Josh Mickey finds it a bit ironic that his first game as head football coach will be against his alma mater.
Mickey, 25, was recently named South Stokes' new football coach.
Mickey has been a standout offensive lineman at city rival West Stokes, where Aug. 23 is South's first game on the season schedule.
“For me, it's the moment when everything comes back together,” Mickey said, then laughed a little. “I'm excited. I'm happy to be a Saura. I'm not a Wildcat anymore.”
Mickey takes over the program from Justin Rogers, who coached for one season and went 2-9, reaching the first round of the NCHSAA 1-A playoffs.
Mickey served as the junior volleyball head coach and varsity offensive line coach at Reynolds under Coach Joe David-Yock for the 2023 season and also coached at West Stokes under Coach Chris Johnson from 2020 to 2022. Mickey graduated from West Stokes in 2017 and played for Coach Jimmy Upchurch.
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“We had a lot of success under Coach Upchurch and I learned a lot from him,” Mickey said. “I've seen from a player's standpoint how he structures practices and leads his assistant coaches. He always emphasizes the weight room and that will be one of my main goals at South (Stokes). His ability to have a positive impact on kids has always stayed with me and I often turn to him for advice and even now that I know I'm going to South, he remains one of my biggest supporters.”
Mickey said he also learned a lot from his experience working under coach David Doyoc last season.
“I'm very grateful to Joe (David Yock) for giving me the opportunity to help out at Reynolds last year,” Mickey said. “Being the head coach of the junior team definitely helped prepare me to be the head coach of the varsity team. I also learned a lot from offensive coordinator Patrick Taylor, who taught me a lot about the Air Raid offense. I wouldn't be where I am today without the help of both of those guys.”
For Mickey, the trip to South Stokes will be a family affair. His youngest brother, Jordan, will be a senior next year. Jordan Mickey, who transferred from West Stokes after his sophomore year, played on the basketball team that reached the NCHSAA 1-A West Regional Championship last season.
“I went to a lot of those games and just seeing the support from the community was very appealing,” Mickey said. “Jordan had talked about how much he loved being there and that's what inspired me to take the position. Jordan didn't play football last season but now that I'm the head coach, I'm confident I can convince him to play football this year. My other brother, Luke, and I coached Jordan in football and basketball when we were at West Stokes.”
Josh Mickey said he's started watching film of last season's team to get a feel for the returning players, and he met with the team for the first time on Wednesday night.
“I will be the third head coach on this team in four years,” Mickey said. “I want to make sure that I make South Stokes a championship contender. I want these seniors to have a great experience this year because they are the players that we will build the foundation for our program going forward. From what I've seen on film so far, we have some good foundations – guys like Jamison Canty, Kaimani Brown and Jamari Morris, offensive linemen like Elijah Tilley and Dalton Hutchings. We have our first official workout on June 11th.”
Mickey has been busy assembling his coaching staff and putting together the team's summer schedule.
“We want to give the kids a great experience this summer because that's how we build interest in the program,” Mickey says. “If the kids have a good time, they'll tell their friends and maybe they'll want to join. The most important thing is to build relationships with the kids. I'm at a bit of a disadvantage now because the school year is over and I can't be in a school building and talk to other kids that might be interested in playing, but I have a knack for it. We did it this year at Reynolds and feel pretty good about it. Having a strong social media presence is also important as we build a program now. I think those two things will set us up for success going forward.”
Mickey said getting the call offering him the job was a surreal experience.
“I'm very excited because I've achieved a lifelong goal of becoming a head coach,” Mickey said, “and with that comes a lot of confidence that I know what I'm doing and a lot of joy and energy. I'm ready to hit the ground running.”
