Former Players Return to Help S-C Tigers Football

Some familiar faces were on the field last week for the Smith-Cotton Tigers football camp at Tiger Stadium.

Recent graduates Marquez Raye (2015), Chaz Satnan (2017), Dom Ladd and Chandler Koetting (both 2018) attended the camp sessions to help out the coaching staff and share their knowledge and experience with this year’s Tigers. In addition, Steven Archambault (2015) is entering his second season as an assistant coach.

Raye, a wide receiver in his playing days, is a video assistant for Head Coach Charlie McFail. Ladd and Koetting were defensive linemen, while Satnan was a four-year starter as the team’s long snapper.

Head Coach Charlie McFail is hopeful that more former Tigers will drop in.
“I want as many of our former players as possible coming back and talking to our current players. They provide some insight, ‘Guys, I went through this just a few years ago.’ Our kids relate to them better than they do with us old guys,” McFail said.

While the coaching staff teaches players the sound fundamentals for their positions, former players can share other techniques that worked for them. Assistant Coach Tom Kindle said the alums also know what the coaches expect.

“When you bring back players who were good at what they did and they pass that on to the younger kids, that is beneficial,” Kindle said. “They are role models. They know what it takes to compete at a high level. We coached them, so they know what we want. They are an extension of us. I watched Koetting, listened to him talking to (defensive linemen) and it’s me, he’s using my words and telling them what I told him."

Ladd, who received the Bill Noland Award as the team’s best lineman at the end of his senior season, said his goal is to get today’s Tigers “to the same place I was."

Satnan worked before and after practice each day with the team’s long snappers, teaching proper form and drills to help the players improve.

“The position I played, not a lot of people know the significance of it,” he said. “I want to help breed the next group of long snappers and help the seniors and juniors with their leadership so they can compete at the conference level."

For McFail, bringing Tigers football alums back is about building tradition.
“I would love to have 30 guys out here every day at camp. It is an invaluable tool, you can’t put a price on it,” he said.

CAMPALUMS1: Former Smith-Cotton Tigers football player Chaz Satnan, right, teaches proper long-snapping form to current players, from left, Logan Rohr, Chase McMullin and Elias Washington, after the team’s camp session Wednesday, July 31, at Tiger Stadium..

CAMPALUMS2: From left, S-C football assistant coach Tom Kindle and former players Chandler Koetting and Dom Ladd watch this year’s Tigers defensive unit during a scrimmage Friday, Aug. 2, at Tiger Stadium.

CAMPALUMS3: Former Tigers receiver Marquez Raye, right, talks with senior Drake Peterson at the start of Friday’s camp session.