Vinny Careswell took control of the program in February of 2016 after the legendary Royce Boehm called it quits after 12 seasons. As Careswell prepares for year two as head coach, it's important to note that he's not new to the Titan way. 

During Boehm's 12-year tenure, Careswell served as the defensive coordinator. The Titans earned three state championships througout this timeframe. In Careswell's first season as head coach, the Titans finished 9-3 and saw their season end in the state quarterfinals. 

As the Titans look to go further this season, they'll have to rely on a plethora of new starters. West only returns three starts on offense and four on offense. However, Careswell believes in he winning culture that's been built over the past 13 years. 

Although there isn't many returning starters, the ones West do have are really talented. It starts with the multi-talented Mario Goodrich (6-foot-2, 190). The 4-star Nebraska commit plays both sides of the ball.

Last season, Goodrich totaled 65 tackles, 8 interceptions, while returning four of them for touchdowns. Offensively, he caught 15 passes for 282 yards and six touchdowns. The speedy prospect made the Simone All-State First Team. 

Throwing the ball to Goodrich will be junior quarterback Ben Kobel (6-0 175), who won a three-way battle. Replacing Cole Taylor won't be easy, but Kobel showed flashes of greatness last season in limited action. Nonetheless, it was the comeback at Park Hill when Taylor went down that gave him the edge.

“He played the whole second half of that Park Hill game and that was a factor for us,” Careswell said. “That was a pressure game that he came into against some Division-I players on defense.”

Senior running back Phil Brooks (5-foot-9,190) will play a major role in taking pressure off of Kobel. The first-team all-conference back totaled 1,041 rushing yards to go along with 12 touchdowns last season.

Besides Goodwich, safety Jake Grauberger (6-0,195) is another player in the seocondary opposing offensive coordinators will have to be mindful of. He made second-team all-conferenc last year as a sophomore. Totaling 74 tackles and one interception. 

With such an inexperienced front seven, senior linebacker Joey Fredrickson (6-0,190) will play a major role. He made first-team all-conference a season ago for totaling 166 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

For this to be such a young team, the Titans won't be able to ease into things. Their first three games are against Blue Springs South, Blue Springs, and Raymore-Peculiar.

The Titans season opener against Blue Springs South is set for 7 p.m. this Friday.