By RODNEY YOUNG
Patriot Publishing
The 2025 edition of the Radford Bobcats football team will be a lot like the prior four years
under head coach Michael Crist.
Coach Crist is starting his fifth season as the Bobcat head coach. His record at Radford is 41-
10, with a 2023 State Championship under his belt. Radford has made the playoffs all four years
under Coach Crist and this is his 13th year as a head coach with the first eight being at Virginia
High in Bristol.
The Bobcat coaching staff has pretty much remained the same the last few years. Their
defensive coordinator will be Roger Hollins. Offensive coordinator is Zach Landis and Josh
Smith will be the wide receivers coach. The secondary coach is DJ Baylor, Richie Davis is the
defensive line coach, while their defensive analyst is Coach Josh McGuire.
This year's schedule is a little different in that Alleghany has left the Three Rivers District and
Martinsville has now joined the district. Glenvar, Floyd County, Carroll County, James River,
Patrick County and Martinsville are the other district teams for Radford.
Their out of district schedule has George Wythe, Giles, Galax and William Byrd. Byrd is the only
out of district road game.
The Bobcats will play six home games and four away. Their home schedule has George Wythe,
Aug. 29; Giles, Sept. 5; Galax, Sept.19; James River, Sept. 26. They will then go to Byrd to start
October on the 3rd. Patrick County comes to Bobcat Stadium Oct. 10. Radford then travels to
Glenvar on Oct. 17 and comes back home on Oct. 24 to face Carroll County. Their last two
games will be at Floyd County and Martinsville on Oct. 31 and Nov. 7.
Coach Crist was asked about what the Radford offense will look like in 2025.
“We will be multiple. We’ll see air raid, spread, adjust to personnel.” He added with a smile,
“What it takes to win.”
Defensively Radford will be mostly 3-3-5. The coach, when asked about defense,
responded by saying, “We will probably attack on defense. May blitz some with linebackers.”
This year's team has 49 players out, with only six seniors. There are nine juniors, 17
sophomores, and 17 freshmen.
Now with only six seniors some may think this is a rebuilding kind of year. When asked
about rebuilding, Crist said, “I don’t look at it that way. The kids on this team are better than they
were and we try to constantly develop the players. We try to play a lot in the games.” He then
added, “The way we practice we look to improve every day. The weight room is a chance for
them to get better. If the kids show up for work, by their junior year they are going to be good
players.”
Offensively Will Likens will see some action at center. Eric Thompson and Camron Burton
will be the guards. Caden Akers will get time at guard and center. The tackles should be Reece
Honaker and Brandon Wray. Sam Long will also get playing time. Likens, Akers, Thompson are
the only seniors of the group.
Getting the nod at quarterback will be Peyton Dobbins. Blake Blair and Brady Sutherland
will be the backups. Running backs will be Matt McGuire and Keymoni Kimbrough. William
Dehart-Lewis will see time there, also. The wide receivers will be Jaden Hendricks, Pace
Prioleau and Colten Garner-Rollins. Others to see playing time will be Trenton Carter, Demarieh
Brown, Tucker Williams and Essiq Williams.
On defense Honaker, Trenden Mattox and Wray will be up front. Long and Akers will get
playing time. The linebackers are Cole Martin, Burton and Dehart-Lewis. Burton will also see
action.
The secondary will have Carter, Prioleau, Garner-Rollins, Tucker Williams and Hendricks.
Essiq Williams and Matt McGuire will be backups in the secondary.
The Bobcats will once again be quick, athletic and well-coached. There are some
inexperienced players at some positions, but there should be improvement as the season goes
along. They are young, but this team should be playoff bound again. They are not rebuilding,
not reloading, they merely are young and looking for weekly development and improvement.
