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David Mahaffey Coming Olivia Halverson Full Circle 12 • Fall 2018
As a middle-schooler, David Mahaffey wrote a letter to himself for a school project that he would open and read during his senior year of high school. In the letter, David wrote that one day he would become a wildlife biologist–a sensible career aspiration for someone who loved the outdoors as much as he did. When David wasn’t camouflaged in the grass waiting for a trophy buck to come within range, he was kicking up grass behind his football cleats. Though he didn’t know it at the time, his youth laid the perfect foundation for two paths David was destined to follow. David was a star offensive lineman on the Brandon High School football team. His dominating frame made him a force to be reckoned with on the field. While football took up a lot of his time and energy, David never let sports interfere with his schooling. He was just as dedicated in the classroom as he was on the football field. During his senior year, David did an unexpectedly eye-opening project for one of his classes. The project required students to pick a career that they would be interested in pursuing and shadow a professional within that field to learn more about it. At the time, David still had his dream of one day becoming a wildlife biologist. But with his busy football and school schedule, he knew that it would be more practical if he chose coaching as his hypothetical career for the project. He already spent a large portion of his day surrounded by football coaches, so the decision to shadow a coach just made practical sense. As David got deeper into the project, he began to picture himself as a coach. “God really showed me in that last year how big of an impact coaches and teachers have.” The project uncovered a career path David had never considered. With that in mind, he finished the project, graduated from Brandon High School with the class of 2013, and moved on to the next stage of life–college. David went on to play football for East Mississippi Community College. He was there for one season before he transferred to Louisiana Tech University where he played three seasons as left guard and center. He graduated in May 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. But a degree isn’t the only thing David gained from Louisiana Tech. David met his wife Brittany there. They got married in June of 2017, then moved to Bossier City, Louisiana, where David had his first job as a science teacher and football coach at Elm Grove Middle School. Less than a year later, David was offered a teaching and coaching job at Brandon High School. Though he loved his time at Elm Grove Middle School, David was excited at the opportunity to return to his hometown and the school that helped him realize his calling. “It’s a dream of any coach to get to come back and coach at their hometown high school,” David said. His wife was also eager to come to Brandon. While she and David were dating, they spent most of their free weekends visiting David’s family in Brandon and going hunting and fishing at the family’s farm. Once again, it was a decision for David that just made a lot of sense. Now the school year has begun, and David is settling into his new roles at Brandon High School as assistant football coach and biology teacher. He has a lot of goals for himself and a particularly high standard to maintain, he explained. “Teaching biology and trying to coach and do everything you want to do with your team is a struggle. It makes your days a lot longer and harder, but that’s part of it,” David continued. “I hold myself to the standard that is set by Brandon High School teachers—some of the greatest teachers in the state of Mississippi. It’s not always about teaching the content, but it’s more of how we’re teaching and what else we can accomplish with the way we are teaching our classes. That’s what matters.” While David is not the wildlife biologist his 13-year-old-self predicted that he would be, he is fulfilling a higher calling through his new roles at Brandon High School. David may have chosen biology and football, but teaching and coaching most certainly chose him. l Hometown Brandon • 13
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