For most of his life, Liam McKinney has known what it feels like to be coached.

The Atlanta High School senior grew up playing sports and now plays football and baseball for the Rabbits. Sports have given him competition, friendships and, at times, a place to clear his head. But somewhere along the way, Liam started paying attention to more than what his coaches were teaching him about the game.

He started noticing how they treated people.

“I’ve seen the way they treat kids who aren’t their own and how invested they are in them,” Liam said. “They’re away from their own families so much, and they’re bringing other kids under their wing. I think that’s so influential, especially for generations to come.”

Now, Liam is getting an early opportunity to find out what that looks like from the other side.

Through Atlanta High School’s education pathway, he spends part of his school day gaining hands-on experience in education. Some of his favorite hours are spent at Atlanta Middle School, where he works alongside coaches who once coached him.

One of them is Matt Johnson.

Johnson was Liam’s coach in middle school, and the connection they formed was one of the first things that made Liam consider coaching as a career. Today, Liam jokingly calls his former coach his “boss.”

“I had an amazing connection with him, and that’s when I really started to think, ‘Wow, he’s made such an impact in my life,’” Liam said. “That’s what inspired me. I want to have that same kind of impact on someone else. ”

Other coaches have added to that example over the years, including Tyler Morton, Logan Puckett and Devin Beard. Liam has watched the way they invest in students and learned that sometimes the most important part of coaching has little to do with the sport itself.

Last year, Liam was going through a difficult time when Morton noticed something was wrong and asked him to stay after practice. The two sat down and talked, and for Liam, the conversation became another example of the kind of coach he hopes to be someday.

“For him to notice that and sit me down and be like, ‘Hey, I see you’re struggling,’ that meant a lot,” Liam said. “It showed me this is bigger than football. You’re influencing people by the way you act and the way you talk. I thought, ‘This ties in to exactly what I want to do.’”

Liam began the education pathway as a freshman in an introductory teaching course with Stacy Anthony. He remembers studying communication, working with classmates and examining how educators and coaches influence others.

As a sophomore, dual-credit coursework in areas such as psychology and communication pushed him to think more deeply about how people learn and respond differently.

That lesson has carried directly onto the field.

“For me, I can get yelled at, and I’ll be like, ‘Yes, sir, Coach,’” Liam said. “But some other kids, you have to be more patient with. You have to understand that people take criticism differently and learn how to communicate with them.”

By his junior year, Liam was getting a chance to put some of those lessons into practice.

He began working with athletics at Atlanta Middle School, helping with middle school football games when his own Friday-night schedule allowed it and assisting wherever he was needed, whether that meant working with players, handling equipment or getting water.

This year, his experience has expanded as the education pathway gives him opportunities to learn in different settings and on different campuses. He will continue exploring other areas of education throughout his senior year.

But given the choice, Liam admits he gravitates toward the middle school sideline.

“I just love doing it,” he said. “I’m trying to soak up as much knowledge about coaching as I can.”

With football, Liam has found a particular interest in special teams. Offense and defense naturally command plenty of attention, he said, so he saw an opportunity to help in an area that sometimes receives less attention.

Johnson and the other coaches have allowed him to do more than stand back and watch.

“I try to do my best with special teams because somebody needs to do it, and the other coaches need to be focused on their stuff,” Liam said. “It’s been an amazing experience.”

The experience is also teaching Liam that coaching is built on relationships.

Some of the eighth graders he worked with last year are now freshmen at Atlanta High School. After spending a season together, Liam said several have become some of his “best buddies.”

That matters to him more than anything he might have taught them about football.

“At the end of the day, all I want to do is help,” he said.

Liam is still an athlete first when he walks onto the field for Atlanta High School.

Sports remain the place where he feels most comfortable. Football brings one kind of experience, baseball another, and he spends some of his free time playing golf with friends. Whatever the sport, he values being surrounded by people who push one another.

“When I’m playing sports, it feels like a brand-new day,” Liam said. “I have a bunch of guys around me that I’m influencing, but they’re also influencing me. It feels like I’m right at home.”

He hopes his playing days aren't finished when he graduates. Liam would like the opportunity to play college football, but he also knows his future doesn't depend on whether that opportunity comes.

The education pathway has helped him see another way sports can remain part of his life.

Liam plans to pursue a degree in education and is considering a minor in kinesiology, which could open additional opportunities in areas such as strength and conditioning. Wherever he begins his career, his goal is to learn as much as he can from the coaches around him.

“I want to learn from as many coaches as I can and soak up little stuff from each one of them,” Liam said. “Then when I get into my own coaching career and face different situations, I can think back to something Coach Morton told me or something another coach taught me.” 

And if Liam gets his way, eventually that career will lead him back to the same community where the idea began.

“Obviously, I love this place, and I want to come back here as soon as possible,” Liam said. “Atlanta is a special place. It’s a smaller community, and I love that everybody knows everybody and you build those connections. When it comes to education, you see generations on generations. You see the next level of our community and the people you’re going to see around town. I’ve always felt like this is my home.”

He hopes one day he can come back and have that same kind of impact on students here. 

He knows he has plenty to learn before then. Right now, he is still the high school senior playing on Friday nights, helping with younger athletes when he can and paying close attention to the adults who have already built the kind of career he wants.

He doesn't know exactly where the path after graduation will take him. His faith, which Liam describes as the most important priority in his life, shapes the way he thinks about that uncertainty. He hopes there is more football ahead, followed by college, a degree and eventually a coaching job. Atlanta is where he would like that journey to bring him.

“I feel like this is the perfect place to be, and I have always belonged here,” Liam said. “I feel like God has just called me. This is your home. This is where you want to be. I love it here, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”