Rolesville’s first-year head coach, the NC coach of the week, aims for state title

First-year head football coach Ranier Rackley has the Rolesville Rams ranked in the top 10 in the state with just a few games remaining in the regular season.

His team is 7-1 and the Rams have their sights set on the playoffs. Rackley is this week’s Deer Park NC coach of the week.

The former Rams’ JV coach took over the varsity head coaching position in March, and his team has not missed a beat.

Rackley has been at Rolesville since 2020 in different coaching capacities, so this year’s senior class were freshmen when Rackley arrived at the school. Rachley said that helped make his smooth transition to head coach.

Since opening in 2013, Rolesville has had a lot of success, including finishing state runner-up to Chambers in the 2021 spring season and finishing in the regional round to Cardinal Gibbons that fall.

Now, Rackley is ready for his team to get over the hump.

“The biggest thing I tell the kids is that we have to finish,” Rackely said. “We’ve had great coaches and great teams but we’ve not been able to turn that (corner). I think it is caused by a lack of discipline. Not necessarily the coaching piece but the totality piece. I tell people that culture and your environment are everything.”

Rackley’s overcome a few bumps in the road to where he is today.

He was a highly profiled running back coming out of high school in 2005 in the state of Florida, but ended up playing junior college ball.

While there, Rackley’s mother got very sick, forcing him to move closer to home and take a few years off from the game he loved. He eventually was able to finish his career at Division II Elizabeth City State in North Carolina from 2009-11.

“All this has led me to where I’m at now,” Rackley said. “I was a really good running back, but it is like I tell people all the time, I’m an even better coach and man than I was a football player. I hope people around me see that.”

After college, Rackley played arena football and he was on several NFL preseason teams (Eagles, Jaguars and Titans). He said those experiences helped him in his approach to coaching at the high school level.

“In 2022 I was the only high school coach in the nation to be selected as a part of a minority opportunity to coach with the Jaguars,” Rackley said of the NFL team in Jacksonville. “So, I was with the Jaguars from May 22 to June 20 this year. It was a blessing in itself to be able to go down there and experience that and to be able to take back home with me things I learned to the team.”

At 7-1 with two regular season games remaining, the Rams appear ready to make another playoff run. The Rams have the toughest strength of schedule in the eastern part of 4A, which both Rackley and his players know has prepared them for what’s ahead.

“(The 4A playoffs) are a gauntlet man,” Rackley said. I feel like those first five games or so early on helped us. Playing Butler, playing Grimsley and Cardinal Gibbons really prepared us. We kind of had a gauntlet early, so now it is all about us. I tell my kids all the time that we play against the best competition every day in practice.”

Rackley understands the season isn’t over and isn’t overlooking these last two regular season games.

“I feel like my guys have a shot to win out,” Rackley said. “But, we’ve got a really good Wake Forest team to play on Friday and then a good Heritage team the week after that. But, as we prepare for the playoffs, however the season may end, we want to stay healthy and go into the playoffs with the right mindset.”