TERRE HAUTE, Ind. —Â From the ashes of a winless season in 2023 came an attack mindset for the Olney Tigers football team heading into 2024.
“Last year, we took the mentality that we were going on a ‘revenge tour’ after going 0-9,” said coach Luke Carmody of the way an almost unheard-of turnaround campaign was framed. The Tigers completely flipped the script, finishing a perfect 9-0 in the regular season en route to the Little Illini Conference championship and a 10-1 finish in the second-round of the IHSA Class 4A playoffs.
Revenge is still on the mind this season of course … on the minds of everyone else on the schedule that is. So, Carmody and the 2025 Tigers have a plan to attack that, too.
“This year we understand that we’re the ones with a target on our back now,” Carmody said at the recent Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association Media Day event held at the Red Barn here. “The biggest thing is telling these guys, whether it’s in the weight room or on the field, you take it week by week.
“Our motto last year was ‘win the week.’ That’s what we’re doing again this year, just focusing on what is ahead of us and not looking too far down the road.”
Olney flexed its’ off-season muscles at a 7-on-7 camp hosted by the University of Illinois in June. The Tigers finished the camp undefeated, winning all four games they played. Olney defeated Coal City (23-10), Sycamore (31-25), Bartonville Limestone (25-9) and Mt. Zion (31-18).
Three of those teams reached the playoffs in 2024, with Mt. Zion reaching the IHSA Class 4A state championship game before falling to Chicago DePaul. Coal City had lost to DePaul one week earlier, in the Class 4A semifinals. Sycamore was also a quarterfinalist in the post-season.
Olney returns a pair of all-staters this fall. Senior quarterback Gavyn Cothern, who threw for 1,152 yards while rushing for 1,668 yards, is back along with 6-foot-7, 315-pound senior tackle Casey Thomann, who will return to Memorial Stadium next year to play collegiately for the Fighting Illini.
Four players who earned all-Little Illini Conference honors are also returning: Ian Pianfetti (first-team wide receiver), Zander Schrader (first-team defensive lineman), Nolen Seals (first-team defensive back) and Reed Klingler (second-team wide receiver).
The Tigers open the season on Aug. 29 at home against Taylorville. The kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
