Jim McCains coaching career started in 1966 when he was hired as an assistant coach at Wicksburg High School. Two years later, McCain was named head football coach at Wicksburg.

In 1971, Coach McCain left Wicksburg to accept a position as assistant football coach and head basketball coach at Cottonwood High School.

Six games into 1978 season, he took over as head football coach at Cottonwood and held this position until 1988. In football, Coach McCain led the Bears to a 94-21 mark. From 1978 through 1987, Cottonwood won five Wiregrass Athletic Conference titles, six Area 4 titles and a runner-up finish.

Coach McCains 1986 team finished the season 15-0 and won the state championship with a 35-6 victory over Woodland. His teams from 1983-1987 went 64-6.

As head baseball coach, which was from 1972-1976 and 1981-1988, Coach McCain posted a mark of 135-17. During his tenure, the Bears won seven Wiregrass Athletic Conference championships and seven area crowns.

The Bears also won four Alabama High School Athletic Association baseball state championships in 1981, 1985, 1986 and 1987. From 1985-1988, Cottonwoods baseball team set an Alabama High School Athletic Association record by winning 53 consecutive games. During that stretch, the teams overall mark was 67-3.

Coach McCains overall football coaching record is 101-40 in only twelve seasons as a head football coach.

He is one of only three coaches to win baseball and football titles in the same season. Coach McCain was named the Class 2A Coach of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association in 1986.