One championship program to another. New Cascade football coach has winning background

It might seem daunting to take over a program that is coming off the best season in school history, a magical ride that ended with the team holding the state championship trophy on the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium. But if there is anyone who understands that feeling, it is Cascade’s new football coach. Nick Brickens, who won a state championship as a player at New Palestine and was part of two more state titles as an assistant for Kyle Ralph at his alma mater, is ready for his opportunity at Cascade.

“It’s definitely really hard to climb to the top,” said Brickens, who also won two NAIA national titles as a college player at Saint Francis. “It’s just as hard to stay there. I learned from (Ralph) what it takes to push players and your staff not to get complacent.

He’s second to none in each of those qualities when it comes to maintaining that level of success. ” Cascade went 15-0 last season and won the Class 3A state championship , achieving several “firsts” along the way, including the Cadets’ first sectional title since 1992 and first regional, semistate and state titles the following three weeks. Connor Simmons, also a New Palestine graduate, led the program on an ascent over a six-year period that ended with last year’s title run.

Simmons stepped down at Cascade to take an assistant principal position at Southmont. “We talked quite a bit back and forth about how he ran his program,” Brickens said of Simmons. “I want to build upon the program that he’s built.