MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sometimes it’s hard to be a coach’s son, but Caden Biser is lucky his dad, new Morgantown High football coach Sean Biser, takes into account his thoughts and feelings about certain situations.
One of those situations is pulling Caden out of Keyser, the place he’s grown up, to move to Morgantown. It’s on Pony Lewis Field where he’ll finish is final high school football regular season as a Class AAA linebacker and running back. But his new teammates are helping him transition into his new squad, albeit he’s in Keyser until the end of the school year.
“It’s hard,” Biser said. “I’m going to miss my friends and the hometown, but I look forward to going to Morgantown and playing for them. I think it’s going to be a good move. Morgantown is a lot bigger. I don’t think [the transition] will be too bad. I’m already talking to my teammates and [we’re] clicking. They’re letting me know how it is in Morgantown and we’re getting to know each other well.”
Biser is already getting attention from colleges, his first offer coming from Robert Morris three weeks ago and his second from Glenville State on Sunday. As the youngest child of his immediate family, if Biser commits to a college team, he’ll be the fourth child of Sean’s to play collegiate sports. His second- and third-oldest sons both play football at Frostburg State, while his daughter will be playing volleyball also at Frostburg. This legacy of greatness stems from the patriarch, as Sean – a former WVU football player – is big into training his kids to be the best they can be.
“[The offers] make me feel good. I’ve got to work harder to better myself. It motivates me,” Caden said. “[My dad has] made me a better man and person in general. He teaches me a lot of lessons and makes me [the best I can be]. I think it’s going to be a good year this fall.”
From Sean’s perspective, he doesn’t tip-toe around his coaching job with his children. Since they were little, all of them have grown up knowing he’s a coach, but he doesn’t let that get in the way of him being a father.
“I don’t want to speak for everybody who’s a coach and has a kid, but I think it’s pretty special when your kids grow up around that,” Sean said. “When he was little and he and his brothers would go to practices, they wanted drill to do when all the kids were doing it. By seeing me in the work environment, I think that helps to build a strong relationship between him and me athletically. As the father-son relationship, I’ll take him fishing and then to practice with me. It’s one of those kinds of things.
“Initially, he didn’t really want me to go. I think a little bit of it was fear. He was 1 when I was at Hampshire, but from all his memory, dad has been the coach at Keyser. That’s hard on him, and I think leaving his friends that he’s grown up with – he’s like brothers with them – was huge. I think he kind of stepped back and came back to me, and said, ‘You know, I think you should do this. I think it will be good for you.’ He was real mature about it. Ultimately, it was something he had to agree to do. That’s a lot of responsibility for someone his age.”
Still, as a senior and a soon-to-be leader on the team, Caden isn’t promised anything by his father. He still has to work to win his spots, but he knows that. Both he and his father have discussed at length what is expected of him.
“He knows he has to come in and work, but he knows how I expect things to be,” Biser said. “If anything, it’s going to be more of a quiet lead by example part on his end. Like, ‘I know dad likes to run through the line every time, so we’re going to finish a certain way. I need to do that so the other guys see that I’m not just the coach’s kid.’ I think [he’ll lead] like that.”
Though a standout as a running back, Caden is also a stud linebacker. When pressed about what side of the ball he likes better, he simply said, “Wherever I need to be.”
That humbleness working in tandem with his quiet leadership should help bridge the gap for any returning Mohigans concerned about a culture change. It’s not always easy to get a new coach at the end of your high school career, but Caden hopes his friendly spirit will help relieve any doubts. With those doubts tampered, the result could be MHS in the Class AAA playoffs after missing it last year following a 3-7 season.
“I think it will be easier because I’ll become friends with them and will build a good bond,” he said. “I think we’re going to bring the same mentality to win, hit the weights as much as possible and grind out.”
Morgantown’s season debut is Aug. 28 on the road at South Charleston.
Caden was a guest on Episode 11 of the Best of 7 podcast with Andrew Spellman and Sean Manning.
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