Coach Mac's Story
Early Years
What started out as a typical father–son game of catch and a friendly bet one afternoon in a country field in West Virginia in the early 1990s would change the course of two lives forever. My father, Mark McCullough, made a bet that I couldn’t kick a Nerf football over a barn on our property. To his surprise, I did it multiple times. Soon, my father was researching books in the library on soccer-style kicking and came across an article in Sports Illustrated about Carol White, the first female Division I college football coach. He reached out to Coach White, and she invited me to attend my first kicking camp at Georgia Tech in the summer of 1992 when I was in the fifth grade.
Although my dad had no background in kicking, he began to study the art of kicking/punting and developed a deep passion for it. Over the years, he became a Hall of Fame assistant coach at Parkersburg High School (PHS), helping coach five different First-Team All-State West Virginia kickers in ten years. He also coached on three state championship teams at PHS. In 2023, my father and I were inducted together into the Parkersburg High School Football Hall of Fame on the same night—one of the most meaningful moments of my life.
High School Years
I carried those lessons into my own playing career at Parkersburg High School in Parkersburg, WV. I was a three-year starter as a kicker and punter, earning All-State honors as a senior. That year, I set a school record with a 46-yard field goal (a record later surpassed by two kickers I would go on to train). Even more importantly, I helped Parkersburg High School capture a state championship my senior season—a memory I will always cherish.
College Years
After high school, I achieved my dream of playing at West Virginia University, where I played for three seasons. earning my first playing time kicking off against Syracuse in 2002. After battling injuries, I transferred to Fairmont State University, where I became the starting FG kicker and kickoff specialist. Unfortunately two games into the 2003 season, my lone season there was cut short by injury. Rather than walk away from the game, I transitioned into coaching, serving as a student coach working with the team’s specialists in 2004.
During my college summers, I worked as a camp counselor at the renowned Carol White Kicking Camps, as well as camps led by Doug Blevins, a former Miami Dolphins kicking coach. These experiences deepened my knowledge of the game and expanded my ability to teach specialists at all levels.
Coaching Career
After college, I returned to Parkersburg to teach and coach football for five years, working closely with the kickers and punters. Later, I moved to Bridgeport, WV and continued training kickers and punters. Through word of mouth, my personal coaching business grew rapidly year over year, eventually becoming the most prominent kicking/punting coach in WV. In 2021, I created the WV Specialist Combine, which is an annual event for WV specialists to compete against one another showcasing their skills in head-to-head competitions.
In 2022, I officially founded Coach Mac Special Teams, named as a tribute to my father, who was affectionately known as ‘Coach Mac’ by the athletes he mentored. The name honors his legacy, not only of coaching success but also of building lifelong relationships with players. That same spirit—mentorship, relationship-building, and love of the game—drives everything I do today.
Today & Beyond
Over more than 20 years of coaching, I’ve been fortunate to work with hundreds of athletes across West Virginia and beyond. More than 150 of my trainees have gone on to play college football—from Power Four to NAIA programs—and several have advanced to the professional level. My mission remains the same: to help every specialist reach their full potential, both on and off the field, while continuing to honor the legacy of my father and the values he instilled in me.