New Caruthersville FB coach holding Tigers 'accountable' and the kids are embracing it

New Caruthersville High School football coach Dom Guglielmo speaks to his team prior to a 7-on-7 scrimmage against Halls (Tenn.) High School on Thursday at Caruthersville.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

CARUTHERSVILLE – Recently-hired Caruthersville High School football coach Dom Guglielmo is already having an impact on Friday nights in the Bootheel community, and we are still months away from the Tigers’ 2022 season-opening game.

Each week, the gymnasium at Caruthersville is opened on Friday evenings until 10 p.m. for a program called “Game Night,” and its popularity with the young people in the town is growing, just like the level of interest in competing for the Tigers this fall has, since Guglielmo was hired in January.

“We’ve gotten a ton of support from, not only the school, but the teachers, the students, and the community at large,” Guglielmo said following a recent 7-on-7 scrimmage against Halls (Tenn.) High School. “What I’ll say is, yes, (the community) wants to be good at football, but they also care about the kids.”

“Gamer Night” consists of bringing young people into the fieldhouse at the school and the event provides food, as well as has televisions and video game consoles set up for the kids just to enjoy and hang out with each other in a somewhat structured environment.

“Kids make adverse decisions on the weekends,” Guglielmo explained. “If they are with us, then they aren’t doing that.”

Last Friday, the program attracted “37 kids,” according to Guglielmo, and it was even more impressive WHICH kids showed up.

“We had all of my starting wide receivers and our quarterback (senior Ty’Lan Golliday).

“They are sitting in the fieldhouse laughing and throwing the football around,” Guglielmo said, “playing games, just hanging out, and it was the best thing ever because it’s not structured. I sit back and do absolutely nothing.”

The program is evidence of the impact that Guglielmo has made since taking over the Tigers’ football program.

He spent several years coaching at NCAA Division III football programs at Heidelberg University (Ohio) and Keystone College (Pennsylvania), before serving as the assistant athletic director and offensive line coach at Yuma (Arizona) Catholic High School last season.

The New York native immediately brought a philosophy founded upon accountability to the Caruthersville football program.

“We had to change the culture,” Guglielmo said of the football program, which has had three coaching staffs in the past two seasons. “It was starting small and holding guys accountable. Accountable in the weight room and getting on kids in school.”

Guglielmo said he stresses the positives that come from kids making the right choices, not just pointing out the negatives.

“We show them the good with accountability,” Guglielmo said, “and the bad with accountability, and we’re starting to build that trust.

“They have to trust me to come out here and play.”

That “trust” can be measured in numbers.

Last season, Caruthersville had just over 20 players on its roster, and Guglielmo said over 40 student-athletes have decided to play in 2022.

“There was a lot of recruiting in the hallways,” Guglielmo said. “A lot of kids began building interest and building interest, and boom, we’ve got a full squad.”

Just like on Fridays during the “Game Night” program, Guglielmo has found the Tiger student-athletes to be “promising” in their willingness to adapt to change.

“There are going to be old habits that we have to break,” Gugliemo said. “We run a different practice structure, a different offense, and a different defense, but the kids have been eager to learn, and they are eager to be coached hard.

“The players knew that we were going to coach them hard and hold them accountable and they have risen to the occasion. We are taking it slow, but we are pushing them mentally and we’re pushing them physically, and they’ve responded great.”