With the 2023 football season just weeks away for Irwin County High, senior Jaken Thomas is poised to become an impact player in his final year as an Indians defensive back. Irwin head football coach Casey Soliday thinks Jaken has all the tools necessary to be just that type of player in 2023.
“Jaken has worked very hard over the past two seasons on his strength and agility, and it has paid off,” Soliday says. “He is now our best DB, and possibly the fastest player in the region.”
That speed is one thing Jaken has always had going for him, and Soliday says it’s one of the first things he noticed about Thomas when they first met.
“I met Jaken when he was in middle school, and he was very fast,” says Soliday. “That is what caught my eye from the start.”
Jaken has always lived in Irwin County; he grew up playing football in Ocilla, the county seat.
“I started off playing on offense when I first played football,” he recalls. “I was a quarterback and running back.”
No doubt coaches liked his speed and wanted to put the ball in his hands and let him outrun opposing defenders. But when Jaken reached middle school, coaches began to think that maybe his body type would be a good fit at a different position.
“I’m a smaller player, so the coaches in middle school thought with my speed, I would be a better fit at cornerback,” Jaken recalled. “They thought I could help the team by playing on just the defense, and that worked for me.”
Once his middle school days were finished and Jaken joined the Irwin County High football team, Soliday says he knew the staff had to work to make Jaken a more complete football player.
“When Jaken first got to high school, he was not very strong, and although he had that speed, he needed to work on becoming more athletic,” Soliday says. “We knew we had to work on making him stronger, as well as work on his footwork and body balance training.”
So Jalen got to work with his Irwin County coaches.
“He worked very hard over the next couple of years on his strength and agility,” Soliday remembers.
But Jaken didn’t stop there. He started putting in the work in the film room, too.
“I began studying my old film [of previous games and performances] to see what I needed to work on, and from there, I began working on becoming more explosive,” he says.
Once the season was over, Jaken joined the Irwin High track team, competing in the triple jump, 100M, 200M, and 4×100 relay – all part of one his favorite activities.
“I am a running guy,” he says. “I love running.”
Soliday says the track has helped Jaken: “He takes a lot of pride in his track.”
In addition to Jaken taking the steps to make himself a better player physically, he has also improved in another area that’s critical to any team: as a leader.
“Jaken has contributed to this team with leadership and actions,” Soliday says. “He is not one of those guys that yells, but he is a lead-by-example kinda guy. He will be the first, be the fastest, and go the hardest. It’s hard for the other players to take it easy when he is around because he is busting it. He is also good at being coached.”
Jaken welcomes the opportunity to be a team leader.
“I feel like I’m a natural leader as one of the older kids on the team,” he says. “I like being a leader for the younger players.”
Will Jaken have the opportunity to continue improving as a player and a leader following his senior season at Irwin County?
“That’s something I have been thinking about since last season, but I really have no idea right now,” he says.
Soliday seems to think so.
“Some school is going to see his work and take a chance on him, and they will get an awesome player and kid,” the Indians head coach says.
Still, Soliday says, let’s not rush things: “I’m glad we have him for one more year.”
