Coach Castello Looks to Continue Winning Ways
The 2022 Emery Varsity Football Team celebrating their state championship victory.
May 9, 2022
Last spring, Coach Jason Reimers announced his plans to depart The Emery/Weiner School and step down as Emery Football’s head coach and Assistant Athletic Director (AD). Following this news, the discussion surrounding who would succeed Reimers as Assistant AD and Head Football Coach immediately began among the Emery community. After an extensive Head Coach search, the athletic department hired Samuel Castello.
Castello started at Emery this summer and quickly integrated into the team’s unique culture. One of the things Castello says he loves about Emery football is “how many kids are committed to the summer and the offseason.”
Throughout the 2021 season, Castello served as both the junior varsity (JV) head coach and the assistant coach on varsity. His impact on the program was greatly felt,as he led the JV team to a 7-0 record, a vast and impressive improvement from the team’s 2-4 record in 2020. Castello’s impact was also felt on the varsity team, heavily contributing to both their undefeated season and state championship run.
While Castello aims to continue the winning reputation that Reimers built, he also hopes to build his own reputation at Emery. Castello believes that one aspect that makes him unique from most other six man coaches is his history around the sport: he grew up with it. Castello recalls playing around behind the bleachers as he watched the high school team play when he was in third grade. Later in High school, Castello was quarterback at Summit Christian Academy at Cedar Park. All this experience gives him a unique insight into coaching six-man.
Castello has high expectations for the upcoming season and hopes for the team to “compete for both a district and state championships” despite losing 15 seniors. In addition to his goals for next season, he has long term goals for the program, to build “consistency throughout middle school and high school.” He wishes to achieve this by having “at least eight kids a grade from seventh to eighth grade playing football.”