WOF Spotlight Champion Track Coach Adds 2nd Hall of Fame

Mansfield is not the original home of long time teacher and coach John Mackey. He and his grey S-10 Chevy truck have been around the community for so long, it just seems that way.

Mackey was actually raised in Ava, MO - curiously only 15 miles away from Mansfield, MO and the historic home and museum of Laura Ingalls Wilder of the Little House on the Prairie fame. He transplanted to Greenwood, AR as a teenager enjoying moderate success as a three sport athlete for legendary coaches H.B. Stewart, Charles”Jeep” Sadler and Jerry Efurd before graduating in 1981.

Seven years later, the young educator with wife Debbie and daughter Jaymie moved to Mansfield via previous coaching stops in Fayetteville and Corning. From that point on, the former Ava Bear and Greenwood Bulldog became infused with Tiger blood. His legacy became instructing generations of Mansfield athletes and teams to historic success.

Already a member of the Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame, Mackey will soon be elevated to his second hall of fame. In October, the man who coached 14 state championships as a Tiger will have his likeness fixed upon the Mansfield Wall of Fame.

Through our continued account of Mansfield honoree profiles, this week the focus zooms in on the coaching life of John Mackey. His is the seventh feature of a 10 chapter series cataloging the “WOF Spotlight” stories of this year’s assemblage of Tiger Titans.

John Mackey spent 38 ½ years in public education. Over that teaching time at three different stops, he coached football, basketball, golf, tennis, cross country and track. Additionally, he taught foundational math, Algebra 1 or physical education in each of those years. Before retiring in 2023, he also served 13 years as the MHS athletic director while still maintaining a core course teaching load, head coaching up to 10 different teams at one time, and representing the 3A & 2A classifications as part of the Arkansas Activities Association's track and field advisory committee.

Mackey coached football for two decades. Notably, he was the Tiger’s head coach when the team won the very last football game ever played on the old field, and the winning head coach of the very first senior high game ever played on the new field. He also spent a quarter of a century boot-stomping the sidelines along the basketball courts for both the men’s and women’s programs at Mansfield. Despite all this, his name is most recognized around the state for his success coaching cross country, track and for being the athletic director during a time of unprecedented MHS sports prosperity.

Depending on what decade you attended Mansfield High School, chances are you categorize him as the basketball skipper, football fanatic, or track teacher. To no one’s surprise, people over the last 25 years have probably known him best as the track and field guru. Point of fact - Seth Mays, a 2014 MHS graduate and manager on some of Mackey’s state championship teams, began calling the Tiger luminary “Coach Trackey”.

Mackey’s senior girls track teams won five AAA outdoor track state championships (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014). All of those titles came in the 3A classification. He also won nine ATCA indoor track state championships (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2022 and 2023). Seven of those came competing in the combined 1A-4A class with the final two having dropped down into the 2A ranks. He also had two state outdoor runner-up finishes and two state indoor runner-up finishes. 

His track teams also won 18 conference championships, 6 conference runner-up plaques, had 72 All-State athletes and 2 state heptathlon winners. His cross country teams brought home 2 state runner-up trophies, 8 conference titles, and had 5 All-State athletes. Combined, the two programs had another 25 Top-Ten state finishes.

Throughout the variety of sports Mackey coached, 40 of his former players eventually signed to participate in some type of college athletics. Many more would go on to become teachers or coaches. As to the branches off the Mackey coaching tree, 12 of his former players became state championship coaches themselves.

John was a Conference Coach of the Year 25 times and the AHSCA State Track Coach of the Year twice. In 2010, his women’s track team won the Lowell Manning award for the state’s outstanding track and field program. In 2023, he was selected as the District 2A-4 Athletic Director of the Year and the Class 2A State Athletic Director of the Year.

During his tenure as Mansfield AD, Tiger athletic programs brought home 7 state championships and 3 state runner-up awards. The school hosted the 2A State Volleyball Tournament, Regional Tournaments for Baseball and Softball, the 3A state football playoffs, and the River Valley All-Star cross country meet. In 2022 alone, MHS qualified to state in every sport that it offered. Then in 2023, the Tigers hosted the district basketball tournament along with conference finals in track, baseball and softball.

Mackey was on the AAA advisory committee when it voted to eliminate preliminary races at the state track meet. He was also in charge of calculating the state qualification standards for Class 3A for a number of years.

John graduated college in 1985 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville where he received the PEM Club Senior Honor Award. He taught at Ramay Junior High for a semester before spending three years at Corning High School under hall of fame coaches Don Campell and David Carpenter. Mackey attended graduate school at both the University of Arkansas and Harding University.

The retired coach continues to support Mansfield student-athletes by sponsoring the Mackey-Reese “Continue the Race” Memorial Scholarship. He volunteers with school activities, is a registered track official, and does summer training for former athletes preparing for college. He is also a freelance writer and since retirement has been authoring his first book. 

John and his wife Debbie, the beloved former Mansfield High School secretary, have been married for 40 years. They enjoy spending time with daughter Jaymie, grandson Noah and extended family members.