She was a hard-hitting football player. Now she’s making history as a Midlands coach
After a rain delay pushed back the start of practice on Monday, Maranda McCaskill emerged from the field house at North Central High School.
She reviewed a piece of paper with practice information and then headed off to the upper part of the practice field behind the stadium where she and other coaches worked with the Knights’ junior varsity team.
McCaskill is in her first season working with North Central High School, located in Kershaw County. She is the first woman to coach football at one of the county’s three high schools.
“I don’t do it for the publicity, I do it for the love of the game,” McCaskill said.
McCaskill serves as the running backs and linebackers coach for the JV team and helps out with the varsity on game days. She also is head coach for the 8- to 10-year-old boys recreation league team, which practices right after JV and varsity get done. The North Central graduate has been helping out in rec leagues with longtime local coach Paul Worley since she was 15 years old.
McKaskill has a regular job — she’s an insurance agent with the State Farm Chuck Nash Agency — but it’s flexible enough that she can be at practices and games during the week.
“Once you understand the game, I was hooked. I just have the love of the game,” McCaskill said. “I was raised by just my dad and he didn’t know what to do with me. He said he wasn’t putting me in cheerleading, so he put me in football and I have been doing it ever since.”
‘I was mean’ as a football player
Worley, who coached on the rec league level and at North Central and Lugoff Middle for 28 years, remembers McCaskill as a tough, hard-nosed player. She played running back, was team MVP and second on the team in scoring during her final year in rec league as a 12-year-old.
“She was an outstanding player,” Worley said. “The boys (on other teams) would sometime give her grief, but she was quick to shut that up with her play. Maranda is a exceptional coach and player.”
McCaskill continued football through 10th grade before giving it up to focus on softball. She also was involved with North Central’s athletic training staff her senior year and was voted homecoming queen.
She graduated from North Central in 2015 and signed to play with Florence-Darlington Tech softball, where she played one season for the Stingers.
McCaskill had success in both sports despite only being able to see out of her right eye. She was diagnosed at 2 years old with retinoblastoma in her left eye — a condition in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the retina.
McCaskill says she has been cancer-free for 22 years and played football with a visor to keep dirt out of her left eye. She played running back and linebacker and was never afraid to take or deliver a hit.
McCkaskill had some of her highlights transferred on DVD and has some clips on her phone so she can show any players who might question her own playing ability.
McCaskill remembers knocking an opposing player out of the game after one of her hits.
“I was mean, it didn’t bother me,” McCaskill said. “... I was a hard hitter and didn’t play around. I had to hold myself to a higher standard. I am playing a guy’s sport, so I know if I let them run me over, they would have a field day with me. But I ran them over plenty of times.”
McCaskill says some of her playing style has followed her to coaching, but she does have a soft side with the players. At practice on Monday, she went over to some players and helped them make sure their chin straps were tightened on their helmets.
“I definitely think I am tough and more like the mom out here. I baby them for a little bit and then send them on their way,” McCaskill said.
North Central football coach Tyronne Drakeford was aware of McCaskill’s involvement in the rec league program when he took over as coach and athletic director at his alma mater in 2017. McCaskill applied this year for the school’s softball head coaching position, and Drakeford noticed she football coaching on her resume.
After she didn’t get the softball job, Drakeford asked if she wanted to help out with the football program.
“I thought it was important because you don’t see women involved in male sports. She played at the high school and has given back to the community,” said Drakeford, who played eight seasons in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers in 1995. “I feel like it was the right move to make at the time and she hasn’t disappointed me or the coaching staff.
“I’m looking forward to her continuing to grow and continue to be part of our program.”
Worley said McCaskill has all the characteristics to be a successful coach.
“She is extremely knowledgeable and has the heart to be able to help her teammates while they were playing and now as a coach,” he said. “She wants to have a positive influence on kids and see growth in their lives.”
The growth of women in football
There are currently two females playing high school football in the Midlands — White Knoll kicker Maleah Perry and Gilbert kicker Riley Barnes — but no coaches. S.C. Football Coaches Association president Lee Taylor was not aware of any other women coaching in the sport right now among state high schools.
The National Federation of High Schools said it doesn’t keep track of the number of women coaching high school football, but there have been more getting involved in recent years in such football-rich states as California, Texas and Florida.
Natalie Randolph was the first woman head football coach at a high school when she coached at Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C., from 2010 to 2013.
Female coaches are getting involved in the college and professional football ranks as well. In 2020, Heather Marini became the first woman position coach in NCAA Division I football when she was named quarterbacks coach at Brown University.
The National Football League hasn’t been shy about getting women involved in coaching. There were 12 female assistant coaches on NFL rosters for the start of the 2021 season, up from eight last year.
Since 2017, the Women’s Careers in Football Forum has been held each year during the same time of the NFL Scouting Combine. According to its website, the forum helps the NFL identify women currently working in college football in any capacity to join its next generations of leaders.
According to a story in Forbes, 44 women who have previously participated in the WCFF program have landed a football operations role at the professional or collegiate level in 2021, the highest number ever for the WCFF program.
McCaskill isn’t sure where her coaching career is going to take her. Her dream would be to coach at Clemson, her favorite college team. If that doesn’t happen, she is content coaching at the high school and recreation level.
McCaskill says there’s a girl playing on her rec team who reminds her of when she was coming up and playing the sport.
“I want to go further but I definitely want to build up this area. We need it,” McCaskill said. “There is a lot of potential out there. They just need the coaches in this area to lift them up and show it is possible.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 7:30 AM.
