Vernon E. "Skip" McCain was an American college football and basketball coach, as well as a mathematics professor, who achieved historic success in collegiate athletics during the mid-twentieth century. Born in Marietta, Oklahoma, in 1908, McCain pursued his early athletic career at Langston University, where he played as a quarterback for the school's football team in 1930. He later transitioned into coaching, building his foundational experience as an assistant coach at Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College, which is now known as Tennessee State University.
In 1948, McCain accepted the position of head football coach at Maryland State College, now known as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Over a highly successful fifteen-year tenure lasting until 1963, he guided the football program to an outstanding record of 100–21–5. Beyond his duties on the gridiron, McCain also served the institution as a mathematics professor and coached the college basketball team. His remarkable leadership and exceptional winning record established him as one of the premier figures in the history of the program. In recognition of his enduring contributions to college athletics, McCain was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He passed away at his home in Oxon Hill, Maryland, in 1993.
