Written by: Lucas Gebhart
It was going to take a great opportunity to hire Keelan McCaffrey away from his alma mater of 4A Minico. Turns out that opportunity was Centennial.
The Patriots’ new head coach is now coaching in the big city – where the teams are a little bigger, faster and tougher. Turning a struggling program around, especially in this part of the state, isn’t easy, but if the head coach doesn’t believe it can be done, then who will?
“We want them to believe they can play and compete with other teams in their conference,” McCaffrey said. “I love Centennial and we are settling in nicely. It is exciting to be in a new place with new dudes, new administration, new coaches, and new challenges.”
If there is one challenge Centennial will bring to their SIC foes it’s McCaffrey’s offense. He says he will bring the wing-t over from the Magic Valley, an offense that isn’t commonly run in the Boise area and one that helped lead the Spartans to five consecutive state playoff appearances under his guidance.
“It will start with our offensive line,” McCaffrey said. “We will be new across the board with new guys filling the void and a new staff.”
Despite the new offense, its unlikely Centennial will be favored in many games again this season. The Patriots haven’t won more than three games over since the 2012 season and the last state title came two decades ago.
This season, they return three all-conference honorable mentions in Kai-Twaddle Dunham, Fabrice Nda and Austin Brackley.
“These dudes play with a chip on their shoulder,” McCaffrey said. ”This is an incredibly tough group of young men. They are a group who want success so badly. I think if we can find some early successes it will catapult them and their potential.”