Southeastern football looks to carry on its winning tradition
Southeastern University has a long history of football success. In 2022, the Fire will look for that to continue with first-year head coach Adam Waugh.
Last season, with former head coach Cesar Rivas-Sandoval leading the way, the Fire went 8-3 and claimed their fifth Sun Conference championship and first since 2018. Southeastern also finished on a five-game win streak and shared the Mid-South Sun Division title with Keiser.
Now it's Waugh's turn to carry on the tradition.
“First and foremost, I think (Coach) Cesar did a great job,” Waugh said. “He’s a great friend of mine and he’s a great mentor as well. We were all very heartbroken to see him have to step down. And he’s done a great job in building this program up.
"I’ve only been with him this one season and I really learned a lot from him about how he wanted to start the program and how he went about doing things ... and winning. And my job here is to simply continue what he built, and to the best of our abilities continue his traditions that he built.”
The tradition has led to Southeastern being picked second in The Sun Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
An experienced bunch leads the cause thanks to seven graduates on the roster — the most in the NAIA.
Fire
Head Coach: Adam Waugh (1st year)
Coaching Staff: James Lovett (OC/QBs-WRs), John Bear (QB), William Henry (DB), Tripp Dodd (DL), Koby Orris (Defense), Kendall Roberts (WR), Kenny Strong (RB), Kyle Jones (LB), Paul Escalante (TE) and Andreas Padilla (GR operations).
2021 Record: 8-3.
Last time in Playoffs: 2021, won conference championship.
Key losses: Cooper Jones
Players to Watch: RB Bryan Bell (GR., 5-9, 196); OL Tre Dickerson (Sr. 6-4, 332); OL Cody Rand (Jr. 6-2, 306); WR Devonte Bowie (Sr. 5-4, 148); LB Marc Viechec (Sr. 6 feet, 225); SS Khalid Scott (Sr., 5-9, 177), CB Joseph Bonga (Jr. 5-10, 175); WR/KR Dominic Larry, (So, 5-8 155); WR Tray Jackson (Jr. 5-11, 179); WR Desi Lester (GR, 6-1, 160); LB Omarion Jones (Fr. 5-10, 204); FS Ryan Cunningham (So. 5-10, 185); P/K Ashton Garner (Gr, 5-10, 190)
2022 Schedule:
Aug. 27 — 7 p.m. vs. North American University
Sept. 3 — 6 p.m. at Savannah State University
Sept. 10 — 7 p.m. vs. Florida Memorial University
Sept. 17 — 7 p.m. vs. University of Fort Lauderdale
Sept. 24 — 6 p.m. at St. Thomas University
Oct. 1 — 7 p.m. at Ave Maria University
Oct. 8 — 7 p.m. vs. Webber International University
Oct. 22 — 7 p.m. vs. Keiser University
Oct. 29 — TBA at Florida Memorial University
Nov. 5 — 7 p.m. at Warner University
Nov. 12 — 7 p.m. vs. St. Thomas University
Offense
Southeastern has another deep roster in all phases of the game. And with that, Waugh said he will likely play multiple quarterbacks throughout the year. Having a great shot to play a lot this year is Florida International transfer Kaylan Wiggins. Challenging Wiggins is Hudson Jones, who is the younger brother of Cooper, while sophomore quarterback Henry Austad will be in the mix as well.
“Those guys are really doing a great job. I think all three can do a tremendous job of leading the offense,” Waugh said.
Waugh will have an offense that sets up the run through the pass. So targets such as Jackson, Lester, and Larry will be highly utilized. Larry, an NAIA Track and Field National Qualifier in the 4x100 relay, is the top returning receiver (19 catches, 201 yards) while Bowie had 13 catches for 150 yards.
Bell, meanwhile, will be more than ready to hit the ground running. He is a three-time all-conference player who has racked up a career 2,335 career rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. Former Kathleen head coach Strong will be coaching up Bell as the new running backs coach.
Of course, none of that would be possible without Dickerson, who has been a two-time all-conference offensive lineman. Next to him solidifying the line is all-conference talent Cody Rand, who earned all-conference honors as a true freshman.
Defense
Waugh knows a little something about defense — last year he was the Conference Assistant Coach of the Year as a defensive coordinator.
Leading the defense will be Conference Defensive Player of the Year and honorable mention All-American, linebacker Viechec, who had 78 tackles, three sacks, 9½ tackles for loss and two pass breakups.
On the backend, Southeastern has two solid players in strong safety Scott and cornerback Bonga. Scott last season was third on the team in tackles with 51, including 4½ for loss, an interception and two pass breakups. Bonga recorded 32 tackles and had an interception with nine breakups.
“It’s a good group of returners. But we’re redoing the defensive line, so we’re a little bit inexperienced but talented,” Waugh said.
Outlook
For Waugh, it has been a little bit of an adjustment period since making the switch from defensive coordinator to head coach. His goal is to minimize as many changes as possible so all of the players can feel as comfortable as possible. And so far, Waugh said that has been the case.
Coach’s comment
“The program was in very good hands with coach Rivas, and we’re not just trying to tear down and build back up again, because it’s not necessary,” Waugh said. “I have a few tweaks here and there with how we do things in practice, or maybe how we do things in meetings. But by in large, everything is similar to what he did.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Southeastern football looks to carry on its winning tradition
