Kosciusko’s Kody Causey looks like the prototypical tight end, standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 210 pounds.
But out of necessity, Causey is moving to center for the Whippets and will also start at linebacker.
Causey is also the latest addition to The Star Herald Top 10 Players to Watch for the upcoming football season.
“Last year he played tight end and defensive end and led the team in pass break-ups,” KHS head coach Kelly Causey said. “This year, by necessity, we have put him back at linebacker. He did a great job in the spring and is doing a good job adjusting to it. He actually surprised me with it, with the different reads.
“Also out of necessity, we had to move him to center. We don’t run a tight end a lot and he has bulked up a good bit. He is only about 6-3, 210 but he’s filling out pretty good. He had a great spring. He didn’t come off the field at all. He can run for days; he used to run cross country. He has really developed this last year.”
Kosciusko runs the option, much like Georgia Tech and the service academies, which uses smaller linemen to go against bigger defense.
“We didn’t have a starting center and the coaches really felt like I was the best person to play it,” Kody Causey said. “I just did whatever I had to do to help the team out. It’s a little different from tight end. It’s a lot of chop blocking or double teaming the nose guard. It’s different and it’s going to be a challenge.”
Playing center is not the only tough thing that Kody Causey has as a Whippet. There is the whole father-son thing that the Causeys have to deal with.
“It’s tough, like all coaches (we are) probably tougher on our own child than we are on other kids,” Kelly Causey said. “I have to try and catch myself and make sure that I don’t overcorrect him. I try to let his coaches coach him.
“He was voted as a team captain, so I deal with him more on that side of it. He has really developed this past year. As a 10th grader at Cleveland, he had a lot of maturing to do. We are expecting some big things out of him. I wished we could put him back at tight end because that’s where he has a chance to play at the next level. But out of necessity, we just can’t do it.”
Kody said playing for his father is not difficult at all.
“I have played for him since my ninth grade year,” Kody said. “Sometimes we discuss football at the house, about what I need to be doing but not a lot. We come to the field house and watch film. Sometimes he will pick on me in practice and everybody gets a big laugh out of it. I’m sort of used to it. Some people think I get it easy, but I think I get it harder than most. He’s not going to take it easy on me and that’s the way I expect it.”
Aside from center and linebacker, Kody is also the long snapper.
“He is also a long snapper which is very important and most people don’t realize that,” Kelly Causey said. “I am hoping he can play at the next level as a long snapper. He has the height and the frame to put on some more weight. He is going to several camps this summer to get some exposure. Most colleges will put one guy on scholarship and have two walk-ons. It just a matter of finding the right place. With him playing center and linebacker and long-snapping, he’s not going to walk off the field much.”
Kody said he would like to play college football, but if that does not work out, he would like to be a game warden.
In his spare time, Kody said he like to go hunting with his father.
“I really want to be a game warden,” Kody said. “I have watched a lot of television shows about it and done a lot of research on it to get an idea of what they do. I just like the idea of what they do. I like the outdoors and like hunting. I like deer hunting and hog hunting.”
