When a new head coach takes over a football program, he’s always looking for guys that he can lean on to set the standard on and off the field.
For Jefferson coach Caleb Davis, Brody Dietrich is definitely one of those guys.
Dietrich is the Falcons’ 6’2” 225-pound junior linebacker who Davis will count heavily on to anchor the Jefferson defensive unit this fall.
Davis inherits a team that went 2-8 last year, with eight straight losses.
He knows there’s work to do.
The roster needs a boost in numbers and players are needed to field a JV team, so he’s not forcing underclassmen into Friday night action.
Davis needs to develop his quarterback, and find out which running back or more likely backs, can fill the void left by Matt Webster.
There’s other areas to address, as well.
On the defensive side of the football, though, the linebacker position is not one of them, and Dietrich is a big reason why.
A three-sport athlete, Dietrich has the size, strength and speed to be the kind of play-maker any football coach is looking for.
But, what Davis said sets him apart is his positive attitude and eagerness to keep getting better.
The 2025 season did not go the way anyone in Jefferson had hoped it would, but Dietrich said instead of bemoaning any lack of success, he and several other Falcons players are more than ready to turn the page.
“Definitely,” he said. “We didn’t have very many people quit. I think everybody wants to come back and work harder to get better.”
Getting back to work is not something that came over Dietrich nine months after the 2025 season ended.
Keeping guys motivated and working toward improvement this season is something he has been doing for a while now.
Even though he’s busy with basketball and baseball, he still made sure he was hitting the weight room and that his teammates were as well.
“Brody is a culture-setter,” Davis said. “He’s one of those guys, he’s a three-sport athlete, he led the offseason weight room effort.
“He was getting all the guys in the weight room, even when they were in basketball season and that kind of thing. I’m definitely relying on him to set the standard and I think that’s what’s happening. A lot of those guys made big strides, and I think that’s going to show up this fall.”
Davis was an assistant coach a year ago under former head coach Jason Root. Now in charge of the entire operation, Davis will deploying the Falcons defense in a 4-2-5 formation.
Dietrich said so far, the new look has won him over.
“Oh, I love the defense we’re playing,” he said. “Last year was very basic. This one is more complex, but it makes more sense and guys have their own roles. It’s more complicated, but it’s gonna work a lot better.”
Davis said the new look may require some learning curve, but the one aspect he loves about his defense is the physicality.
Even though the Falcons were forced into playing younger and smaller players a year ago, their aggressiveness was still as good as any senior-laden unit.
“That’s what I love about this group. They are fearless,” Davis said. “We played Harvey last year, they were bigger, faster and stronger than us, but it didn’t look like it.
“We were the more physical team. I wished it would have been reflected more on the scoreboard, but we stayed in it against one of the best running backs in the state of Ohio [Shahn Alston, who is now at the University of Southern Calfornia].”
Jefferson will open their season at home against Chagrin Falls, one of two teams it defeated a year ago.
They’ll then head to Conneaut. The middle of the schedule brings the likes of Perry, West Geauga, Geneva, Madison and Hawken.
Dietrich knows his team is a lot better than the 2-8 2025 mark ago, but he also is fully aware of the challenge that lies ahead.
Regardless, he said he and everyone in Jefferson is ready to get the 2026 campaign rolling.
“We’re definitely excited,” he said. “Like, we can’t even wait until the first game. We kind of just want to skip these practices and go right to the game. We know practice is important, but I just think everybody is excited to be here right now.”
Linebacker Josiah Tillman, defensive end Joey Sands and safety Brayden Seese are other key players defensively for Jefferson.