Paul McFadden, affectionately known on campus as “Coach Mac,” was named as the first Director of Athletics for Crowley’s Ridge College in 1998. McFadden has been on campus since graduating with his associate’s degree in 1983, immediately becoming a dorm parent.

Since then, McFadden has served as a dorm supervisor, admissions director, registrar, and campus minister. In addition to his role as athletic director, McFadden currently serves as the Vice President of Student Affairs and as an associate professor of Bible.

Born in Hickory Ridge, Arkansas, Coach Mac is an alumnus of Wheatley High School’s class of 1981 where he lettered in football, basketball, and track. He also played American Legion Baseball through Brinkley, Arkansas.

At Crowley’s Ridge, McFadden established the women’s basketball program, coaching the Lady Pioneers for three seasons including an 11-10 mark in the inaugural season.

McFadden also coached men’s basketball from 1986-1997, then again in the second half of the 2004-05 years. McFadden eclipsed the 100-win mark in his final season en route to an ACCA National Runners-Up trophy in the 2004-05 season. A three-time Southland Christian Athletic Conference Champion, McFadden was honored as conference coach of the year in the 1986-87 season.

Coach Mac was also the skipper for the Pioneer baseball squad on three occasions, from 1995-1995, 2006-2007, and 2009-2015.

McFadden oversaw the athletic program’s rise from SCAC to the NJCAA while Crowley’s Ridge was a junior college. Once becoming a four-year school, McFadden spearheaded the Pioneer athletic program’s approval into the NCCAA before being approved as a full NAIA program in 2016.

In addition to his work at Crowley’s Ridge, McFadden has served as the minister for several congregations in northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri, currently as the pulpit minister for the Greenway Church of Christ

McFadden is married to the former Christi Preslar and has two children: Steven McFadden and Paige Gothard. He has been blessed with seven grandchildren: Brailey, Carson, Ryder, Nora, Emery, Grayson, and Aiden