Tiger athletes shine in the classroom, as well as on the fields/courts

Caruthersville High School football coach Dom Guglielmo speaks to his players following a win against Portageville at Hopke Field in Caruthersville this past season.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

The Caruthersville High School football program had its most successful season this fall since 2018, as it won 10 games for just the second time in 11 seasons. However, that success was not limited to just on the field.

In the classroom, the Tiger football players, as well as the remainder of the Caruthersville fall sports programs, were just as exemplary as on it, as the football team earned a 3.24 (on a 4.0 scale) grade point average in the first quarter of the academic year.

“I think it helps to be in the building,” third-year Caruthersville football coach and athletic director Dom Guglielmo said of the achievement. “Making sure they're in school and doing what they need to class-wise. They follow up with their teachers to see who owes stuff and address it before and after practice.”

“There are consistent reminders that grades are important.”

The football squad was not alone in their academic focus this fall.

Guglielmo said that the Tiger tennis team (3.52), volleyball (3.5), and cheer squad (3.72) were just as diligent in their work as the football team.

“That was awesome,” Guglielmo said of the overall success.

Guglielmo said that he and his coaching staff have preached a “military, mill or college” philosophy over the past three years to the Caruthersville football players. This gets the young athletes thinking about their life options early.

“I tell the kids they have three options,” Guglielmo explained. “You can join the military. You can go to work in a mill, or you can go to college. Maybe they don’t know right now what they want to do with their lives, but they have to be working toward something.”

A common scene in Caruthersville was a FB W and the Bryant family there to see it

Tom Davis

The Caruthersville High School football season ended Friday with a defeat at Valle Catholic in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 championship game, which was an anomaly.

On the field, Caruthersville football has methodically improved in each of the past three seasons, and that maturity and focus have carried over into all aspects of the athletes’ lives, according to their coach.

“We have a really good group of kids,” Guglielmo said of his 2024 team. “So, a lot of the (academic information) doesn’t fall on deaf ears. Once you start winning, everything else, like academics, becomes easier.

“When you have a good week, and you’re winning football games, it lights a different type of fire in you where this is important, this important, and this is important.”

Guglielmo said his players “bought into the structure” that he and his staff have preached, which has set his seniors up for success now that their high school football days are over.

Interestingly, the Tigers graduated just five athletes in each of Guglielmo’s first two seasons but had 11 seniors this fall. Yet, despite the increase in numbers, this was the most success his team had had in the classroom.

“We have gotten our kids to think about their futures,” Guglielmo said. “We want to prepare them for having a plan when they are done.”