McKee named new football coach at Sesser-Valier

By Jim Muir

Mt. Vernon native Mike McKee has been named as the new head football coach of the Sesser-Valier-Waltonville-Woodlawn Red Devils.

During action at Tuesday night’s board meeting the S-V school board voted unanimously to hire McKee, who is a 1996 graduate of Mt. Vernon Township High School, to replace Johnny Hollis, who resigned last year.

The Red Devils finished 2-7 last year, breaking a four-year run in the IHSA playoffs.

S-V athletic director Chip Basso said McKee brings all the intangibles that will lead to continued success on the gridiron for the Red Devils.

“We are excited to add Mike to the Red Devil Family,” Basso said. “He brings positive energy and a tremendous work ethic to this important position in our athletic program. We look forward to the impact he will have on our student athletes.”

McKee, who has served as an assistant at S-V for the past two years, brings an impressive resume to his first role as head coach.  McKee was a standout football player and garnered All-State honors in track and field at Mt. Vernon High School and then went on to compete in track and field and football at Murray State and Eastern Illinois University.

“I am just very excited to have this opportunity,” McKee said. “I am excited to be the head coach but also very excited to help serve the community.  I  hope to build on what Coach Hollis put in place.  He (Hollis) put a lot of emphasis on caring for each other and trusting each other, a real attitude of service, and I want to keep that going.”

After completing eligibility at EIU, McKee continued to pursue his NFL dream by playing three years in the Arena Football League under the first All-American in Florida state football history Gene McDowell.

Following his playing career, forgoing opportunities to stay in professional football in coaching, McKee moved back to Southern Illinois and entered the coaching ranks in collegiate track and field at Rend Lake College where he was named NJCAA Outdoor assistant coach of the year in 2007.

During his time at Rend Lake, McKee coached multiple individual All-Americans and National Champions, as well as helping guide a member of the current junior world record holding 4 X 400 team USA that was earned in Grosetto, Italy in 2004.

McKee said he hopes to reach out to all the prospective athletes at all three schools involved in the co-op and joked that he would particularly feel “right at home” visiting Woodlawn High School where his mother taught for 35 years.

“I’ve probably been to more school dances at Woodlawn than any person in the history of the school,” he said. “I know the second and third generation of a lot of the families involved from there so that is a bonus for me.”

McKee said he has learned during his two years as an assistant that S-V is a sport’s town but also learned something even more important about the community when his son Cannon (now 8 years old) was diagnosed with cancer in 2011.

“The entire community just wrapped their arms around us and loved us and prayed for us,” said McKee. “Cannon has gone 18 months with clean scans and he wants to be a NASCAR driver, so the Lord has really blessed us.”
McKee is married to the former Shannon Mumbower, of West Frankfort, and they have one other child, a 10-year-old daughter, Brooklyn.

McKee said he hopes to complete his staff in the coming week in preparation for summer workouts and camps.