Following an 8-4 record a season ago, the Valdosta Wildcats will be starting new on many fronts this season. Alan Rodemaker will succeed head coach Rance Gillespie, who accepted a co-offensive coordinator position at Georgia Southern (Division I) in January.
Rodemaker, the longtime Wildcats’ defensive coordinator under Gillespie, believes his experience on the defensive side of the ball can provide a strong foundation moving forward.
“Our biggest strength is our defensive line,” Rodemaker said. “On defense, our philosophy is about stopping the run and turning our defense into scores.”
The Wildcats return only 14 starters from last season, five on offense and nine on defense. Of those returning, the Wildcats will depend on tight end Jontae Baker to duplicate or exceed his production from last season. Baker led the Wildcats with seven touchdowns in 2015. The Wildcats also return standout linebacker Zakoby McClain. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound McClain notched a team-leading 107 tackles last season.
With such a substantial roster turnover, Rodemaker faces unique challenges heading into his first season at the helm.
“Our biggest challenge will be a lack of depth,” Rodemaker said. “We only have 14 returners so many of these kids will need to learn on the fly. We have to prepare our younger guys more.”
An 18-year coaching veteran, Rodemaker preaches a confident, no-nonsense approach he hopes to instill in this year’s group. The process is simple—build up his team with players passionate about winning.
“Motivation shouldn’t be a problem,” Rodemaker said. “We are the winningest high school football team in the nation. The way I motivate is we get rid of the those that aren’t motivated.”
The Wildcats were 4-2 in region play last season. Rodemaker believes his team perhaps wore down at the latter parts of the season.
“I thought we ran out of gas in the playoffs,” Rodemaker said. “Our goal this year is to be playing better in November and December. The only way to do that is to try to rest our team more during the grind of the season.”
Rodemaker insists his team will be better on both sides of the ball, which bodes well with a vastly new group of players.
“We should improve in all defensive stats,” Rodemaker predicts. “Offensively, we will run the ball better. Our three major goals this season are to create turnovers on defense, avoid turnovers on offense and win the special teams’ game.”
Collectively, Rodemaker and his staff define a winning season not simply by wins and losses, but by each player reaching their potential. The concept is known as “Arête” or the act of living up to one’s full potential.
Rodemaker takes on his first head coaching role since 1999-2000, when he was head coach at Peach County. During his tenure, the Trojans posted a 15-9 record.
With an experienced leader patrolling the sidelines, the Wildcats’ goal will be the same now as it has always been: winning a state championship.
Valdosta Wildcats
Wildcats Boast Strong Defense, Leadership In 2016
Written by James Washington
Photo by Mike Chapman
