WAYNE – Saturday’s with no Wayne State College football is dwindling down as September 3 inches closer to open an 11-game schedule.
With fall camp coming to an end and regular season practices to take over next week, the Wildcats have had a busy off-season.
Logan Masters has also become a household name with the Wildcat football program from being a former player (2006-2009) to grad assistant/assistant (2010-2014) and serving two stints as the offensive coordinator (2015-2016/2020-2021). Coach Masters adds another job title as head coach for the upcoming 2022 season.
Coach Masters said Thursday’s practice theme was about situations which will help the players and the coaches.
“Worked on some backed-up, sudden changes in random times in practice just changed what we’re doing where the kids didn’t know what was coming next,” said Master. “Getting them out of that routine because you never know on the sideline when something good or bad is going to happen, we got to go out and respond very quick or it could snowball on you.”
Scott McLaughlin returns for his 16th season, eighth as the defensive coordinator and also works with the linebackers; Collin Prosser, a former Wildcat from 2005-2008, has moved into the offensive coordinator role after spending four seasons at Minnesota State-Mankato and will also coach the offensive line as well as Neil Novak moving into his second season with WSC and will now work with the defensive backs and be special teams coordinators.
Quincy Griffith will be in his third year at Wayne State and will now coach the tight ends; another third year Wildcat Tanner Krueger will lead the running back as new coaches Darius Jiggets (d-line); Logan Levy (wideouts) and Jerod Alton (defensive backs) will also join the staff.
Fall camp has been focused on being better versions of themselves adding up to the big picture while continuing to learn each day whether it be in meetings or on the field.
Wayne native and senior wide receiver, Mason Lee was selected as the Wildcat offensive player to watch. Lee said most of the team stuck around throughout the summer.
“We got a lot of work together in bonding,” Lee added. “We had conditioning and lifting that we did everyday except for Wednesday’s and then at night we had player-led practices, so we got a lot of good work in there.”
Senior linebacker Jaylan Scott will enter his second full season with the team (redshirt in 2019/2020 canceled) and was awarded the Wildcat defensive player to watch. He praises defensive coordinator Scott McLaughlin and the work the coaches put in to prepare the team for the season.
“Make sure you’re in the right spot and he’s going to make sure you getting it, understanding everything,” said Scott. “We just focused on the little things. Getting in and out of breaks, getting in the weight room, staying consistent, running, you know the little things to be great for fall.”
It was also another busy summer camp season. Roughly 150 youth attended camps over the summer along with camps for recruiting and team camps which brought in over 1,200 young men and women to experience Wayne State and grow their knowledge of football.
The Wayne Sate College football team collected 88 points overall to sit eighth and 19 points to enter fifth in the NSIC South Division in voting conducted by coaches from across the league. WSC is coming off a 7-4 campaign in 2021, the first seven-win season for the Wildcats in a decade, while also placing fourth in the NSIC South with a 3-3 divisional record.
Coach Masters wanted to share a message to the fans when coming out to home games, especially the home opener.
“Obviously, these kids bust their butts for not only the community and the school but any support we can give them,” Master mentioned. “Fill it up, hopefully will be great atmosphere, hopefully we play well and be a lot of fun to get a ‘W’.”
Wayne State opens the 2022 season at the University of Mary on Saturday, September 3 at 5:30 p.m. before hosting Northern State on Saturday, September 10 at 6 p.m.
