Now in his ninth season as Carroll County High School’s head baseball coach, Kevin DeHaven will soon have his hand in all Cavalier sports. A 1993 graduate of CCHS and a member of the Carroll County High School Sports Hall of Fame, DeHaven has been hired as Carroll County’s new athletic director/assistant principal.
DeHaven replaces outgoing CCHS Athletic Director Darrin Matthews, who has served in the position for the past 20 years.
“Coach DeHaven has been helping our current AD out and has learned what his responsibilities are going to be. He has worked toward this goal of becoming an AD and we are excited to have him,” CCHS Principal Chuck Thompson said. “We look forward to working with him because he has had a leadership role here in the school as a teacher and as a head baseball coach. He has always tried to help Darrin out and whenever Darrin has been out, he’s been assisting us with whatever we needed.”
DeHaven was an all-state baseball player as a catcher and an all-state football player as a wide receiver at Carroll County. He played one season of college baseball at Greensboro College and three seasons at Bluefield College. DeHaven has served the past eight seasons as Carroll County’s head coach and he has been a teacher in Carroll County schools for 25 years.
“Talking with family, it was time to make a change, more professionally than coaching. But it was something that wasn’t on a whim,” DeHaven said. “I talked with my wife and the kids about the time of being here much more than I usually am, but also coaching-wise, it will be difficult. But talking with the family, they are supportive and know this is something I had set out to do.”
Behind the scenes, DeHaven has been preparing for the move for a while now, often tagging along with Matthews, especially during football games. When Matthews was out with knee surgery, it allowed DeHaven to take a few test runs.
“It was basically just, ‘Can you run a few games with the great administration team we have here?’ And it’s not like it used to be where you have to be here for every game and all game,” DeHaven said. “We have set up a rotation so it is not as time consuming as when Darrin took over. It is better because there is more support. And with my kids coming through, Camden will come to football and basketball and things like that. Clara is younger and will be doing the same stuff. I would have been here anyway, just as a spectator, but now I will be on duty.”
DeHaven won’t officially begin AD/assistant principal duties until July 1, as he is currently still leading Carroll’s baseball team. In the meantime he has worked with Matthews to complete the volleyball and football schedules. He said working with Matthews and learning from his two decades of experience has made the transition period much easier.
“Darrin has not only been a great mentor, but he’s a great friend and someone I can go to and complain to and be a sounding board,” DeHaven said. “He has always been there and is always helping me, so I do greatly appreciate that.”
While athletic directors will never receive much fanfare, Matthews draws nothing but praise from those who know him and work with him.
“Coach Matthews has been a dedicated athletic director. There is not many people that know all the responsibilities of an athletic director. They rarely get praise. They always get complaints. But Darrin handles it with grace and he has been a Carroll County Cavalier for his whole life,” Thompson said. “He has great relationships with other ADs in our district and within the state. During his time here he has been to 210 Carroll County football games and has only missed eight in his career, home or away.”
DeHaven said his biggest goal as athletic director will be to advocate for student athletes and to do everything in his power to improve their experience at CCHS.
“I will try to advocate for student athletes as well as Darrin has, but hopefully with the district changing the year after next we won’t have to travel as much. I will try to advocate and do some commonsense things if I can to keep from having two far away trips back to back. I want to advocate for our student athletes and all students in general for hopefully a better experience.”
Allen Worrell can be reached at (276) 779-4062 or on X@AWorrellTCN
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