Jaime Reed brought a lot of success to South Oldham high school. He left with 13 consecutive winning seasons, two consecutive state quarterfinal appearances, three in the last four years, and two state semifinals appearances.
The new face of its football program is head coach Cain Sams. Sams saw some of that success with Reed before getting his chance to become a head coach at North Bullitt last year. However, his year there didn’t go as expected, posting a 1-10 record. Sams views it as a great learning experience.
“I feel like there I did everything the right way and to my convictions,” Sams said. “It was beneficial for me to be here to learn so that with this group, I've already had some time to see some processes go through and evaluate how they win.”
Sams said he isn’t going to change his relationship with his players now that he is the head coach. He said he can’t turn off who he is and what his convictions are.
“I took the advice of people smarter and more experienced than me to always prepare yourself for the job you want,” Sams said. “It was easy for me to step into a role like this. I was prepared. I was eager and excited and knowing that I trust my values as a person and as the leader of these men, so that made it feel very natural.”
His first senior class consists of nine seniors, a drop off of 10 from 2022. Sams isn’t worried about the small senior class. He believes because they have a small senior class it doesn't disqualify them from competing, and it doesn’t hinder their ability to compete.
“What gets the hairs on my neck to stand up is if you go through, and ask anyone that's not in the program of teams that won the state championship last year, I don't think you have to have 15 on your team to be qualified to win a state championship,” Sams said. “I've seen that nowhere. Nowhere does it say that you can't play freshmen. No one says that you can't have juniors and sophomores in elevated roles.”
Sams established a leadership council to empower his players for opportunities of leading and taking ownership. One of the leaders is senior quarterback Nick Hamilton. He threw for 1646 yards with 12 interceptions, but scored 14 total touchdowns, 11 through the air and three on the ground.
“Our top two receivers we have this year, I've been able to play with and practice with for the last couple of years,” Hamilton said. “We're pretty much just picking up right where we left off last year, and our connection is really good. We're both communicating at every single play that we pass.”
One of the guys that will be protecting him is senior offensive and defensive lineman Troy Fowler. He feels the line is better than last year even with two spots on the offensive line having to be filled.
“We lost two seniors last year, but we pulled up two backups that were really good last year and played most of the games last year,” Fowler said. “I think they'll be really good. One’s a center. One’s a guard.”
The Dragons scored 28.1 points per game while the defense held opponents to 15.4 points per game last season. One of the defensive leaders this year is senior defensive lineman and tight end Jacob Finney. Finney said one main point of emphasis he wants to have for the defense is good communication.
“We've made sure that this year we're well versed with the plays,” Finney said. “Everybody on that defensive line can play end tackle or nose, because we learned all the plays, and collectively as a defense, we know what each other is doing every play.”
For these seniors, they’ve seen two consecutive years of quarterfinals’ losses. Hamilton said they’ve strengthened their toughness and mentality over the summer. Fowler feels that this group of players truly trust each other. Finney said it's a brotherhood between the players, and they are committed to making South Oldham a winning program.
The Dragons’ first game of the season will be against the Anderson Raptors (Ohio) on Aug. 18 at 7:30 p.m. Sams’ number one concern is taking it one day at a time. He wants to make sure his players are well coached and better than the previous day. He knows the success of Anderson County in Ohio and knows they can compete.
“I also know that in our locker room there's some good football players all the same,” Sams said. “There's a lot of great coaches, and there's a good scheme around us too. So we're unfamiliar with one another. We don't have common opponents. It's hard to put a measuring stick on them, and it is them for us.”
South Oldham will look to extend their winning against North Oldham to nine on Sept. 8 at North Oldham at 7:30 p.m. The Dragons also play Oldham County on Sept. 15 at home at 7:30 p.m. Sams sees both of these teams as just another game on the schedule, but he wants to focus on the game that week.
“With all of us having new coaches and we probably have the fewest amount of seniors, it probably gives them a lot of hope, and that's good,” Sams said. “Give them all the hope. I'd mail and send it to them.”
Hamilton and Finney want this season to be remembered as the team giving it their all each game. Along with Fowler, he wants this season to be a fun experience for the team. Sams said this group will always be special to him. He wants to give the seniors the best experience that he can give them and wants them to be connected even after the season’s end.
“I hope that when they leave and when they graduate this brotherhood doesn't die on graduation,” Sams said. “They’re always going to be a phone call away. I’ll always be there for them if they ever need me. I hope that they go on and they know that forever if they're ever in a tough spot that there's a group of men and a group of players that they can always call to have their back for the rest of their life.”