With the addition of the new Head Coach, Michael Wilson, to the football team, there may be some improvements to look forward to. This is Coach Wilson’s 20th season coaching, with previous head coaching experience at Schalick High School from 2020 to 2024. During his time at Schalick, 30 games were won, as well as appearances in back-to-back Sectional Championship Games.
So far this season has been positive, Wilson said, “ The experience has been great so far. The players show up and want to work hard. It has been a great experience so far, and I can not wait for the future.”
This season, they were forced to cut the freshman football team due to the minimal amount of player interest, with only two seniors and eight juniors, meaning they would not be able to roster an entire varsity team without the participation of underclassmen. The team does plan on rostering a freshman team next season, Wilson said, “We have 30 plus players involved on our 8th grade team, and we will be back to playing freshman football in 2026.”
Wilson said that having freshmen get playing experience on JV and Varsity will be positive in the future, “This will help the football program as these young men are gaining valuable game experience now.” Brendan Kiss, 11, said, “Having freshmen start on varsity this year will be a benefit to the team when the next season arrives. Everyone on the team has learned and experienced a lot this season, and the freshmen getting to be a part of that at a younger age will give them a strong advantage for seasons to come. And they are learning quickly what it takes to be good and compete at this level.”
The team predicts that there will be success soon. Wilson said his goals for the team are team-building oriented: “We want to set a foundation that allows us to be consistent winners every year. This isn’t easy, and it will take time. However, we coach and play to win every game. Win, lose, or draw, we will learn from our mistakes and be better the following week.”
There has been a lot of work to reach their winning goals. They have introduced off-season training and an increase in in-season workouts. Wilson said, “We lift 3 days a week in season and will start 4 days a week in the off-season. Lifting and speed training is year-round.” To ensure this, Wilson said, “Off-season and summer attendance is used to pick jersey numbers and Captain’s selection. Need 90% or higher to be considered a captain.”
Team energy has also had large improvements this season. Benedetto Catarinicchia, 11, said, “It truly feels like a family when we are all together, as we all win and lose together, whether it’s practice or games, and we all help each other get through the hardest part of football, the mental stuff.”
With all of the internal progress the team has made this season, they look forward to next season. Catarinicchia said, “The team’s goals for next season are endless, obviously. There’s the hope of playoffs and a crazy comeback, but rebuilding a team takes years, so the true goal for next season is to keep showing up and win some games.”
Overall, the team has big plans for the future of Clearview football, and they have been making good progress on and off the field. Catarinicchia said, “The team this year is completely different than Clearview football has ever been, whether it’s the coaching staff with real winning experience from all over, or it’s the way that the players are expected to act and play, we may not have won yet it is apparent that we are not the same Clearview, and we are working every day to be better.” Kiss said, “This program is on a come-up, and we are just getting started.”
