Koler and Lawson will play at South Alabama
MADISON- There was plenty of red at Bob Jones signing day on Feb. 8 and a lot of it belonged to the University of South Alabama as two players, linebacker Kade Koler and center Caleb Lawson, announced intentions to attend USA and play football for the Jaguars.
South Alabama got a new football coach in December when Joey Jones stepped down and Steve Campbell was hired from Central Arkansas.
Kade Koler had been offered by South since last summer and the new coaching staff stayed with that offer and Koler signed a full athletic scholarship.
Caleb with his parents Jeremy and Kimberly Lawson
Lawson has played center since his days at Discovery and was determined to keep playing football in college, he just wasn’t sure where until now.
“Until South Alabama came to me late in the recruiting process I had a couple of D 3 offers and when they showed interest I applied got accepted went on a visit and was impressed with the campus and the new coaches. There is a lot of excitement on campus right now with the program and it’s a great opportunity for me,” said Lawson who gladly accepted the coaches offer of a preferred walk-on.
Since football season ended, Lawson has been working with the Bob Jones wrestling team and had a good season, won a bunch of matches and helped the team win the State Duals Championship.
“Wrestling helped me with my balance, stamina, cardio, leverage all that will help me playing offensive line. It helped me mentally to push beyond what I thought were my limits,” Lawson said.
Both players started and played every game their junior and senior seasons. Koler has started at linebacker since he was a freshman.
Lawson was coaches Player of the Week for his play in the Buckhorn game last season and won a post-season award, the Bryant-Jordan Achievement Award.
Koler was first team all-region, all-state and played in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game, and also won a post-season award, the Defensive Player of the Year.
Kade Koler with parents RIc and Kara Koler
“My senior season helped a lot with the new South Alabama coaching staff coming in to re-evaluate me,” Koler said. “It’s something I dreamed about as a little kid playing college football. My parents have helped me so much. They have tremendous attributes and the respect I give them is deserved. To get a scholarship where we don’t have to pay any money is huge for us.”
Koler said what he will remember most playing at Bob Jones is “making a big statement in the James Clemens game and going undefeated against James Clemens and setting the school record for tackles. And playing against Hoover my junior year was great fun.”
“South Alabama is a new program, great facilities, and great athletes are going there, so I’m excited.”
