Ranier Caldwell grew up planning for a career in football - as a player.
An injury changed those plans but Caldwell has a career in football - as a coach.
A 1988 graduate of Franklin County, Caldwell has been coaching in the college ranks for the past 14 years. He's currently the assistant head coach at Belhaven College, in Jackson, Miss.
"I was focused on getting to professional football, and I tore my knee up in 1993," Caldwell said. "One of my old coaches Dennis Roland told me I loved the game so much, and I could still be involved by coaching.
"He talked to me about coaching, and he gave me my first coaching job in Georgia in 1994."
That job was at Middle Georgia Junior College. He spent four years there before moving on to Southwest Baptist University in Missouri. From there he was hired as offensive coordinator at Belhaven, where he's in his sixth season.
"When I was at Southwest Baptist I was looking for an offensive coordinator position," Caldwell said. "I had a friend down here who told the head coach about me, and I came down for an interview.
"I kind of took to it," he added about coaching. "Football gave me an opportunity to grow and to travel the country. If it wasn't for football then I'd probably still be in Frankfort in a situation I wouldn't want to be in."
Caldwell has been successful at Belhaven, a NAIA school that competes in the Mid-South Conference.
Since he arrived, the Blazers' passing offense has been ranked No. 1 in the nation twice along with being ranked second and sixth in two other years.
"I'd like to be a head coach at the college level," Caldwell said about his future plans. "I think I've cut my teeth as a coordinator, and I'd like to run a program, put my stamp on it."
And that's not the only goal Caldwell has. He has served internships with three NFL teams " the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys " during their summer mini-camps.
"You get to see the inner-workings of an NFL team," he said. "You go to coaches' meetings, offense meetings, you get to see every practice, you have open access to everything.
"One of my long-term goals is I want to be a coach in the NFL and that's why I do the internships. You definitely have to make contacts because it's about who you know at that level. I'm always trying to network, to promote myself to the NFL."
That's not to say Caldwell's unhappy in his current position.
"I like the area," he said. "We've got my wife closer to Georgia, so we can run home and see her family. When we were in Missouri it was 14-hour trip to Georgia, and here it's only seven hours."
Caldwell and his wife Aleisha have one daughter, Olivia. His parents, Sherry and Ike Yett, live in Frankfort, and Caldwell gets back to town about twice a year.
"I always bring my daughter up there to hang around the family and meet grandma," he said. "The good thing about playing in the Mid-South is at least we play in Kentucky twice a year, so whether it's Campbellsville or Georgetown, my family can come see me coach."
It's being away from his family that's the biggest drawback of coaching for Caldwell.
"I'm always traveling," said Caldwell, who's on a recruiting trip this week. "I said goodbye to my family on Monday, and I won't see them again until Sunday night."
The best part of coaching?
"I enjoy the thrill of game day," Caldwell said, "matching wits against the opposing team."
Caldwell also appreciates what football has allowed him to do. He started his college career at Murray State and finished at Olivet Nazarene, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communications.
He received a master's degree in education administration from Southwest Baptist University.
"Football has been my avenue to grow," Caldwell said. "I pass that on to kids about football and about getting an education. In school I was so focused on football at the professional level, if it hadn't been for all the talks by my coaches about education, when I tore my knee up I might not have been prepared. I would have been stuck.
"I was able to graduate and get my master's degree because of football."
That's the message Caldwell likes to share about football.
"If anything I'd say to the all the kids in Frankfort to keep dreaming," he said. "Dream big. I tell the guys to always have a positive environment and positive role models around."
"One thing I did as a kid was keep a list of goals on my wall, things I wanted to achieve athletically, achieve academically, and achieve socially.
"It was a constant reminder of what I wanted to shoot for."
Caldwell
Three NFL internships " Steelers, Lions and Cowboys.
"Definitely feel like the standard of offensive excellence we've had here, this was a total disappointment to the kids and to me.
"We've always been pretty good on offense, and this year was a very disappointing year. It's why I'm out looking for players to help with the offensive execution expected of myself and our squad.
"Since I've been offensive coordinator we've finished first or second in passing offense and top 15 in total offense. This year it's been humbling, and it lets you know you have to get out there and work."
"Every year there's a lot of turnover, and you're always looking to see what's out there, but I'm a firm believer that you do a good job where you're at, people will come look at you."
"Depends on the organization. With the Steelers I assisted with running backs, with the Detroit Lions it was running backs, wide receivers and a little bit of O-line, and with the Cowboys it was specifically running backs."
Was running back coach for six years, moved to offensive line coaching, started coaching quarterbacks this season.
Graduated from FCHS in 1988. Spent one year at Murray State and finished his undergraduate degree at Olivet Nazarene in Joliet, Ill.