Following a four and six 2024 regular season and with coach Jed Bell moving to an administrative position within the Milford district, the search was on for a new head football coach. One of the names that seemed to come out of thin air was that of Rod Milstead. An NFL player of almost 10 seasons, with his final season being spent on the Denver Broncos practice squad in 2000, Milstead turned his attention to coaching.
With various college and high school stops along the way, the last time that Milstead coached at the high school level was 2015-2017 at La Plata High School in Maryland. He was then tapped for the head coaching position at Delaware State University from 2018-2022. Following his stint at DSU, Milstead stepped back for a bit before landing on Milford for his coaching return.
“I got wind that the position might be open because Coach Bell was moving on. So, I visited the school one day to gauge the school and the community,” Milstead said. “It really brought me back to my time at La Plata, this is a really great place and a tremendous opportunity to make the players better both on and off the field.”
On Wednesday Milford wrapped up pre-season with a scrimmage against Tower Hill. It was spirited with Milford’s high octane running game looking ready to go. In addition, senior Cayden Jarrett who is entering his second season as the starting quarterback looked much more comfortable leading the offense. His reads were solid and his passes were accurate. When asked about Jarrett’s growth, Milstead had this to say “He has a very high ceiling and he keeps on getting better every practice, he has become a leader. The understanding that he has is good and only going to get better, I can’t wait to see how good he is when he reaches his full potential.”
At the running back position, Milford returns senior Greg Lockett along with juniors Andrew Sivels and Tyjere Perry. Also expected to see playing time at running back is freshman Tyrone Pitts, all of whom have looked solid during camp.
“We have a very deep running attack which is a blessing. Each one of our running backs brings something to the table,” Milstead said. “We expect the running game to be very big for us this season and are very excited about it.”
Milford also looked good up front on both sides of the ball as well. The offensive line in particular looked strong, with most of the group returning from last season.
“Once again, like the rest of the team, they have continued to improve during the summer. The experience they gained last season, as well as the work they have put in during the off-season is looking to pay off. On the defensive front we are happy with what we have seen, and they are also improving. We have basically been playing a very vanilla defensive front, things are about to change as we ask them to do more.” Milstead stated.
Perhaps the only downside of the scrimmage was the defensive secondary, when tasked with man coverage they seemed to play off their receivers a little bit, allowing Tower Hill to find open receivers who turned short passes into big gains. When addressing the team following the scrimmage, the instruction was already underway, with the coaches explaining what is expected of them and how to correct it.
The final question for Milstead was simple, but the answer was telling of what lies ahead. When asked what the teams goal was for this season, Milstead responded “We have Conrad in week one. Before that we have practice for two weeks as we look to get better every day. We take it one play at a time, the only thing we look ahead to is our next play, practice and game. The goal is to get better every time we take the field. If we do that, we are accomplishing our goals.”
Milford will open the season on Hall of Fame night on September 5 against Conrad, game time is set for 7 PM.
