The City of Bridgeport has a new hall of fame member on the football front. And while he has had a hand, or rather a foot, in a decent amount in the Indians’ success, where it all started was up Route 50 West, a little more than an hour away.

 

It was there, as a 9-year-old, a lot of the trajectory of city resident Matt McCullough’s future was put in motion. All it required was a farm, a barn, a football, and a pretty observant father.

 

That day, in Mineral Wells in the early 1990s, led to where McCullough was on Friday, Sept. 29. On that day, McCullough was inducted into the Parkersburg High School Football Hall of Fame before the Big Reds game with George Washington.

 

The best part? That special day with 9-year-old Matt and his father Mark was also setting in motion the induction of his father – a long-time assistant coach for PHS – to the same Hall of Fame that very evening.

 

So, what does it all have to do by rewinding a few decades?

 

Despite the football accolades he earned as the result of his kicking with Parkersburg’s football team, young Matt McCullough was a soccer player as a kid. As is often the case, the soccer game translated well to the American brand of football – and his father soon found out.

 

“We were in the yard one day throwing the Nerf football around and dad had a barn on the property. I told him I was going to kick the football over the barn,” said McCullough. “Sure enough, I punted it over the barn, and he wanted to see if I could do it again, and I did.”

 

And it began from the barn on property the family no longer owns, kicking over utility lines and anything else. It continued into high school, college, and onto the business front. In fact, his recent hall of hall of fame is a validation of what he is doing as opposed to a conclusion.

 

Ironically, Matt’s now hall of fame coaching father never kicked. He began helping his son after those early kicking sessions, and learned about it alongside him and, as it turned out, the niche skill is desired by coaching staffs. That translated into a coaching career in Wood County with a program whose pedigree is in the same elite neighborhood as Bridgeport’s.

 

It would be in 1997 Mark McCullough became the PHS special team coach. He would stay until 2009, coaching on four state championship teams while Parkersburg went 121-33 during that time. All told, he would coach seven Class AAA first-team all-state kickers and three who would go on to compete at the Division I level.

 

I am betting his favorite of that group was Matt. I also bet it was those first few years from 1997 to 2000, that may be his most memorable. He joined the program as a coach as Matt joined as a player and in 2000 the McCullough’s were on the field together when they beat Riverside 31-28 for a Class AAA state championship during Matt’s senior season.

 

When he finished his three-year run, McCullough had started 40 of 41 games. He made eight field goals, including a then school record of 46 yards, and finished with 106 points along with 70 touchbacks on kickoffs.

 

“I did punting, kickoffs, and field goals,” said McCullough of his time with Parkersburg, that also featured a fellow kicker a year ahead of him named Nick Swisher of New York Yankees fame. “I was good enough to get multiple opportunities to kick in college, but I decided to walk on at WVU.”

 

During his time in Morgantown, McCullough played for Coach Don Nehlen and was there at the start of the Rich Rodriguez era before transferring to Fairmont State for his final year of college athletics.

 

“I didn’t play a lot, but I sure remember my first game action against Syracuse. Everything was just in slow motion in a manner that’s hard to describe … I remember looking straight ahead at the scoreboard and as I approached the jumbotron all I could see was myself,” McCullough laughed. “They wanted a squib kick in a game where we beat them pretty good, and I did my job with the ball going out of bounds off a returner at the 14-yard-line.

 

“Honestly, it was worth it because to this day I still remember how the wind felt, how things smelled. It’s that fresh,” he continued. “My circle for playing was essentially complete because I got to play on the field where I watched my heroes growing up even though it wasn’t completely over.”

 

It would be over soon in Morgantown. After the season, a young Coach Rodriguez let McCullough know they were going to give shots to younger guys on the roster. It was not totally unexpected as a hip flexor injury had caused McCullough more than just a few issues.

 

“I knew former (Graduate Assistants at WVU) Rusty Elliott and Mike Lopez and they were now coaching at Fairmont State and that’s how I ended up there,” he said. “I played just one game. The trainers were right about my injury. It resurfaced immediately and that was it.”

 

McCullough, though, was in love with football. He stayed on the team and ended up becoming a coach and would head back to the classroom. It appeared possible that a lifetime in Wood County was in order as he was enjoying both teaching and coaching.

 

The coaching included being an assistant football coach at VanDevender Junior High, Jackson Junior High, and on the 2008 Parkersburg High School freshman team.  McCullough served as the head freshman football coach at PHS in 2009, while also dabbling for a few years as a freshman basketball coach.

 

“I was teaching in Parkersburg and lived there for three years,” said McCullough of his time after his playing days. “I met my wife Amanda (Barnes), and we had an opportunity to move to Bridgeport.”

 

The opportunity involved opening up Anytime Fitness in the Home Depot Plaza, which was closer to her family. It was also closer for his desire for a career change.

 

“I was ready to do something other than teaching and that’s what I did for four years before we sold it. Oddly enough, I made the move back to education,” said McCullough. “I’m still there today.”

 

After stops at North View and Simpson Elementary, McCullough has been in various roles at United High School. Along the way, he has continued to be involved with kicking. And it is here where he has had an impact on the success of Bridgeport High School’s program and plenty of others as well.

 

He runs Coach Mac Special Teams, LLC, in a tribute to his father whose players affectionately called him that. However, he has been working with younger kickers long before making his business official in recent years.

 

“I actually liked working with younger kids in high school and that continued in college. I worked at camps like Appalachian State,” said McCullough, who is father to Isabella 14, and Anthony 10. “It all just developed from there.”

 

While he was doing it during his time living in Wood County, it exploded during his move to Bridgeport. The reason, he believes, is the central location of the city.

 

“I was more accessible in this location, and we had kids come from all over and I still work with kids from all over. This season I’ve worked with kids at 33 different schools,” said McCullough. “I still enjoy working with Bridgeport kickers because that’s home now.”

 

The Bridgeport list reads like an all-star team in recent years. Those he has helped tutor include Kash Kiefer, Connor Kornbrath, Koby Kiefer, Evan Ogden, Austin Springer, Taylor Thomas, and current kicker Avery Williams and current freshman team kicker Gavin Williams. More than one competed at the Division I level.

 

Right now, several kids without BHS ties he has assisted in punting and kicking include John McConnell of Marshall, Nate Flowers of WVU, Andrew Glass of Kent State, Michael Hughes of Appalachian State, and George Triplett of Portland State. Four of those five start for their respective teams.

 

“It grew to the point that a year and a half ago I felt like it was ready to be an official business; it’s grown that much,” he said of creating an LLC. “Making the move didn’t really bring in any more business, but I think it legitimizes it even more.”

 

As for whether McCullough is legit, I think the question has been answered with a who’s who of kicking scholarships and all-state status for youngsters he has worked with. All of it predicated on a day on the farm.

 

“If that punt doesn’t happen, there’s a chance none of it happens. If I’m not kicking at PHS and working with some of these kids, maybe a few of them don’t go that route,” said McCullough. “I’m glad it all happened. Things have worked out pretty well.”

 

Indeed, they have. And he has the hall of fame credentials to prove it.

 

Editor's Note:  Matt McCullough holds a picture from a 1993 Parkersburg News and Sentinel showing his father Mark and himself as an 11-year-old practicing kicking - long before both were involved with PHS. Second photo shows McCullough kicking the field goal that would be the difference in the Big Reds' 31-28 'AAA' state title win in 2000 vs. Riverside. Third photo shows McCullough and his father in front of his WVU locker, while he sees the image of himself on the WVU jumbotron in a game against Syracuse in the next image. In the fifth photo, McCullough talks with two of the kids he's worked with in Bridgeport's Austin Springer and Lewis County's Jared Griffith following a 2019 playoff game. In the sixth photo, he is shown with, from left, son Anthony, wife Amanda, and daughter Isabella at the Hall of Fame ceremony. In the seventh image, Hall of Fame Committee member Caroll Jett presents McCullough with his plaque as mom Judy McCullough looks on. Bottom image shows McCullough shortly after receiving his honor at the recent game. All images courtesy of Matt McCullough.