what an impact McHale left on each and every one of them.
“The one year he was with us, I feel like he touched a lot of us – especially the O-linemen. He really changed our outlook in football because, before this, we never had somebody push us like he did. We never had somebody that all day was football, football, football,” King said. “He talked about life with us every day. We’d come up here on Sundays and talk about God. He was here for us. I really loved him.”
“I thought I knew a lot about football whenever I first started playing, but when coach McHale came along, he taught me so much more than I actually knew,” Zehentener said. “I already enjoyed the game a ton, but he took it to a whole new level. He was such a blessing to us and the team. He made the O-line better than we ever thought we could be. He taught me – I snapped in junior high, but I didn’t know anything. He took a longsnapper and converted him to center, which is amazing to me.
“On Sunday meetings, he would always give us a little devotional. I’m glad that he’s in a better place now, and we all love him.”
“When coach McHale and coach Hawkins got here last year, I was finishing up my treatment for cancer,” assistant coach Brad Duncan said. “Coach McHale one day, we were going over our scheme, and out of the blue he said something to me. He said, ‘Have you ever read 2 Chronicles 15:7?’ I said, ‘Probably, but I don’t remember it.’ I just got back busy doing something, and if you know Mark McHale, he said, ‘Have you looked it up yet?’ So I looked it up immediately. I read it. It says, ‘For you, be strong and don’t give up.’ That stuck with me, and it became one of my favorite scriptures.
“Fast forward a few months when we lost our daughter to cancer, coach McHale shows up at the funeral and said, ‘Do you remember our scripture? Be strong, and don’t give up.’”
“Coach McHale made such an impact on me in just one season on how he touched other lives for God,” CA chaplain Roy Pittman said. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years. This was the first year I saw God show up for Columbia Academy football. First year. That was due to God giving us men like Coach McHale, coach Hawkins, coach Brad (Duncan), coach Rhodes. Godly men leading. Coach McHale ran the race well.”
“Mark McHale was the best O-line coach I’ve ever been around,” Nevil Barr, former Oak Grove head coach and longtime friend of McHale, said. “But I don’t remember what an extraordinary O-line coach he was. He was a phenomenal human being. That’s what made him special. You knew who he was going to be every day. He was the same every day no matter what happened to him. I don’t know if I’ve ever met a guy more humble than he was. He was that talented yet humble. That was God inside him.”
Not only will he be remembered as one of the best offensive line coaches in the history of football, McHale leaves a legacy of bettering countless lives both on and off the field.
