The report credits McCaffery with a 428-170-47 record and six Section III championships across his time at CNS, which ran from 1990 to 2024. The Northstars reached 11 sectional finals during his tenure and made the state semi-finals in 2022.
A season watching his former team from the stands left McCaffery missing competition, according to the account. “You’re totally focused on your team,” he said of matchday. He has coached girls basketball before, but Skaneateles marks his first varsity girls football role.
The Lakers, who reportedly finished 6-12-1 last season after an 8-9-1 campaign in 2024, offer a very different project from the established CNS programme. McCaffery has praised their athleticism and work-rate, while recognising that raising standards will take time.
He described himself as having “a little bit of gas in the tank” and called Skaneateles “a great place to land.” The report says he told school officials he would commit four years before reassessing his next step-a sign this is intended as more than a short retirement detour.
The immediate task is to turn that promise into progress on the field, with losses treated as lessons rather than setbacks that derail the plan. Skaneateles’ next season will offer the first measure of how quickly McCaffery’s expectations take hold; the longer-term target is to make the Lakers genuine championship contenders.