Fathers and football: Ole Miss' Caden Prieskorn has felt loss and success

OXFORD | On October 9, around 7 p.m., Caden Prieskorn drove a rental car from Detroit Metropolitan Airport to Lake Orion, Michigan. He was bound for his childhood home, and whether or not he was fully aware of it in the moment, he was in a race against time.

His wife, Cali, sat in the passenger seat, with their two-year-old son, Mac, strapped into a carseat in the back. Two days removed from Ole Miss’ 27-20 win over Arkansas, this young family of three were en route to get one final glimpse of Caden’s ailing father, Jerry Prieskorn.

A few days prior, Jerry was placed on hospice, as the final days of a valiant, two-year-long battle with colon cancer were coming to a merciful end.

“That was the first time we’d seen him in a while,” Cali said. “We were both a little bit emotional about it when we first saw him.”

It was the first time Caden had seen his father since his wedding day, nearly two months prior, on July 15 — when he married Cali in Oxford.

The emotions he and his wife felt in that moment were mostly due to the stark contrast between the man they’d seen seven weeks prior — and for Caden, the role model he’d known all of his life — and the state he was currently in.

“He’d just lost so much weight,” Caden said. “He’d always been a big, strong guy, and seeing him lose so much weight that quickly… It was really tough.”

Caden describes Jerry as his hero. From all accounts, Jerry would describe himself as Caden’s biggest fan. Caden knew for a while his father had limited time left. It’s why he flew back home during the bye week.

It’s why he called his father every single day for the last two years since the diagnosis — and, really, mostly every day before the diagnosis, too — to talk about sports and life. He wanted to update his father on how his college career — one that is a winding, remarkable path to notoriety — was faring.

“My dad is my best friend,” Caden said one day in early August.

Sports heavily shaped Caden’s upbringing. To say the Prieskorn family is athletic would be an understatement. Both Jerry and Jill played college basketball at Northwood University in Midland, Michigan. Caden’s younger brother, Brady, is a Michigan football commit.

They lived on a golf course the family owned — Bald Mountain Golf Course. Many of his fondest memories with his father were born on that course, as well as trips to AAU basketball tournaments.

Caden was one hell of a high school basketball player, but he gravitated toward football at a young age. He played quarterback for Orchard Lake St. Mary’s. The Eaglets won the 3A state championship his junior year. Despite the success, Caden never received a single FBS offer. He was determined to play major college football but was without an opportunity.

“I have always known he was a special kid. We saw the talent, quarterback-wise. He’s always been a leader,” Jill said. “But the offers never came. It was frustrating. It’s like ‘where is it at? I know how talented he is’. I am not saying that because I am his mom. I played college sports. I saw his talent. He just needed someone to give him a chance.”

After mulling over some FCS and Division II offers, some to play both football and basketball, Caden’s unwavering belief in himself and his ability to realize his dream of playing major college football led him to take a risk.

A childhood friend of his, Harold Nash III, a cornerback, had a connection at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. Caden liked the idea and joined his friend. He enrolled in the summer of 2018.

“Harold said he was going to do a postgrad year there, so I figured I might as well too,” Prieskorn recalled. “It was another year for me to develop physically while holding out hope to get to the FBS level.”

Fork Union was a culture shock. A military haircut and shave were required. He marched to breakfast every day with his unit. Cell phones were not permitted. Going to Fork Union was a significant sacrifice in pursuit of his dream.

“It was a little nerve-wracking,” Jill recalled. “We dropped him off and didn’t know what was going to happen. But I believe everything happens for a reason.”

Caden won the starting quarterback job, but broke his foot midway through the season. It was a tremendous blow to his FBS aspirations. It wiped away his basketball season, too. At the end of that year, Caden was once again left without any FBS offers.

Still, he remained undeterred. He was going to play at the FBS level, somehow, someway and he refused to compromise, as delusional as it may have sounded at the time to anyone except himself.

“From a young age, I think his dad instilled in him a belief that, if you want something, you can work hard and go get it. I truly think that is something that has always stuck with him,” Cali said. “He’s never doubted himself. If he wants something, he is going to will it into existence."

After Fork Union, Nash planned to walk-on at Memphis. He sent Caden’s highlight tape to then-director of player personnel Justin Crouse. Memphis offered Caden a walk-on spot, but moved him to tight end.

“I just wanted a chance,” Prieskorn recalled. “I was willing to do anything for an opportunity, and this the only one I had.”

As Caden, Cali and Mac made the hour-long drive to Caden’s childhood home, time was even more limited than they’d thought.

They arrived around 9 p.m. on October 9. That night, Caden, Cali, Caden’s mother Jill, and his two brothers, Peyton and Brady, gathered together in Jerry’s room and reflected on the best moments life had to offer their family of six. Caden had long pondered when the last time talking to his best friend would actually be the last time. He knew the situation was dire. There is no longterm prognosis for people in hospice. It’s a prelude for what’s to come.

In the early hours of the next morning, Caden learned his father had passed. Jerry died a handful of steps from Caden’s childhood bedroom. He was 52 years old.

In October of 2021, Jerry went to the doctor after experiencing some abdominal pains. Doctors discovered a mass on his colon and removed it. Originally thought to be precancerous cells, a biopsy revealed that it was a malignant tumor that had metastasized, meaning it had wrapped around his colon and spread to other parts of the body. Jerry was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer.

Jill broke the news to Peyton and Brady at home. Caden was in the middle of his redshirt sophomore season at Memphis. His mother called him with the news a few days before the Tigers played Navy on October 14. The Prieskorns also have a 10-year-old daughter, Skylar.

“It was devastating, having to tell my kids.” Jill said in August. “We have a nine-year-old daughter, too. She obviously doesn’t understand a lot of it…It’s just devastating. It takes your entire family. It’s not just the person going through it; it affects your entire family. It’s forced to take everything day-by-day. You can’t really plan for this and can’t plan to go through it.”

“All we could do was stay positive and do our best to fight this. My husband is a fighter.”

Walk-on status at a major college football program is hardly an easy existence. Caden’s status was particularly flimsy.

Shortly after packing up and reporting to campus in the summer of 2019, he found out he was not yet allowed to join the team due to a roster-related rule. Frustrated and uncertain about what else to do, Caden returned to Lake Orion.

“I’ll never forget that night. We’d just moved him in Memphis, and I am sitting at home one night and he walks in the door with all of his stuff and I am like, ‘what are you doing here?’” Jill recalled. “I’ll never forget the look on his face that night. All he wanted to do was play football.”

His career at a crossroads, Caden eventually went back to Memphis, in part due to a lack of another option, and eventually joined the team a few games into the season. He played tight end on the scout team and learned the nuances of the position. In a story published in the Commercial Appeal, Caden recalled trying to block future New York Jets defensive end Bryce Huff, unsuccessfully.

At the time, Caden was a lanky 6-foot-6, 220 lbs. He redshirted that year, put on weight and got stronger as he learned how to play tight end. A standout basketball player in high school, his footwork and ball skills translated well. He just had to learn how to block.

He made the travel roster for the Covid-riddled 2020 season. He mostly played on special teams. Toward the end of the year, as injuries and opt-outs piled up, Caden got his chance. After starting the season as the fourth-string tight end, he caught three passes in the season finale against Houston.

He went through his first spring practice in 2021 and was primed to be a contributor in the Tigers’ offense.

The news of Jerry’s diagnosis came at an otherwise joyous time in Caden’s life. His son, Mac, was born on August 4. A few weeks later, at the end of preseason camp, Caden was put on scholarship. He became a father as his own childhood dream was finally taking shape. It was a dream he’d fought for for years.

“It was really tough to hear. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s been tough ever since that day, too,” Caden recalled. “My mind was anywhere other than football that week.”

Caden, Cali and Mac flew to Michigan immediately after the Thursday night win over Navy.

“We talked and laughed and really just tried to enjoy the time we had together,” Caden said.

He returned to Memphis that Monday and trudged through the remainder of the 2021 season. He called his dad every day to talk about sports and life. Being 12 hours away from home was tough. He wanted to be there with his family, but his newly-formed family of three were simultaneously there for him, too. In a span of two months, he’d become a father, earned a scholarship and learned his own father was fighting an uphill battle for his life.

“I had to grow up fast. It was a tough couple of months,” Caden said. “My son is born. He’s my world. I need to provide for him and give him a great life. I also needed to be a role model for my younger siblings and my mom and help them, even from 12-13 hours away from home, I needed to find any way I could to help them.”

Caden flew home at any opportunity he could to see his father and cherish the time they had left together —not knowing how long that might be.

Even though he was so far away, he still managed to bring Jerry and Jill happiness from several states away. Caden had a breakout year in 2022. He caught 48 passes for 602 yards and seven touchdowns.

He was a staple in the Tigers’ offense that powered them to a winning season and a bowl berth. Jerry and Jill attended a couple of games, but watched most of them from home.

“The games take our mind away from the day-to-day battle,” Jill said. “Seeing him out there doing what he loves brings us a lot of joy.” With the ups and downs that we go through, seeing your kid achieve his dreams is so gratifying.”

Caden was beginning to surface on the radar of NFL scouts and also attracted attention from Power Five programs as a potential transfer portal addition. It was a whirlwind.Three years removed from being at a military prep school in Virginia, out of options and his football path at a dead end, SEC, and potentially professional football was now a realistic option.

Caden transferred to Ole Miss last winter and joined the Rebels for spring practice. He and Cali got engaged in April and married in Oxford on July 15. There were a number of reasons why they got married at that date and time, but the overarching one was to ensure Jerry was able to see it.

By that point, cancer had taken its physical toll on Jerry. His prognosis was bleak, but he found the strength to travel down to Oxford and attend his oldest son’s wedding. He toured Vaught-Hemingway and saw the stadium his son was set to play in that fall.

As the reception wound down, Cali recalls seeing Jerry sitting on a couch with a beaming grin on his face. Jerry somehow found the strength to stay for the entirety of the ceremony and reception.

“It brought tears to my eyes,” Cali said. “I couldn’t believe he was still there. It was important for him. I remember Mrs. Jill telling me his doctors saying ‘we’re going to get him to that wedding.’ His strength was incredible.”

That weekend was the last trip Jerry would ever take.

Caden’s arrival at Ole Miss was a validation of his own self-belief, nearly a half decade in the making. He was an SEC football player, primed to be a core cog in an offense with championship aspirations. The work he’d put in had paid off, but the journey ahead still had its hurdles.

Caden injured his foot the week before the Rebels’ season opener against Mercer. The debut he’d long waited for was put on hold. He had surgery and missed the first three games of the season before returning at Alabama on September 23. He made a trio of crucial receptions the next week in a season-defining win over LSU.

A season he wasn’t certain how much his father would see was beginning to take shape.

“I knew he was always proud of me,” Caden said. “He always told me ‘never worry about me. Focus on what you have going on.’ That’s always stuck with me. He just wants to see me do well.”

In early September, Caden and Cali found out that Cali was pregnant with twins. A few days before Jerry died, they learned that they'd lost one of the twins.

“Not all twins walk side-by side. Sometimes one has wings to fly. Grateful for another one to love,” Cali said in an Instagram post a few days ago. They found out this week that they’re having a girl, expected in April.

“We’re thankful we get to celebrate another one, even if we are remembering another too,” Cali said. “I found so much peace in knowing that Caden’s dad will be up there holding that baby.”

The last month of their lives has been tumultuous, and the last two years has been a trying journey comprised of both joy and sadness as days of celebration are surrounded by ones of grief.

The Prieskorn family is taking everything in stride, day-by-day, savoring the happy moments throughout the mourning process. Jerry’s battle with cancer shaped their remarkably positive outlook. It taught them that nothing in life is promised and to seize every opportunity to find happiness. Jerry got to cherish Caden's wedding. The bye week afforded Caden one last moment with his father the night before he died.

Caden returned to Oxford after the bye week and played in the win over Auburn.

“It made me emotional, seeing him have the strength to go out there and play and have a game like he did given everything we’re going through,” Cali said. “It made me grateful to know him. He’s the strongest person I know.”

In a press conference last week, Caden dedicated the rest of the season to his father’s memory. A crucial five games remain for his own future and for Ole Miss’ Championship hopes.

He’s not one to get caught up in all of that. His football journey to this point has shaped a similar mindset to the one his family has had over the past two trying years — that time is finite. Cherish every moment along the ride.

“It’s taught me to enjoy life,” Caden said. “Enjoy football. Enjoy everything that comes with it. None of this will last forever and you have to enjoy it while it’s here. You never know what will happen tomorrow. You cannot take anything for granted and enjoy every moment of this life.”