NEW FACE ON THE FIELD

Jason Cauley Graces The Sidelines As Next Maclay Football Coach

BY ZACH LOWE

It’salmost that time of year for Friday night lights, parking lot tailgates and good ole Marauder football. As the Maclay football team enters the 2022 to 2023 season, they welcome a new head coach to the program. Jason Cauley took the head coaching job back in February. Cauley’s welcoming entrance into the Maclay community is a step into a new setting as he had previously coached high school football in Alabama, Hawaii, Kansas and Colorado.

“Everybody is being as nice as they can and giving up information to help me as much as possible,” Cauley said.

Since Cauley has been in charge of several teams in the past, he plans to implement his coaching style on the Marauders and make adjustments to the previous system in order to have a successful season.

“I’m used to practicing every day during the summer and I would like a little more football to be done along with the strength training,” Cauley said. “We will play exciting football this season and will be scoring a lot of points on offense.”

With the little time Cauley has had to coach the Marauders, his expectations and views for the future have been hard to explore.

“It’s too early to tell: If we would have been working together all summer then I could tell you how it was going to be [the upcoming season].”

The new coach isn’t the only one adjusting. The players themselves must adapt and trust their new coach in order to have a successful season this year.

“Personally, I would say that the coach has his strong suits which should lead us to a strong and successful season,” junior linebacker Nathan Lillie said. “Things throughout the program have stayed the same but there seems to be more optimism running throughout the program. I think that I could speak for everyone on the team this year in saying that the ceiling for the season is pretty high and our confidence is really high.”

The “optimism” that Lillie suggested seemed to be a theme for the entire team, as Coach Cauley’s tactics have created a solid first impression.

“I think the upcoming season will be a great one,” junior wide receiver Grady Brown said. “I think we will be a much better team from last year. I feel like the coaching is more organized and I believe what I’m being taught.”

As the clock ticks down to kickoff, the Marauder football team will continue to work on the field and in the weight room. After missing the playoffs in the 2021 to 2022 season, Coach Cauley and the Marauders look to bounce back and have a dominant year on the gridiron. Their first test will be in Albany, Georgia against Deerfield Windsor on Aug. 26.