2023 Player Spotlight/interview with Caleb Wheeler Marion Pleasant High School

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Caleb Wheeler

Marion Pleasant High School

Positions played

Throughout the varsity high school level I’ve started at center, right guard, right tackle, and DE in a 3-3-5 stack

2024

How long have you played football, along with the reasons you continue to play?

I’ve been playing Football since I was in 4th grade and I continue to play because of the love I’ve always had for the game starting from when I was in a baby crib and my grandpa would place me in front of the tv to watch the Cincinnati Bengals games.

What are your personal goals for the 2023 season?

As an offensive lineman, I don’t really look at personal goals and instead, I want the guys I block for to break records and reach their goals. I want my QB to break our school record for passing yards in a season and I want my running back to rush for over 1,000 yards. When we do that I’ll feel like we have done our job the right way. Although getting all-league or central district would be awesome, my main goals are for us as a team is to win every game and break school records.

Coming off of an uncharacteristic 1-9 season, what must the Spartans do to not only turn things around but make the playoffs?

These last couple of years were rough as my sophomore year we had a lot of inexperienced guys playing their first time on Friday nights including myself, with a whole new coaching staff. Then, coming into last year we knew there were going to be a lot of downs and little ups with how young we were as a team mainly composed of juniors and sophomores and a couple of freshmen, with having a tiny senior class. But coming into this year we got a new coach very late in the cycle and we all feel we got very lucky getting coach Westler. Practices are very organized and I feel as if every single day we’re getting better and better as a team. To turn things around we just need to go day by day and practice 110% the whole time and get ready for week 1 in a game we all want to win badly.

With this being your final high school football season, have you approached things any differently?

Yea, I can definitely say I approached it differently more than other years because even starting in the offseason there are a lot of “lasts”, and you start to realize I want to look back in 20 years and say I truly gave it all I had for not only myself but for the guys I play with.

What are the main things you need to improve on to take your game to the next level?

I would say technique as you can never be “perfect” when it comes to technique but you can be great, and I want to be great at my technique as every day in practice we’re going over the little stuff and the technique to get better and better each day.

Offensive line or defensive line, which do you enjoy playing the most, along with the reason why?

Growing up I always loved defense more and getting sacks or just getting to hit someone. But as I’ve gotten older and gotten my now o-line coach I can definitely say I’m starting to like o-line more as it’s you and your 4 other guys going to dominate the guys across from you and maybe not getting all the glory, but you can say to yourself and your guys you did your job.

Of all of the road games you have played in, which stadium has had the best atmosphere, and what made it so good?

Although the game didn’t go the way we wanted it to, going to Canfield my sophomore year was a cool experience all together with the nice bus and the long drive as most of the other games are at most only an hour away for league play. Their stadium was huge and their atmosphere was crazy.

What have been your favorite and least favorite parts of playing high school football?

Obviously, my favorite parts are the wins as it just feels rewarding from the hard work you put in day in and out. But also definitely I’d say the 6 am morning lifts with your guys hitting heavy weight as you’ve gotta have a certain mentality to go heavy at 6 am every morning for months. Hitting Maxes with your guys at 6 am before school is awesome as you can go to school and the rest of your day feeling good about yourself. But my least favorite is definitely the L’s we’ve accumulated over the years as it gets very tiring of losing and putting in many hours every day just to come up short.

What did you learn from the 2022 season that you will use this season to be more of a force on the field?

Probably to practice how you want to play in games, as last year we’d have practices that were terrible that would translate into the games. I think this year so far we’ve gone about it much better to practice harder so we can get better.

What are your thoughts on 16 teams per region qualifying for the playoffs?

Making it as a 2-8 team my sophomore year did not feel right at all and didn’t feel like we deserved it, but it also gives some of those teams one last fighting chance to revive their season as maybe a team started off bad but ended well, it can benefit those teams. My personal opinion I don’t mind it, but I want to win as many games as possible and be a high enough seed to not only get one home playoff game but multiple.

Where should the state finals be held?

I like where it is now on the NFL HoF field.

Who is the best player you have ever gone against, and which team did he play for?

We’ve gone against now two B10 football players as we’ve played the last two years week 1 Owen Davis from North Union who’s now at Purdue playing Linebacker, and Broc Lowry from Canfield my sophomore year who’s now a QB at Indiana.

Do you feel you and your teammates are role models to the younger kids who come and root for you all?

Going to a relatively smaller school you start to recognize those kids who are younger and play football and learn their names. With the youth camp we have each year it’s mainly player ran and you get to see them compete but also have fun so you start to get to know them. I like to think we’re role models for the younger kids as when I was younger I looked up to the HS football guys.

What do you believe is the greatest challenge high school athletes face today?

Personally, I’ve never really had a problem with it, but probably just being consistent every day and showing up and giving good effort whether it’s a lift, conditioning, or practice.

What was the last book you read?

I’m not a big book reader but I read lots of articles online that are sports-related, mainly the NFL or professional sports. So honestly I’m not sure the last book I read was.

What toppings and crust make your perfect pizza?
Stuffed crust with pepperonis.

What scares you?
Losing close family members.