Lowell football, once predicted to be underdogs, has proven those predictions wrong under head coach Casey McKim. A 2004 graduate of Valparaiso High School, McKim continued his education at Purdue University – West Lafayette.
McKim started playing football in seventh grade. He said, “I loved the part when people are cheering for you when you hit someone as hard as you want and you don’t get in trouble for it. That’s why I loved the game.”
Once McKim finished playing football, he knew he wanted to become a coach. He still wanted to be involved in the sport, but, as he put it, “I stopped growing while everyone else around me kept growing.” McKim believes that football is the best sport there is, saying, “It doesn’t matter if you are the smallest or the biggest guy out on the field—you can always be the most dominant player.”
He began his coaching career at Michigan City Middle School. McKim said that if coaching hadn’t worked out, he would have gone to law school or started his own business.
When asked about his favorite football memory, McKim said, “My favorite memory was coaching in the semi-state game that brought us to state when I was at New Prairie. The feeling that you just clinched your way all the way to state, down in Indianapolis.” He went on to describe the game: they were down nine points for most of it. After scoring a touchdown and kicking the PAT, the score became 9–7. New Prairie then went for an onside kick and recovered the ball. They drove down the field and kicked a game-winning field goal to make it 10–9, sending McKim and his team to state.
When McKim brought his talents to Lowell, he knew what he wanted: to be around people who wanted to be the best and were willing to work hard toward that goal. He also wanted to be in a community that truly cared about its kids and invested in them. “I like seeing how much a community cares about their sports teams—that’s where it matters most,” he said. McKim felt very welcomed when he became a Red Devil.
He described the Lowell athletic facilities as “unbelievable” and “fantastic.” One of the most impressive things he has experienced while being at Lowell is how much the community has invested in athletics. “Lowell shows how much they are committed to their teams just by building the brand-new athletic complex and a new pool for the swim team,” he said.
One of the first things McKim liked about Lowell was how welcoming and open the town was. “I’ve been in other towns where they didn’t like outsiders moving in,” he said. “Lowell is very welcoming. As long as you share the same values and are part of the community, they treat you like family.”
McKim plans to implement more coaching clinics for youth and strengthen connections with the middle school program so players are better prepared for high school football. His goal is to make sure every football player is ready for the next level. He believes Pop Warner prepares kids for middle school, middle school prepares them for high school, and by then, they’re training to perform at their best.
The biggest focus this offseason will be the new offseason program, which he describes as “drastically different than what most people are used to.” He explained, “We’re going to make it extremely competitive. I’m not sure I’d say intense, but the focus is going to be on getting better every day.”
McKim says it can be hard to tell whether a team has good or bad chemistry, but victories reveal a lot. “When you start having victories, you can see how the players celebrate with each other, which really shows how connected they are,” he said. “Even in losses, you see them picking each other up or reassuring one another during tough moments. As a coach, that’s what you hope to foster. You can’t force kids to like each other, but you hope to create an environment where they want to be around each other—and I definitely feel that.”
McKim isn’t surprised by how the season is going. “This is kind of the plan that I knew was going to happen,” he said. He described the Hobart game as a “pivotal game” that could determine the direction of the season and the team’s playoff path.
