More new faces will be on the sidelines, guiding the Bearcats this season, with Pilot Point’s athletic program closing its summer hiring cycle with three additions to the Bearcats’ coaching staff.
Mason Smith, Chris Caruthers and Ben Thacker are the newest members of the Bearcats’ athletic program, and the trio is planning to help the Bearcats continue their return to prominence.
“We’re happy to have all the new coaches hired,” said Chad Worrell, Pilot Point athletic director and head football coach. “We brought in some people with different backgrounds and [experience], and it's going to make our staff more well-rounded and add to the culture that we already have established here with our staff.”
Smith joins the Bearcats coaching staff after working the last three years in Sanger ISD, where he served as an assistant coach with Sanger High School’s football and soccer programs and as an assistant coach for Sanger’s middle school basketball and track teams.
He said the strength of Pilot Point’s community was one of the biggest motivators for him joining the Bearcats’ program.
“I grew up in Corinth, and my neighborhood there felt close-knit, and I feel like it’s the same type of closeknit community here,” he said. “In these types of places, everybody comes to each other’s aid when they need it, which is something I really love.”
Smith arrives in Pilot Point as an assistant coach with the Bearcats’ powerlifting and track and field teams and as an offensive and defensive line coach with the football program.
“I just want to build relationships; that’s what I feel like is the biggest part in coaching and education,” he said. “If we can build relationships as a coaching staff, as teachers and administrators, and most importantly, with the kids and parents, that’ll set us up for success in the long run.”
Caruthers comes to Pilot Point as an assistant coach with the middle school track team and the Bearcats football team, where he will work specifically with the running backs and defensive line.
He said he gained most of his coaching experience while playing rugby for the Jakarta Komodos Rugby Football Club in Indonesia.
“The team had a junior program, so we’d go out to where they trained and help them get going,” he said. “There was also a touch rugby league that really grew during the COVID years, while we didn’t have a season, and we had a bunch of new people coming in, so we were the ones teaching them the basics of the game.”
He added that he hopes to be a good example for the young athletes.
“I played college football in Scotland and then rugby in Jakarta, and I want to bring those experiences here,” he said. “Some of my teammates were shorter guys, and we played guys that were 6-feet-5 inches and 350 pounds, while some of us were 110 pounds soaking wet, but I want these kids to know that it is possible to do anything you put your mind to.”
Thacker joins the Pilot Point staff as an assistant baseball coach and football coach, where he will work primarily with the running backs and linebackers.
“I was raised [in Celina], so I’ve been around small-town football forever,” he said. “I did my student teaching at Prosper Walnut Grove, which was a nightand- day difference from places like this. I went back to Celina for a year and a half and then came here this summer, and it’s been great.”
Thacker said he’s excited to hit the ground running with the Bearcats.
“Wherever I go, I try to bring a don’t be soft mentality, and I want to help maintain the competitive environment that’s already here,” he said. “And I’ve been here this summer, and that’s been showing. These are some of the hardest working kids that I’ve ever been around, and it’s been incredible to see.”
