As his ninth year coaching boys varsity basketball at MVHS begins, Kevin Mack is not just a coach; he’s a role model. Mack said his background in basketball includes having played four years in high school, three of which were for varsity, allowing him to have a strong foundation for a coaching career.
Mack said that right after graduating from Pioneer High School in San Jose, his coaching career began as the junior varsity coach for Pioneer from 2002 to 2009. After that, he moved on to being an assistant coach for the Los Gatos varsity basketball team for five years, before becoming the head coach for one year.
“While I was going to school, going to college at the same time, I was the JV Head Coach for boys at Pioneer for seven years from 2002-2009,” Mack said.
After becoming the varsity head coach at Mountain View, he led the 2017 team to the school’s first CCS championship and has an overall record of 140-69.
For Mack, communication and understanding that mistakes will happen allows him to be a better and more understanding coach. In order to have a positive environment, Mack said that he believed that there not only needs to be healthy communication between the player and the coach, but also healthy communication with everyone on the team. “If the kids are struggling or having a rough day, it’s trying to be positive with them,” Mack said. “
Junior Nate Kelly described that Mack has been more passionate than his previous coaches, and how that has shown through Mack’s coaching.
“[Mack] is fiery, but also, it shows that he cares a lot. He has a lot of emotion and puts a lot of time into this and he wants us to be successful. I really think it’s his passion for the game and passion for his players that makes him stand out from other coaches,” Kelly said.
Making an impact on the court is just as important as making an impact in the personal lives of his players. According to Mack, he has a one-on-one talk with each of his players at the beginning of the year to discuss everything from their role on the team to their academics to anything outside of school.
“[Mack] gives you advice on what you can improve on, he also instills a lot of confidence in you, and shows you that he really understands you as a player,” Kelly said, in reference to the yearly meetings.
Through these conversations and connecting with his players throughout the year, he built a lasting relationship with them. He said his best experience as a coach was coaching now MVHS alumni Jailen Daniel-Dalton. Seeing him come in as an ineligible freshman due to academics to now playing at San Francisco State on a full scholarship is his most impactful experience. Mack has become close family friends.
Recently, Mack has started to work as a security guard on campus. He said that he has always wanted to work full time on campus and make a larger impact.
“It’s great not to just help the athletes here at Mountain View, but now to be able to help the school student body is great,” Mack said.
Now being on campus full time, his daily responsibilities include monitoring traffic at the front of the school, handing out appointment slips, and making sure students are making the right choices. Mack explained that his main job is keeping the campus safe and secure at all times.
“I just enjoy coming to work every day and being able to know that I’m hopefully making a positive impact and influencing our students in a positive way that I can help them navigate their years here and hopefully they can leave here better than when they got here,” Mack said. “If I can have even a little bit of a part of that, it just makes me satisfied going home that I can help not just our athletes, but all our students.”
