Marist must replace 3-year starting QB, might pass more this season
For the past 50 years, the Marist War Eagles and coach Alan Chadwick have been inseparable — a partnership defined by tradition, discipline and 539 wins. Chadwick has led the program for the last 41 of those seasons and won 445 of those games, 22 short of retired Lincoln County coach Larry Campbell’s state record of 477.
Last season, Marist finished with a 14-1 record, losing in the title game to North Oconee 14-7. And with that season wrapped up, the career of three-year starter Jack Euart, the son of defensive coordinator Jeff Euart, also ended.
Replacing Euart is a priority. The change likely will lead to more passing this season.
Euart rushed for 1,049 yards and accounted for 21 touchdowns in his senior season, earning him all-state recognition. Instead of continuing on the gridiron, he took his talents to the baseball diamond at Wofford.
“He was an absolute perfect fit for us as an option quarterback,” Chadwick said of Euart. “He’s going to be very, very hard to replace, because he was like having a coach out on the field.”
That responsibility now falls on senior James Lasco. Chadwick says that Lasco has some pop in his throws. It’s a skill that Chadwick rarely has seen at Marist since Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay walked the halls in 2004. Chadwick has a quarterback he hopes will allow Marist to open up the field and throw the ball around some — a significant change for a team that relies on an option-attack style of play.
“Even after him (McVay), we’ve gone to some more spread formations,” Chadwick said. “We needed to give our defense an opportunity to work against that type of thing.”
Euart was an efficient thrower but didn’t pass often. He was 44-of-79 passing for 776 yards and nine touchdowns.
Lasco and the offense may get off to a slow start this season. Marist returns three starters along the offensive line, but with a new quarterback and new running backs looking to gain experience, starting the season against 2024 Class 3A runner-up Jefferson will be no small task. The second game, the last one before the region schedule, is against Woodward Academy, which is generally a top-10 team in Class 5A.
That’s why Chadwick has put the most pressure on his defense. This group returns seven starters from a unit that posted five shutouts last season and held opponents to 9.5 points per game on average. That’s best mark since the 2020 state championship team that held opponents to just 3.7 points per game and posted eight shutouts.
Leading that defense are defensive ends Jack Richerson and Jackson Cox. Richerson, a Georgia Tech commit, and Cox, a Cornell commit, are two-way players for the War Eagles, and Chadwick says they may be his team’s best players.
“We need to be good on defense early to give our offense the time to get their feet underneath them,” Chadwick said.
That’s what he and longtime coaches Euart (defensive coordinator) and Paul Etheridge (offensive coordinator) are working on this offseason.
Both coaches have been with Chadwick at Marist for over 30 years.
Chadwick says their decades-long consistency, and that of the other former players who returned to join his staff over the years, stems from deep familiarity and trust.
“They know what the drill is,” Chadwick said. “They know what it is on a daily basis. It just takes a great deal of pressure and work off me, and I can entrust them to take over some parts of it (coaching) and do a great job with it.”
Chadwick has officially crossed the half-century mark in years of coaching in the state. A remarkable achievement that brings along with it an impossible question. How much longer will he keep doing this?
He says it feels like he’s asked this question eight times a day. He said he’s simply taking everything year by year. He continues to lean on his family for support and guidance. He knows there are things that could pull him away from the game, but for now, he still enjoys almost every part of it, especially once the games begins.
Waiting for that is tough - the down time, sitting behind a desk, doing interviews when he’d rather be on a practice field.
“I absolutely hate the offseason because I have to talk to people like you (the media),” he said, laughing.
There are only about two weeks to go before players can put pads back on. Chadwick is counting the seconds.
Schedule:
8/15 at Jefferson
8/29 Woodward Academy
9/12 at Northview
9/19 at Druid Hills (Adams Stadium)
9/26 at Southwest DeKalb (Godfrey Stadium)
10/03 North Springs
10/10 St. Pius
10/17 Clarkston
10/24 Lithonia
10/31 at Tucker (Adams Stadium)