Tim McCarty
Head CoachAlma Mater: Fort Hays State '85
E-mail: tmccarty@ecok.edu
Office Phone: (580) 559-5362
Tim McCarty is guiding the East Central University football ship in the right direction.
McCarty, who is headed into his fourth season of his second stint as the Tiger head coach, has driven the program on a path of success in the past two seasons.
Last year, ECU experienced the most wins since the 1993 NAIA National Championship season in going 8-3 overall and 6-2 in the new Great American Conference, good enough for third place in the final league standings.
That came after the Tigers went 5-6 overall and 5-1 in claiming the Lone Star Conference North Division crown in 2010.
McCarty has coached two All-Americans the past two seasons in Dontae Smith and Armonty Bryant.
Seven of his players were named to the All-Great American First Team in 2011, five were placed on the All-GAC Second Team and five more were honorable mention selections.
McCarty has a career head coaching record of 42-51, including a 22-30 record at ECU. He was the Tiger head coach in 2004 and 2005 before spending three seasons as the top assistant at Kansas State from 2006-08.
His first head coaching job came at traditionally-beleaguered Tabor College (Kan.) as his first team, which had only 14 players in the program when he got there, went 0-10 in 2000.
However, his ability to rebuild programs quickly took off as his 2001 Tabor squad improved significantly at 5-5, followed by a 6-4 campaign in 2002 and an outstanding 9-2 finish in 2003, which set a then school-record for wins in a season (the school had only one winning season from 1967 until his arrival) and led to an NAIA No. 15 national ranking (the highest ever at the school at that time).
For his efforts, McCarty was named 2003 KCAC Coach of the Year and NAIAFootball.net National Coach of the Year.
That led to his first stint as head coach at ECU in 2004 and 2005 as he guided to the Tigers to a 9-11 record in those two seasons, including a 6-4 finish in his first, the only winning season at ECU in the previous 10 years.
During his first two-year stay with the Tigers, McCarty coached 30 conference-recognized players and 15 who achieved academic accolades from the LSC. Defensive end Justin Brown, who currently plays in the Canadian Football League, made six All-American teams under McCarty’s watch and linebacker James Callins was the 2005 LSC North Academic Player of the Year, along with being selected as an Arthur Ashe All-American.
Following that two-year stint at ECU, McCarty accepted the position of assistant head coach/offensive line coach at Kansas State, where she served for three seasons. His 2007 offensive line was rated in the top 25 in the nation statistically in fewest sacks allowed as the K-State Wildcats had the No. 1 red zone offense in the Big 12 that same year.
At Kansas State, he coached six all-conference players along the offensive line, including Jordan Bedore, who was on the Remington Trophy watch list and Greg Wafford, who signed with the NFL’s Washington Redskins.
McCarty was also part of one bowl team (Texas Bowl) at K-State in 2006 as the Wildcats upset the No. 4 and No. 7 ranked teams during his stay in Manhattan. His offensive lines paved the way for quarterback Josh Freeman, receiver Jordy Nelson and company to set numerous school records.
His previous coaching stints to Tabor included: assistant coach at Greenville College in Illinois (1998-99), offensive coordinator and head track coach at Southwest Baptist University in Missouri (1994-97), offensive coordinator at Dodge City Community College in Kansas (1990-93), assistant at Middle Tennessee State (1988), graduate assistant at the University of Kansas (1987), assistant at Hays High School in Kansas (1986) and student assistant at his alma mater Fort Hays State (1984-85).
McCarty was a captain and starter for the Fort Hays State team that went 8-3 in 1983. He also played one season at Memphis State University in 1982 after spending two seasons at Dodge City Community College, where he was an all-conference selection in 1981 and was twice named defensive player of the week.
His wife is Jillian and they have two daughters – Bailey and Kendall.
