Aug. 23, 2024 -- Heights High’s head football coach Mac Stephens doesn’t want to talk about football. When he’s asked about his team’s strengths or their challenges or what makes them special, his answers are never about football. 

Instead, those answers are about the players’ personalities, their commitment, their unique life circumstances. In short, his responses reflect the three pillars of what Stephens and his coaching staff call “The Heights Blueprint.”

The first pillar of that blueprint is academic excellence, which, according to Stephens, can mean different things for different kids. “One player might be trying to maintain a 4.0 grade point average,” he said, while another might be trying to maintain eligibility. Stephens wants the team to continue raising its overall GPA, which they’ve steadily been doing over the past several years. 

He also wants more of them to plan for college, whether they continue on the gridiron or not. So far, he has four players already committed to Division 1 football programs for the fall of 2025: Star running back Marquise Davis, who signed with the University of Kentucky; injured defensive lineman Brandon Caesar, who will play for West Virginia University; multisport athlete (he’s a Heights basketball star too!) Jayquan Stubbs, who has signed to play football at the University of Minnesota; and transfer Jameil Hamm, who is committed to Miami of Ohio.

Another leg of the Heights Blueprint is social responsibility. “These kids represent the community and the school,” said Stephens. “We are very demanding about how they behave inside the building, out in the community and even at home. I don’t even want a parent calling me to say her kid hasn’t done his chores and can’t come to practice.” 

The third leg is athletic effort – not athletic performance or athletic ability, but simply how hard they work each day. “Not every player is going to be Marquise Davis,” he said of Ohio’s runner-up for Mr. Football last year. “But everybody can give their best effort.”

That level of commitment is expected of the players and it is matched by the adults who coach them, who wear custom t-shirts that say “There is no off-season.”

There is also no out-of-bounds in terms of the support and guidance the coaching staff provides. “We just installed a full-size refrigerator in our practice room,” said Stephens, “because not all our kids eat three meals a day. We have to feed them.” He went on to talk about the unique and varied challenges that this team faces – none of which take place on the field. “They hardest things these kids deal with each week are not Friday night football games.”

In fact, he describes the team as “fearless. If you told them they had to play the Ohio State Buckeyes, they’d go suit up.” 

Even when he talks about his star players, he rarely mentions their rushing yards or touchdowns, instead focusing on their character. “Marquise is the most humble young superstar I’ve ever been around. He volunteered over the summer at youth camps and represents the Heights community phenomenally.”

The loss of Brandon Caesar following shoulder surgery will no doubt be felt on the field. But his coach is focused more on the loss of his voice than the loss of his 6’4” frame on the line. “His leadership on the field, in the locker room, during practice. That’s what we’ll miss the most,” said Stephens.

The Tigers are “fortunate to have two very good quarterbacks,” including senior Justin Godbolt, who has been named the starter, and junior Asher Wilson, “who will get a lot of varsity time.”

“This is an all-around great group of student-athletes,” Stephens said. “Their success will be determined by them.”

But he is the football coach after all and he does have some thoughts on the upcoming season, which will be made extra hard by two out-of-state games. “The Michigan games require more money, more planning, more time. But when we have success, it gets harder to find teams who will play us.”

More than anything, Coach Mac Stephens is excited. And he certainly has expectations for how the Tigers do on the field in 2024. One big expectation, in fact: “From a football standpoint, we fully expect to play in the State Championship game.”

The Tigers open their season at home on Friday, August 23 at 7:00 p.m. against Dayton’s Trotwood-Madison. Ticketing information, game rules, and spectator reminders can be found here.