After a long offseason and fall weather just around the corner, the Mustangs are gearing up for the 2025 season with a fresh mindset and a group of strong players. Months of preparation after the end of last season have led up to this upcoming season, and the Mustangs are up for the task of a challenging schedule.
“Our guys are practicing really hard. We have a lot of buy-in,” Head coach Tyler Brooks told WPSD’s Adam Wells. “We’ve cranked it up a little bit with the intensity with our winter program in the weight room and conditioning program going into the summer. Things are starting to come together for us and we just hope to continue to improve.”
The large senior class is set to make a huge impact for McCracken this year, featuring 19 players spread across key roles throughout both sides of the ball. Their experience and leadership will be a key factor throughout the regular season and playoffs as they try to make a deep run.
“Our roster is put together a little bit weird. We have 19 seniors. Our junior class is relatively small, but then we have a large sophomore class. With that said, a lot of those sophomores got experience last year.”
At the helm of the offense this year is senior quarterback Maddox O’Neal. After a solid sophomore campaign and a breakout junior season where he eclipsed 3,000 total yards and 41 passing touchdowns, O’Neal has been getting attention from multiple Division I programs. In his final year as a Mustang, he is hoping to continue improving and lead his squad to a deep playoff run.
Last year’s defensive unit featured numerous guys who made equal, strong contributions all throughout the season. This year, the Mustangs get a solid core of those players back. Players like Jackson Shackleford, Charlie Higdon, Hunter Neely, and Sam Goodman put up solid numbers in the tackles, TFL, and sacks categories last year. After allowing 31.2 points per contest last year, they are hoping to propel this defense to new heights and decrease that number.
The past few years of McCracken football has not met the expectations of many coaches, players, and fans. Last year’s even 6-6 record and 6-7 record the year prior were overall improvements from years prior, but still not where they want to be. This year, Coach Brooks has instilled a new mentality for this team, one he believes will take this program to the next level.
“We’ve adopted a new saying, we’re calling it ‘Pony Up’ mentality,” Brooks told Wells. “There’s always been talk around our program of wanting to get to the next level or that next jump, but it always seemed like it was just out of our reach. So we’re really putting our money where our mouth is and we’re trying to really take that next jump.”
For the 12th time in their 13 years as a program, the Mustangs kick off their 2025 season against their cross-town rivals in Paducah Tilghman. They will host the Blue Tornado this time around on August 22. The Mustangs take on more local teams throughout the year, facing Mayfield, Murray, and ending their regular season play on the road against Graves County.