There aren't many specimens in Pasco County like Nathan Toole. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Hudson running back/linebacker can bench 360 pounds and deadlift 500, and ran for 882 yards and scored five touchdowns last season. Now the senior goes one-on-one with staff writer Jamal Thalji.
JT: You guys are excited this year. Tell me about your team.
NT: Our team looks awesome. We're coming together. We have a good line, our quarterback is good, we have good receivers for the first time. And we have three good special teams. And our new coaching staff is awesome. They always push us. Coach Nash, you saw how he pushed us out there. He's always honest.
JT: It was a messy divorce between former coach Terry Voyles, the administration and certain parents last season. What's your take on what went wrong?
NT: Nothing against the old coaches, but they never just took over and said "We have to do this and we have to do that.' They let it go so far that everyone was always arguing when we did something wrong. When we do something wrong now, coach gets on us right away so we don't start arguing.
JT: Expectations are high, but we both know westside teams face a more difficult road. What does your team have to do to fulfill its own expectations?
NT: Stop making mistakes. No more arguing. No more coming out not ready to play. We have to come out intense for the whole thing this year and we can. We have good backups and good depth.
JT: Got any humiliating stories about teammates you want to share?
NT: Well this happened to (quarterback) Kyle Hatcher (a few) weeks ago. I guess he was mowing somebody's lawn and he turned on the mower and I guess he stuck his hand underneath to see if the lawn mover was on, if the blades were on. I guess he found out because all he said he heard was "thump, thump." His middle finger tip was hanging off and his other finger tip was just cut off. I thought "That's so dumb.' And he's our quarterback. He's got a 4.0 (GPA.) He's supposed to be the smartest one on the field. And out here he is smart. But off the field ...
