The Caldwell County Tiger football team finds itself flying a little under the radar as the 2023 season approaches.
In the new lineup for Class 2A’s 1st District, Mayfield is again expected to be one of the top teams in the state. Murray has a new head coach in former Miami Dolphin Melvin Cunningham. And Crittenden County is drawing attention after moving up to the 2A ranks following an 8-5 showing last season.
That leaves Caldwell, which went 5-6 a year ago, looking for maybe a little respect as the new season draws near.
With what appears to be a difficult schedule full of larger schools, the opportunity is there for the Tigers to establish themselves as one of the area’s top programs.
Caldwell heads into 2023 with a new head coach, but it’s someone who is extremely familiar with the program.
Aaron McClung, a longtime assistant coach, takes the reins after Will Barnes resigned this past spring. Barnes is now an assistant coach at Owensboro High School.
McClung was an assistant coach for Caldwell from 2003-2021, starting as the offensive line coach and then being defensive coordinator from 2011-21.
McClung played high school football at Graves County before being a Western Kentucky Hilltopper from 1993-97.
He had previous coaching stops at Greenwood, Graves County and Fulton County before joining head coach Anthony Hatchell’s staff at Caldwell in 2003.
McClung had served as principal at Caldwell County High School, but stepped down from that position to take over the Food Service and Federal Programs Director’s position in the school system. That offered him the chance to return to the sideline.
“I got into this profession because I wanted to be a head coach in high school sports,” said McClung. “I feel like I’m getting back to what I originally wanted to do in this profession.
“I feel good about our team. I really do. The attitude has been great. We’ve got a lot of linemen coming back, but we’re a little thin at the skill positions. Some of our skill kids are going to have to play both ways, and that’s something I’d like to avoid if possible.
“But I’m ready to see what we look like when we started playing other teams.”
McClung will put his spin on a Caldwell offense that has typically worked from the spread formation for well over a decade.
Junior quarterback Luke Parker returns with a year under his belt behind center. Parker completed almost 58 percent of his passes last year and should improve upon that number this season. He also figures to play an even bigger role in the Tiger running game.
Caldwell will have a relative newcomer to the running back spot this season with junior Gus Fox moving into that spot.
“He’s come a long way at the F and he wants to be in that position,” said McClung. “He’s a bigger back than what we’ve had in the past. He’s in good shape, he’s a good athletes and he wants a lot of touches.”
Fox, who will also fill a linebacker spot, saw some time at receiver last season, making six catches for 91 yards including a 56-yard touchdown reception.
Caldwell graduated its top four pass receivers from a year ago, but believes it has some capable replacements.
Junior Luke Maddox is the top returning receiver with eight grabs last season and will see a bigger role this year. Senior Eli Stevens and junior Xzavier Lee are also slated into receiver spots.
“Cooper (Mobley, a sophomore) and Landon (Davis, a senior) will also play some offense,” said McClung. “But those guys are also a big part of our defense.
“For once, we just don’t have a lot of receivers this year. But we have a lot of confidence in those top guys.
“Zy Rollins is a sophomore that could play receiver. But he’s probably going to start on defense. And we’ve got a freshman, Daelyn Lander, who could see some reps.”
Lander played quarterback for the middle school last year.
“At quarterback, we’ve got Luke back and Jack Roach played some quarterback for us last season,” said McClung. “Daelyn is an athletic kid, we’ve just got to get him ready right now.”
Up front, McClung says the Tigers have some options.
“We’re most likely going to platoon up front,” he noted.
Senior Camden Woford has been moved from tight end to left tackle.
Keenan Alexander, a sophomore, will likely start at left guard.
Preston Birrell, a junior, started a couple of games at center last year and takes over that spot this season.
Junior Daniel Laurent returns at right guard.
Three players are being looked at for right tackle — sophomore Landry Dunbar, senior Kadin Riley and sophomore Bryson Brown. “Any of those three could start,” said McClung.
“And then we’ve got Cole Sherill, who started up front last year. He will start on the defensive line this year, but he could also be our backup center.”
Sherill figures to help anchor a defensive line that includes senior Maurice Seals and Roach, a sophomore.
“(Senior) Pena started a few games there for us last year, too,” McClung added.
The linebacking corps returns mostly intact from last season.
Mobley, Woford, Fox and Davis bring experience and athleticism to those spots.
“I’m excited about our linebacking corps,” said McClung. “The only concern is that those guys will be playing on the offensive side of the ball too and we don’t have a lot of depth behind them.”
Caldwell will be young in the secondary.
Rollins will play one cornerback spot while the other side is manned by either sophomore Shane Fairrow, Lee or Maddox.
Sophomore Max Heaton looks to have the strong safety spot nailed down.
“Luke was our free safety last year, and he will play there some this year,” said McClung. “But with us counting on him so much at quarterback, I can’t really talk to him if he’s out there at free safety.
“There’s a good chance Eli Stevens will play free safety. Eli is our Jack of all trades in the secondary. He’s in great shape and never wants to come off the field. He’s a super smart kid and he’s going to play a lot for us this season.”
Senior Timothy Nichols figures to handle the kicking duties again this season while Parker will be the primary punter.
The Tigers kick off the 2023 regular season with back-to-back road games at Hopkins County Central and Madisonville-North Hopkins.
Other road games this year are McCracken County, Murray and Crittenden County.
The home schedule features Union County, Graves County, Christian County, Mayfield and Trigg County.
“I like our schedule,” said McClung. “I know a lot of people think it’s a tough schedule, but I believe it’s a schedule that will really prepare us for district play. And when you look at the teams on it, I really feel like we can be competitive with almost everyone.
“I like that it’s all WKC teams that we are familiar with, and they’re all nearby teams. I think our longest trip is Murray.”
Realignment means the Tigers say goodbye to Ballard Memorial and Fort Campbell as opponents this season. It also left Caldwell in a four-team district, meaning the Tigers automatically qualify for the playoffs.
“I think it’s either the best or second-best district in the state,” said McClung. “And none of the other districts even come close. All four teams in our district could win playoff games this year.
“I look forward to that Mayfield game every year. If you want to be a state contender, you have to play state contender competition. You know if you can beat Mayfield you’ve got a state champion caliber team.”
The Tigers kick off the new campaign Friday, Aug. 18, at Hopkins Central.
