Where does a former NFL coach with a Super Bowl title to his name go on vacation in the new year? Wrexham, of course.
Paul McCord and his family swapped Florida for North Wales to attend the League Two match against Barrow after becoming passionate fans of the club through the Welcome to Wrexham documentary.
It meant leaving behind the Tampa sun and daytime temperatures of 71.6°F (22°C) for highs of 9°C, but Paul, his wife Mindy, a successful women’s lacrosse coach, and their nine-year-old son L.J. They couldn’t have been happier.
“Being here in Wrexham to celebrate the new year meant a lot,” says Paul, a member of the coaching team that led the Baltimore Ravens to Super Bowl glory in 2001. He’s sporting the commemorative ring he received after the 34-game victory. 7 on the New York Giants.
“This is our second visit to Wrexham. We came for the first time in March 2023, for the Southend United match. Then we toured the United States last summer, seeing games in Chapel Hill, Los Angeles, San Diego and Philadelphia.
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“That was great as we were able to meet up again with people like Wayne (Jones, owner of The Turf and featured star of the documentary), who we met on that first visit to Wrexham.
“We have fallen in love with the place and the people. In a world that can be very cynical, having a place that is authentic and full of gratitude makes you want to be here. That’s what set us back.
“What brought us here in March was the documentary, but the people are what brought us back.”
Paul and Mindy’s respective careers as elite trainers are what initially attracted the pair to watch the first series of a show featuring the Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney property.
“As coaches, we both love watching sports documentaries, like the (ESPN) series 30 for 30,” says Mindy, head coach of the University of South Florida women’s lacrosse program.
“Paul was the one who said, ‘Let’s watch this documentary.’ He’s writing a book about homeless stories and the show had that element. Immediately, we were both able to relate to the story.
“I loved the ‘working town’ element. My father was an electrician and my grandfather, a coal miner, came from Yugoslavia. I also loved the community aspect and in particular how authentic the fan engagement is in Wrexham.
“There is a really personal element, with the players walking among the fans before each game, posing for photographs and signing autographs.”
The McCord family (back row from left): Paul, Mindy, daughter Taylor and son-in-law Spencer Zapper and (front) LJ
The McCords spent New Year’s Eve at The Turf pub, which is next to the club’s SToK Cae Ras home, but both Paul and Mindy seem remarkably cheerful.
LJ is also excited, having brought a gift for Paul Mullin, with whom the youngster enjoyed an impromptu kick after the summer tour match against Chelsea in Chapel Hill.
“The gift is for Albi,” Mindy explains, Albi being Mullin’s young autistic son. “We wanted to thank Paul for being so good to LJ. “It’s what we love so much about Wrexham, the authenticity and welcome everyone has.”
The McCord family will always remember their first visit to Wrexham.
The Southend match did not take place until the last moment, after volunteers and club staff worked through the night to ensure the pitch was playable. Snow had covered the area.
But there was another problem: the tickets that Paul had bought online turned out to be in the area reserved for fans of the visiting team.
“We only realized when we arrived at the turnstiles with all our newly purchased Wrexham equipment,” laughs Paul, 198cm (6ft 6in) tall and still as powerfully built as you would expect from someone who once signed with the Dallas Cowboys.
“The gentleman explained to me that we had bought tickets by mistake on the Southend section and then looked at me before saying: ‘You’ll be fine as they won’t give you much trouble, but I can’t say the same for the other two.’
“It was totally my fault. I had no idea it was the visiting section. I just watched ‘Wrexham’ and clicked for three tickets. The club was brilliant. “They accompanied us to another section of the stands, which turned out to be where all the reserve team players sit.”
Mindy quickly chimes in: “The funny thing is, as a result, we got to the second season of the documentary. “We were watching at home when suddenly, there we were, on the screen, looking like complete tourists in our Wrexham hats and scarves, sitting with all these players.”
This time there were no such mishaps. As international members, the family bought tickets in the main stand through the club for the 4-1 win over Barrow.
A particular highlight came with the second goal of Steven Fletcher’s hat-trick, a header at the far post from a James McClean corner. “The stack play in the corner was similar to a set piece we use in lacrosse,” Paul messaged after the game.
Crossovers between Phil Parkinson’s methods and the couple’s own coaching experiences are more common than many might think. Certainly the Wrexham coach’s famous ‘character test’ when assessing potential signings (he won’t mind driving to London and back to assess a player’s suitability over a cup of tea) is similar to how Mindy handles things in lacrosse.
Along with Paul, he implemented ‘The System’ fast-paced basketball doctrine, pioneered by Paul Westhead with Loyola Marymount University in the late 1980s and featured on the television show Winning Time. This had a great effect when he was managing the Jacksonville University lacrosse team. Building the right culture was key.
McCords reunite Jacksonville University women’s lacrosse team (Paul McCord)
“We needed a good locker room,” says Mindy, named Conference Coach of the Year eight times during her time in Jacksonville. “We achieved this because these women accepted our core values and our mission.
“When you say Phil interviews the players here, we were interviewing the parents. These are young people between 17 and 23 years old, so how they are educated is important. Do parents value coaching and mentoring? That makes a big difference in terms of how you can move the needle with a young adult.
“Finding the right people is an art. We were also very transparent and honest about who we were as people and coaches, our styles, our personalities and what they were going to get from us. “You have to build trust.”
One aspect of training that Mindy does not share with the Wrexham coach is what the documentary makers call “Phil’s enthusiasm levels” – the large number of times he swears during team conversations.
And he adds: “We laugh every time he says bad words on the program. But one day LJ said to me, ‘Mom, they drop so many F-bombs, can I say it?’ I say, ‘No way, it’s just part of the language there.'”
Dad agrees. “I’ve been in dressing rooms like that,” he says. “Maybe not as many bad words, but certainly some things were said. This is when adrenaline and testosterone increase. “It comes from the heart.”
Paul certainly speaks from experience when it comes to high-level coaching. Having been part of Brian Billick’s Ravens coaching staff for that Super Bowl XXXV win over the Giants, he then joined the Jacksonville Jaguars in a similar capacity.
“I worked with the kickers, punters, centers, starters and return specialists,” he explains. “The Super Bowl was surreal. I was the bottom man on the coaching staff, the assistant special teams coach. But just being a part of it was amazing. You are on this journey and you know something great is happening.
“You are so micro-focused on every game. And every moment. We didn’t really think anything about the Super Bowl until we got there. And once there, we felt like we would easily win this match.
“No one was going to score against our defense, which was the best. Our offense also knew what to do, and our field position play was excellent as well. That’s exactly how it played out.
“It was a wonderful experience, with Mindy and the whole family there.”
McCord in practice with the Ravens (Sue Bloom)
Along with the sports underdog book he is writing and helping Mindy in her coaching career, Paul’s goal for 2024 involves helping to spread the Wrexham gospel even further.
“All the family and friends know Wrexham,” he says. “For our daughter Taylor and son-in-law Spencer (Zapper), we bought Wrexham shirts for Christmas. The plan now is to educate the people of Tampa about this great club.
“It’s funny that I wasn’t interested in Always Sunny (in Philadelphia) when I got into it. Or even a Ryan Reynolds fan. It was the sports element that attracted me, and particularly the underdog story.
“But I suddenly became a superfan, never missed a game on iFollow (kick-off is usually at 10 a.m. on Saturdays in Florida) and screamed so loud that all the neighbors knew when we had scored a goal.”
(Photos: Richard Sutcliffe/McCord Family)
