ECHS Announces New Coaches: Michael Meredith To Coach Baseball, Caitlin Caudill Named Head Volleyball Coach

ECHS has named Michael Meredith boys baseball coach and Caitlin Caudill head volleyball coach.

Darren Doyle, story:
Edmonson County High School has named two new head coaches: one for Wildcats Baseball and one for Lady Cat Volleyball.

Michael Meredith was recently named head baseball coach of the Wildcats. He replaces Bo West, who stepped down after last season. 

Coach Meredith retired from ECHS in 2020 as a junior/senior counselor, spending 8 years in that role. Prior to that, he taught at Grayson County High School for 6 years before serving as senior counselor there for 14 years. 

His coaching career consists of:

• Grayson County Assistant Softball Coach for 3 years
• Grayson County Head Softball Coach for 2 years
• Grayson County Assistant Golf Coach for 8 years
• President of local Babe Ruth for past 4 years
• Longtime tee ball to Babe Ruth coach at all levels
• Edmonson County Assistant Golf Coach 2021-present

Coach Meredith said his plans are to build the program from the 7th grade up, and to try to give every child in the program the attention they need to become better players and better people.

"I want to improve the existing facilities and hopefully build things for the future," he said. "I want to work hand-in-hand with our youth program to provide what I can to help develop our younger talent.  I want those younger kids to feel a part of our program.  I want to have a youth league night in baseball just like we have in football and basketball." 

"We lost 9 seniors from last years squad so we have a lot of holes to fill and a lot of work to do, but the players that are coming to open field are doing everything that we are asking of them to get better."
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While Caitlin Caudill might be new to a head volleyball coaching position, she is more than experienced in winning. She was named interim volleyball head coach in September of 2021 after Bridget Simon stepped down. While she had already been serving as freshmen volleyball coach, she quickly earned the respect as a head coach from not only the JV and varsity players, but also parents and school administration.

At ECHS as Caitlin Simon, (now happily married to her husband, Daniel Caudill) she played not only volleyball, but also softball, and basketball. She holds the school record for the most points ever scored in Lady Cat basketball history, with 2,564 points. During her senior year of Lady Cat basketball, she was named 3rd Region Player of the Year, All-Region 1st Team, and Region 3 All-Tournament team. She also earned numerous All-District honors over multiple seasons and was a finalist for Miss Kentucky Basketball 2018.

Also in that senior season, the Lady Cats finished with a 29-5 record, the best in school history for a girls basketball team, as 12th District Champions for the first time since 1998, and they were All "A" Region 3 Champions.

While most folks remember her amazing basketball skills, she was a standout athlete in every sport; volleyball was no exception and she excelled as powerful hitter.

"First and foremost, I would just like to say I am thankful for the opportunity to coach this team," she said. "I am super excited and look forward to working with the girls. We are going to work hard on this off-season to try and prepare for 2022. I am also excited to be coaching a sport that I love so much and I am looking forward to continuing to work with these amazing girls."

In Caudill's senior season in ECHS volleyball, she was actually teammates of a few of next year's senior Lady Cats, when those players were 7th graders.

ECHS Principal Jonathan Williams discussed the decision to hire both Meredith and Caudill for the positions.

"Michael Meredith is a great hire for us here--he’s a leader in the community, has mentored a lot of young men in our community, including me, and it’s a very full circle moment for me to get to hire him," he said. "He has led a successful softball program before and has served our young people through our youth baseball programs for years.  Coach Brad Johnson and I are thrilled to have him here as head coach for our Wildcats."

Williams also had high remarks for Caudill.

"We are proud to have a person like Caitlin want to come back to where she played and coach our girls," he added. "Caitlin is a winner and has a strong track record of winning. She is energetic, knows the game, and has proven she knows how to teach fundamental volleyball.  Most of all, Caitlin is a great person and will be a good role model for our kids. To say Coach Johnson and I are thrilled to have her coaching here is an understatement."