Viera High’s Kevin Mays To Become Athletic Director at New Osceola County Public School

By  //  November 30, 2017

51-27 Career record at viera high school

Viera Hawks head football coach Kevin Mays is stepping down to accept a new position with Osceola County Public Schools as athletic director of the new Tohopokeliga High School, which will open in August 2018.

BREVARD COUNTY • VIERA, FLORIDA — The Viera Hawks football team, and the entire Brevard County community, is losing one of the best coaches in the entire state of Florida.

Viera High School Athletic Director Chris Gallagher announced Thursday that Hawks head football coach Kevin Mays is stepping down to accept a new position with Osceola County Public Schools as athletic director of the new Tohopokeliga High School, which will open next August.

Mays is taking over his new position as athletic director effective immediately.

He will look to duplicate his success at his new school and likely do it much in the same way he built Viera into a perennial state contender.

Mays took over the Hawks football team in 2011, four years after the program began to play. The program had won just eight games in four seasons prior to his arrival. In a few short years, Mays led the Hawks to their first winning season, an 8-2 record in 2014, just missing the playoffs,

The following year Viera finished the regular season unbeaten at 9-0 and made the programs first trip to the postseason.

The year 2015 would mark the breakout of the program, as Viera played a tough schedule including a nationally ranked team in Texas. The schedule prepared the Hawks for a run to the FHSAA Class 7A State Championship game against St. Thomas Aquinas.

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Despite losing to St. Thomas, Viera made their mark on the state beating traditional powers such as Lakeland and Columbia along the way.

Mays’ son, Brandon was a three-year starter for his team and next fall will play football at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

A Brevard County native, Mayes played high school football for Palm Bay and graduated from Chowan College where he played Outside Linebacker.

He began his coaching career with Hoover Middle School as Head Coach.

From there, Mays coached Eau Gallie’s offensive line, then moved over to his alma mater, Palm Bay where he coached the defensive backs and linebackers from 2000 to 2004 and then became the offensive coordinator from 2004-2008.

Mays moved to Bayside as the offensive coordinator from 2008 to 2010 before taking the Viera head coaching job in 2011.

His career record during the regular season at Viera is 44-23 and he is 7-4 in postseason play. Mays is married to Erica Mays, they have three children; Brandon, 17, Brian, 15 and Blake, 13.

“We told the kids that we had really sad news and really good news,” said Mays.

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They told the team about his accepting a new position and then told them that Derek Smith, the team’s defensive coordinator would take over as head coach.

Smith and Mays were childood friends and have coached side by side in all but four of the last 21 years. Smith was formerly the head coach at Bayside where the Bears reached the FHSAA state region football finals in 2009 and 2010.

Bayside has had three head coaches since Smith left to join Mays at Viera in 2013.

“This is a really great opportunity, and I am very excited about taking the new position – but it has been a tough week knowing that I am leaving,” said Mays.

“This was a special run here at Viera and I couldn’t be more thankful for everything the community, boosters and fans have done to make it the success it has become. While I am happy for my new opportunity I am proud of what we accomplished here at Viera.”

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