McMichael picks former New Bern coach Steve Tapley to lead football team
McMichael High School has its replacement for former head football coach Tony McCants. The school announced on Monday night that it has selected former Northern Guilford High School offensive coordinator Steven Tapley to take over the position.
McCants left earlier this offseason to take the head coaching job at a bigger school in Southern Alamance High. McMichael is a 2A West school that plays in the Mid-State 2A with Reidsville, West Stokes, Walkertown, North Forsyth, Morehad, and T.W. Andrews.
The Phoenix are coming off of a 5-5 overall campaign. McCants led them to three-consecutive seasons of non-losing records after they were coming off of a streak of 12 such seasons in-a-row.
Tapley is originally from Holton, KS, a small farming community near Topeka and Kansas City. He attended Emporia State University and played linebacker there. He finished his college days at Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS. Tapley coached at Bethany, where he was the co-offensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, and receivers coach.
In 2018, Tapley served as the head coach at New Bern High School. The Bears finished with a 2-9 overall record. Prior to his time at New Bern, Tapley was a big part of some successful seasons at Wilkes Central High School in Wilkesboro under Ron Turner. Tapley was the offensive line coach, run game coordinator, offensive coordinator, and assistant head coach during his time with the Eagles.
Here is the statement that the high school released to its Facebook page on Monday night:
"Dalton L. McMichael High School is happy to announce the new addition to the Phoenix Family of Steven Tapley in the roles of teacher and Head Football Coach. Mr. Tapley brings an extensive and successful background in teaching multiple subjects and leading several football teams as both an assistant and head coach. Mr. Tapley’s most recent stop was as Offensive Coordinator at Northern Guilford. We are looking forward to Coach Tapley joining the McMichael Family and having many successful years leading the Fighting Phoenix. You can join us on Tuesday April 9th at 6:00 PM in the McMichael cafeteria for a meet the new coach event. Thank you and have a great evening."
