Philip Barbour football coach Nick Mayle does his best not to play favorites.
For Mayle, however, that was much easier said than done as it pertained to recent PBHS graduate Keaton “Beef” McDermott, a standout two-sport athlete who tragically lost his life Sunday in a three-vehicle accident between Valley Head and Huttonsville in Randolph County.
“You’re not supposed to say you have favorites, but Beef was definitely a favorite,” Mayle said Monday night as a guest on Statewide Sportsline. “He did everything you asked him to do and above and beyond. He led on and off the field. He’d be the guy that would reach out to a kid who was maybe out and away from everybody and bring him in. I wish I could be more like him.”
Mayle is one of many in Barbour County and surrounding areas left grieving in the immediate aftermath of McDermott’s death, which occurred only eight days after the 18-year-old had represented the Colts for a final time on the gridiron playing for the North Bears in the annual North-South Football All-Star Classic.
Please keep the family of Keaton McDermott of Philip Barbour in your prayers. He tragically passed away Sunday. Keaton was a member of the North Bears in last Saturday’s game and was a fine young man to be around all week. pic.twitter.com/98aQe8yNNm
— NorthSouthFootballWV (@NSFootballWV) June 24, 2024
“Only his momma and dad called him Keaton. We called him Beef. Beef is everything you’d want in a kid, in a student, in an athlete that’s part of your school and part of your community,” Mayle said. “Everything about him is everything you’d want. He never met a stranger. He’s a friend to everybody. He was just that guy.”
Mayle started in his role as Colts’ head coach before the 2021 season and McDermott spent his final three years of high school football playing under his watch.
During that time, the Colts win total increased from one in Mayle’s first season to three in his second and nine in 2023, a year in which PBHS produced its first postseason win in program history.
McDermott, a two-way lineman, was instrumental in the team’s success and earned Class AA first-team all-state honors along the offensive line as a senior. He was also in track and field and is one of the more successful shot put competitors in PBHS history, having surpassed 47 feet on a throw as a senior to etch his name into the school’s record books.
McDermott had been set to continue throwing nearby at the next level for West Virginia Wesleyan.
More than his prowess in athletics, however, Mayle remembers McDermott for being someone others often looked up to.
“It didn’t matter if you were into sports. You didn’t have to be a football player for Beef to hang out with you,” Mayle said. “He brought everybody in. He was really active in our youth group here. We have a Young Life program and they hosted it at his mom and dad’s house. He was like the center of that. He was just that guy. He was always sharing the joy that he had and trying to bring kids into going to church. He wasn’t very bashful about his relationship with Jesus Christ. This is a big loss for us for sure.”
Mayle and the current Colts’ team got together Sunday night at PB’s home venue, George Byrer Field, to begin the mourning process. On Monday evening, a prayer vigil was held at the same stadium to reflect on and honor McDermott’s life.
In between the two, Mayle let the team honor McDermott in a rather fitting way.
“We had our team here and they were in shock. It was just good to get us together and they got to see each other’s faces. We hugged on each other, cried and talked,” Mayle said. “We decided Beef was probably the hardest working kid I’ve ever met and his level of dedication was above and beyond. We decided as a team we were going to lift [Monday]. We picked some of Beef’s favorite lifts. We power cleaned, benched and benched again. He was good at them, but he hated squats.”
MEAL TRAIN TO BENEFIT FAMILY OF KEATON “BEEF” MCDERMOTT
Mayle says lasting memories of McDermott will include a photo from moments after the Colts secured their first playoff victory when they made the most of a lengthy trip to Mingo Central as a No. 10 seed and prevailed, 28-21. There was also a time Mayle took McDermott to a lineman camp and the two dined together.
“We stopped at a buffet. He ate so much seafood he made me sick,” Mayle recalled. “Kid could really put away some sushi. A normal person would get a sherbet for dessert, but Beef brought back a plate with 12 scoops of sherbet on it and then went back and got sushi to top that off. He just was such a joyful person. He never left you without telling you that he loved you.”
Mayle has no doubt the legacy McDermott leaves behind won’t soon be forgotten.
“I’ve never met anybody that didn’t like Beef and I’ve met a lot of people that love him to death,” Mayle said. “He’s never met a stranger. Everybody’s a friend. You give him 10 minutes and you just can’t get away from him. I love the kid and I’m always going to love him. He definitely touched a lot of people, me included.”