Former NFL Pro Step Durham Builds Mentoring Culture for Stingrays
Former Atlantic Coast football player Step Durham has been able to do what only a few high school athletes dream of. Now the former NFL player is helping student-athletes realize their own hopes and dreams.
Following an outstanding high school career for the Stingrays, Durham graduated in 2014 and headed to Georgia Tech with an opportunity to play football while getting a college education from one of the finest institutions in the country.
Durham played four seasons with the “Ramblin’ Wreck” under head coach Paul Johnson. Then he joined the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent following a successful rookie minicamp workout.
While Durham’s NFL career was a brief one, cut short by injury after just one season, he knows he had the chance to do what 99% of young kids only dream of.
“My NFL career didn’t last long, but I was able to realize my childhood dream of making an NFL squad,” he said.
After a couple of years trying to find a home with another NFL team, Durham said he came to the realization that his pro football days were over. So he decided to chase another long-time goal.
“I decided I wanted to ultimately teach, so I was able to get my first teaching position and coaching job at Wolfson High School,” he said.
The thought of becoming a teacher and a mentor had been with Durham since he was a young man, watching and following a mentor of his own.
“It all started with my dad,” Durham explained. “He was always working with young people, and I saw how happy it made him, impacting other people’s lives.”
He remembers riding with his dad and seeing how adults would approach him, thanking him for the impact he made on their lives.
“That has always stuck with me, so I knew I wanted to follow the example he set,” he said.
Now, as the head football coach at Atlantic Coast, Step Durham is giving back. And it’s not only him.
“I have hired several assistant coaches who are also former collegiate players, who can offer a special kind of advice for these players that not every team has,” Durham said. “The kids love learning from these former college players.”
Durham’s staff includes former Alcorn State safety Leishaun Ealey; defensive coordinator Qu’Ron Hall, who played DB at Shaw University; and Cam Singletary, a former Tennessee Tech wide receiver.
So far, Atlantic Coast players are buying in to the messaging from Durham and his staff, and the early results are encouraging.
Following an 0-10 season in 2022, the Stingrays recorded four wins last year, which Durham considered a good sign: “That’s four more wins than the previous season, so we’ll take that as a step in the right direction.”
