Team Staff

John Bradford is entering his third season with NCFC and his first as the team’s head coach. He is also beginning his eigth year as the director of the North Carolina FC Youth Academy. Prior to becoming head coach, Bradford served as NCFC’s assistant coach for two seasons.

Holding a unique role that involves working with the club’s first team while overseeing the development of the club’s top youth players, Bradford is a true link in NCFC’s youth-to-pro pipeline. In addition to serving as head coach, Bradford directs the NCFC Academy and serves as the technical director of North Carolina FC U-23 of USL League Two.

In his first season working with the NCFC first team in 2019, Bradford played a part in helping NCFC tie a regular-season club record with 16 wins, as the group qualified for the USL Championship Playoffs and posted the third-best home record in the league. In 2019, NCFC’s squad featured nine current or former Academy standouts, including the likes of Manny Perez, DJ Taylor, Dre Fortune and Caleb Duvernay, each of whom worked closely with Bradford as youngsters. Collectively, the quartet of Perez, Taylor, Fortune and Duvernay made 106 appearances, played 7,588 minutes, scored 10 goals and recorded 13 assists across all competitions in 2019. 

In 2020, Bradford assisted the team during the pandemic, helping NCFC earn 19 points during the shortened season while also coaching many of the same academy standouts from 2019. 

Bradford began working with the NCFC Youth Academy over 14 years ago as a U-9 Youth Training Systems (YTS Assistant Director) and has since taken the organization to new heights since being named director in 2013. 

In the last five years, the NCFC Youth Academy has had 33 players called into youth national team camps, 19 sign amateur contracts with the NCFC first team, nine sign professional contracts with MLS clubs and over 100 commit to play at the college level. Three players from the 2019 NCFC U-23 squad were recently selected in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft, including first-round selection Jeremy Kelly, a product of the NCFC Youth Academy and the NCFC first team. 

A Winston-Salem native, Bradford played collegiately at Furman University.

>> Photos

A seasoned soccer mind with ties to North Carolina and experience coaching at the international level, Mike McGinty is entering his second season as an assistant coach on head coach John Bradford’s staff at North Carolina FC. 

McGinty, a Wake Forest alumnus (1994), most recently served as goalkeeping coach for the U.S. U-17 National Team and also worked for the U-20 and Paralympic National Teams from 2018-19. 

Previously, McGinty spent eight seasons as a collegiate head coach at Saint Louis University, where he compiled an 81-56-14 record from 2010-17. During his tenure with the Billikens, McGinty was a three-time winner of the Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year award and took SLU to the NCAA Tournament twice (2012, ‘14), also winning the A-10 Tournament championship in 2012. One of McGinty’s most productive players at SLU was current NCFC forward Robbie Kristo, who led the Billiekns in scoring from 2011-14. 

After starring at Wake Forest from 1991-94, the former All-ACC goalkeeper embarked on an eight-year professional career that included stints with the Greensboro Dynamo (1995-96), Richmond Kickers (1997-01) and D.C. United (2002). 

While remaining an active player, McGinty began his coaching career as a member of the Wake Forest staff (1995-96) before serving as goalkeeping coach at Virginia Commonwealth. 

From 1998-09, McGinty served on head coach George Gelnovatch’s staff at the University of Virginia, first as an assistant before becoming associate head coach. During his time with the Cavaliers, UV won the NCAA Tournament Championship in 2009, reached a pair of College Cups and earned four ACC titles.

Andrew Scheck brings a wealth of coaching experience to the North Carolina FC technical staff, where he currently serves as an assistant coach. Prior to joining the NCFC first team, Scheck worked as the Director of Sport Science at North Carolina State University while also serving in an assistant coach position with the men’s soccer team. In this role, he oversaw performance development and athlete monitoring while also planning and executing training sessions. 

In 2018, Scheck joined the coaching staff at Union University, where he aided in increasing the team’s winning percentage from 27% in 2017 to 53% in 2019, leading Union to their first winning season and postseason appearance. He also spent time with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, a professional soccer team based in Pennsylvania. For the Riverhounds, he developed an athlete monitoring program for the team and assisted sports medicine staff in the return to play of injured athletes.

Scheck holds his Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and in 2011 graduated from Liberty University with his Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science while playing on the men’s soccer team for three years of his college career. In 2007, Scheck led the Flames to win the Big South Conference, qualifying for the program’s first NCAA Division I National Championship.

Michael Milazzo returns to the NCFC coaching staff after his full-time commitment as a member of the NCFC Academy coaching staff and U19 Academy Head Coach. Michael previously held the assistant coach role for North Carolina FC in 2017 and 2018 along with assisting the NCFC U23s in the summer of 2017.  Milazzo holds a Senior A License and Academy Director License from US Soccer and is currently working towards his UEFA licenses with the Scottish FA. 

Milazzo’s connections to the soccer community run deep from his 13 years spent working at CASL from 1999-2011, which was highlighted by his role as Academy Director, General Manager, and Head Coach of the Academy teams from 2007-2011.  

During the 2012-2014 seasons, Milazzo served as the Academy Director and Head Coach Richmond Strikers SC Academy teams.  During the 2015 season, Milazzo also worked as the Head Coach of the Richmond United Academy U13/U14 and U15/U16 teams as well as an assistant coach with the USL Richmond Kickers.

Prior returning to North Carolina in 2017, Milazzo spent the 2015-2016 season in the MLS as the Academy Director and Head Coach of the Columbus Crew SC U17/U18 Academy team. 

Since 2017, Coach Milazzo has worked with many of our current academy contracted players and his role with the professional team will be to guide these players through their transition from the academy to the professional level.

Youssef Dahouz is the head equipment manager for NCFC. He has been with the team since 2011 when it was named Carolina Railhawks. Youssef became involved with the team after befriending the, then equipment manager Andy Dunbar, now head equipment manager for San Jose earthquakes, while playing pick-up games at NC State. He began as the assistant equipment manager for a number of years while also having a major role in assisting the youth programs. He provided equipment and assisted coaches for Elite Technique, NCFC summer camps, and CASL with Coach John Bradford.

oussef’s enthusiastic nature is a asset to the moral of the team. He accomplishes the traditional role of an equipment manager such as maintaining the gear and uniforms for all staff and players. His main role during practice is to help coaches and players by setting up the field and transitioning drills. He has a unique role among the team of being a translator for those who speak French, Spanish and Arabic. Something most people don’t know is that Youssef is also a certified Vet assistant.

This is Tom’s first season as an Assistant Coach under John Bradford and will be heavily involved in the transition and continued development of the North Carolina FC Academy players in the professional environment.

In addition to his role with the senior team, this is Tom’s third year with the club after joining in 2018 to serve as the Assistant Academy Director and Head Coach of the U23’s (USL2), U17, and U16 teams.

He has been involved in player development for the last 18 years and has extensive experience in both Africa and North America, from grass-roots to the professional level.

Starting out with NY|NJ MetroStars and then the New York Red Bulls, Tom was heavily involved in the set-up of the Red Bulls Regional Development School (RDS) before moving on to the Red Bull’s sister Academy in Ghana, West Africa.

He spent two years at Red Bull Ghana as the U15 Head Coach and Foundation Phase Technical Coordinator, before taking the position of Assistant Coach for the Sierra Leone Senior national team during the qualifications campaigns for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 African Cup of Nations.

Upon returning to North America, he joined the Houston Dynamo as the Assistant Academy Director and U17 Head Coach, spending four years there, before joining the North Carolina FC Academy.

He holds a Bachelors Degree in Sports Biomechanics from Liverpool John Moores University in England. Additionally, he holds his US Soccer ‘A’ License, United Coaches Premier Diploma, the Elite Formation Coaching License from the MLS|French Football Federation.

Shane Mecham serves as an assistant coach and video analyst with the North Carolina FC first team while also coaching the U-11 and U-12 Boys Pre-Academy South with North Carolina FC Youth. Prior to his time with North Carolina FC, Mecham served as the volunteer assistant coach for the men’s soccer program at High Point University while simultaneously coaching U-11, U-12, and U-16 boys teams for Piedmont Triad Football Club and working as a staff coach for the North Carolina Olympic Development Program.

In December of 2021, Mecham graduated from High Point University with his Master’s degree in Business Administration, and in 2019 graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. While at UNCW, Mecham was a four-year member of the men’s soccer team and spent his time coaching for the local Wilmington Hammerheads Youth soccer club while finishing his undergraduate studies.