FAIRFIELD, Ohio — Fairfield football coach Justin Roden has plenty to smile about this preseason.
“Pleasantly surprised is an understatement,” Roden said. “I think the tradition of Fairfield is definitely still there. It’s something that even though the last couple years they’ve been down — the standards and the way that they do things here are still in place.”
Roden, a former Oak Hills coach, was named the Fairfield coach in early June. He succeeds former longtime Fairfield coach Jason Krause, who announced his retirement from education and coaching in late May.
“The standards and the way that they do things here are still in place,” Roden said. “Coach Krause was a good coach. Won a lot of football games. So him walking away and retiring — it’s not like you’re going into a situation where you are completely rebuilding. This is more of just kind of bringing a jump start of a new offense and re-doing the defense and adding some new blood. And just kind of shuffling things around.”
Fairfield (2-9 record in 2024) will be led by several talented but younger players on both sides of the football, Roden said.
Hear more from Roden and current Fairfield players about their hopes for the season:
Junior outside linebacker/edge rusher Kobe Lewis had 74 tackles and five fumble recoveries last season. Lewis, who is listed at 6 feet 3 and 205 pounds, has received scholarship offers from the likes of Miami University, Toledo and Kent State.
Lewis said the transition late this spring to a new coaching staff was a good experience.
“I definitely love how we’ve adapted so far,” Lewis said. “We have a new coach come in. The guys meet him the first day and ever since then it’s just clicked. I definitely feel like we’ve been preparing this summer. All the team chemistry coming out here every day trying to get better in the weight room. Trying to get better 1% and it’s just something we really put our mind to this season. Going into junior, senior year — the young guys — we don’t want to go 2-9 again. So we really want to make a change this year.”
Offensively, Fairfield was third in the Greater Miami Conference in yards per game (292.7) in 2024. Fairfield senior quarterback Dominick Back threw for 1,319 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first year as a starter. He also rushed for five touchdowns last season.
“Our quarterback play is going to be a strength as well," Roden said of Back. "He is a very athletic, talented player with experience.”
Fairfield opens the season with back-to-back road games including at Huber Heights Wayne Aug. 22 and at Middletown Aug. 29.
One theme is certain: The Fairfield players and coaches are committed to writing a new chapter for the program this season.
“When you mention last year you don’t like the way you hear about that and how we want to change things around here,” Lewis said. “We definitely have a big chip on our shoulder for this upcoming season.”
