Outstanding Service to Youth

Eric McCahon

If you agree with us that being a great coach includes molding athletes to be winners on the field and off, you will appreciate the contributions of longtime Cordova High School boys soccer coach Eric McCahon.

Last November, Coach McCahon notched a real milestone when he entered his 20th season leading the soccer Lancers.

Like most great coaches, Coach McCahon has racked up more than his share of coaching accolades over the years.

In 2023, he was named the National Federation of High School Soccer’s California Coach of the Year. It clearly was not a fluke. He won the same honor in 2017, as well as the San Joaquin Section CIF Model Coach of the Year for 2014-2015.

Eric was the Sierra Valley Conference Coach of the Year in both 2008 and 2015. So, as seen through the eyes of his coaching peers, Eric ranks among the best.

Eric is a graduate of Sacramento State, lived in Rancho Cordova and now lives next door in Gold River. A physical education instructor, he did his student teaching at Cordova High under Rancho Cordova Sports Hall of Famer Rich Rose. Cordova High was his first stop in his teaching and coaching career, and from the looks of things, it may be where he spends his entire professional life.

Respected by his peers in both the coaching realm and at Cordova High, Eric’s colleagues say that beyond all that, his special touch has been in his ability to help students navigate sometimes intense inter-racial rivalries and avoid the physical altercations that mar contemporary high school life.

Colleagues point to Eric’s clear dedication to students, helping them find a college pathway through soccer. Many have gone on to play at the college level, giving them opportunities to move through turbulent high school years and into successful adulthood.

The job of teacher and coach in today’s world is not as simple as it once was. Beyond learning how to land the perfect free kick, coaches today must steer their young charges around difficult home lives and poverty, and traverse ethnic conflict and more.

Observers told us that Eric’s dedication to helping students avoid clashes by identifying campus influencers, providing wise counsel and avoiding skirmishes that could have serious consequences sets him apart.

It takes a special person to go this extra mile, and Eric McCahon is one of them.

Sure, we all love to cheer for the winning team, and Eric has coached a bunch of those over the years.

But it is the additional effort paid by Eric to help young people overcome the stresses and strains found on campuses like Cordova High that focused our attention on this wonderful educator.

Eric, you know better than most that old cowboy advice that says “keep your boots dirty and your heart clean.” In other words, being a high school teacher and coach can be hard work, but nothing is more important.

And so, we share a little more cowboy wisdom before we invite Eric to the podium, including these two gems:

First – Speak your mind -- but ride a fast horse.
And second – Success is the size of the hole a man leaves when he dies.

In honor of your exemplary service to Rancho Cordova students and athletes, it is with great pleasure we honor teacher and Coach Eric McCahon with the award of Outstanding Service to Youth.