Ex-coach from N.C. to be inducted into hall of fame

By Jeff Zeigler

Correspondent

Jerry McGee, who has already received tons of accolades for his work with coaches and athletic directors, will receive another award Monday. McGee will be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C.

McGee, who retired as athletic director at Pasquotank County's Northeastern High School in 1997, has made it a mission to help athletic directors move from coaching individual sports to administration of programs. He continues to serve on several boards dedicated to that task.

"There are 22 sports in North Carolina, and we want to make them all equal," McGee said.

McGee, 69, has a long list of awards, including North Carolina Athletic Director of the Year four times, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award, the National Federation of High School Athletic Associations' Award of Merit and a Distinguished American Award from the North Carolina Triangle Chapter of the National Football Foundation. He is a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.

"I am humbled and honored," McGee said. "Nobody really deserves something like this. It's just a blessing from God. It has to do mostly with dear friends who care enough and are nice enough to nominate me."

McGee has deep roots in the Albemarle area. McGee and his twin brother, Mike, played football at Elizabeth City High School and both played at Duke University. After graduation, McGee went to John A. Holmes

High School and coached the Aces to two state football championships. He then coached at East Carolina University and Duke for nine years, before returning to Elizabeth City to coach at Northeastern. In 1981, he became the athletic director at Northeastern until his retirement in 1997.

In 2001, McGee was a founding member, and is current chairman, of the National Executive Directors' Council. That organization has grown from seven states to 38 states now represented.