Southern Alamance taps McMichael coach Tony McCants to lead football program

A successful program in Alamance County has a new football coach.

On Wednesday, the Alamance-Burlington School System announced that Tony McCants will now lead the program. McCants had been serving as the head football coach at McMichael High School since the 2020-2021 pandemic season.

McCants led McMichael to 7-4 overall seasons in 2021 and 2022. McMichael finished 5-5 overall and just missed the playoffs last fall. The Phoenix's last winning season before McCants' arrival came in 2008.

He will take over for Fritz Hessenthaler, who is no longer at the school. Southern Alamance was consistently good under Hessenthaler. The Patriots had seasons of 9-3, 9-4, 4-3, 8-3, 9-4, and 12-2 since Hessenthaler took over in 2018.

Southern Alamance advanced to the fourth round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association's 3A East state playoffs in the fall. The Patriots fell to eventual state runner-up Seventy-First in a close 32-27 ballgame. Chris Miller served as the interim head coach during the playoffs.

The Patriots haven't advanced to a state championship in their history, but they did make a 3A East regional final in 1975.

The move is one of a number of big coaching decisions that Alamance schools have had to/will make of late. Last year, new high school Southeast Alamance picked Tony Aguilar to be the head coach (the Stallions advanced to the third round of the 2A East playoffs in their first year) and Eastern Alamance is currently looking for a new head coach after the retirement of John Kirby.

McCants confirmed the news in a statement released to his personal X account on Tuesday night.