Mike Kraus leaving post as South Carroll football coach
PHOTO CREDIT: Dalin Rodrigues, South Carroll Athletics
The Cavaliers went 21-3 over the last two seasons with a Class 2A-1A state finals appearance.
Mike Kraus started as a football coach at South Carroll High School in 1999, and became the sixth head coach in program history in 2018.
The Cavaliers had one win in Kraus' second season as head coach, but rebounded in a big way. Kraus led the Cavs to a 21-3 record over the past two years and a spot in the Class 2A-1A state finals in 2021. But the longtime coach is calling the 2022 season his last.
Here's a clip of Coach Kraus chatting with us during the Fall Sports Wrap-Up Show last year.
Kraus recently announced his retirement, and he leaves the program with a 31-18 record (19-11 against Carroll County foes).
South Carroll went 4-2 in the playoffs under Kraus (the MPSSAA expanded the postseason in 2021 to include all 182 teams), and reached the 2A-1A state quarterfinals last fall.
Kraus posted a 5-5 record in his first season as SC coach, but followed it by going 1-8 (the regular season shifted from 10 games to 9 that year). The spring 2021 season saw the Cavaliers go 4-2 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and South Carroll kept it going a few months later.
The Cavaliers started the fall season with 12 wins in a row and made it to Annapolis for the 2A-1A final. Dunbar got the best of the Cavs in the title game, but Kraus guided the program to a state final for only the second time in school history.
South Carroll boasted the CMSportsNet Football Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons -- Offensive POY went to quarterback Ryan Barnard and Defensive POY to linebacker Brandon Athey in 2021, and standout athlete AJ Rodrigues earned Player of the Year honors in 2022.
PHOTO CREDIT: Dalin Rodrigues, South Carroll Athletics
