SORSN: Coach, Friday night lights are upon us. You are entering your 3rd season as the head coach of MHS football. What do you do differently now leading into the start of the season than what you did in 2022?
Coach O’Toole: Not a whole lot of difference. Don’t sweat the small stuff, come in ready to work, and believe in the process. Sounds cliche but we are seeing the successes that we want and getting there slowly.
SORSN: Introduce us to your coaching staff.
Coach O’Toole: Coach Satterfield returns for a second season as a Green Wave. Coach will be calling the offense. A long time head coach at Greenback, Sequoya, and Grace Christian, Coach enjoys telling short stories and Little Debbie delights. His offseason was highlighted by a trip to the Little Debbie park (who knew it existed, but he did)
Wyatt Wilson will be coaching our linebackers, running backs, and special teams. His intensity and positivity relates well to the young players. Coach Wilson probably has the best handwriting in the world. Rumor has it he has won awards in the handwriting category.
Caleb Burton will be our offensive and defensive line coach. He is assisted by Dylan Meza. Both Dylan and Caleb enjoy fishing as a hobby. Unfortunately neither one talks much so they really don’t know what all they have in common.
Jason DeVries has returned for a third season of Green Wave football. Coaching running backs and outside linebackers Coach Devries work ethic is unmatched. From locker room organization to field prep Coach DeVries has become an invaluable member of the coaching staff. One may be worried about his strange obsession with pylons but that can be overlooked.
Coach Roche joins our staff this season. He assists with the d line and coaches the tight ends. A former head middle school football coach from Las Vegas, Coach Roche put it all on red one night and moved to Tennessee the next day. I’m pretty sure the movie Casino was based on a former life of his but cannot prove that.
Daniel Anderson is helping with linebackers and line. He will also be the teams tech director with technology usage and so forth since most of us are too old to figure out how to turn on a computer. Dragging Daniel out of coaching retirement was quite easy when he learned of the staff’s affection for Little Debbie.
Chris Marcie also returns for another year on the sideline. A general helper, Coach Marcie helps with protects, repairs to everything, first aid needs, and will be our licensed drone operator for film. We are lucky to have Coach Marcie helping us again.
Seth Brackett is assistant to the Db’s and Wr’s. He has been a pleasant surprise that takes on many responsibilities with a great attitude.
Dylan Meza, Seth Brackett, and Jason DeVires also work a lot with our JV team (yes our numbers are that good). We look forward to many JV games to get these guys valuable experience
SORSN: Does anyone on your staff order boneless wings?
Coach O’Toole: For the sake of reprimand I will just answer no and leave my other comments to myself.
SORSN: What does a typical week of practice look like for your team?
Coach O’Toole: Mondays we look to see if the Little Debbie fairy stopped by.
Tuesdays are slushie days.
Wednesdays I hear about how every church in east TN has moved service to 4:30 for the next 10 weeks then move them back to 7:00 at week 11.
Thursdays we call walk through days. We walk 3 laps around the field and call it a day.
Fridays are game days baby, hopefully our hard work has paid off. If you’re a case of athletic tape, you best watch out you’re getting put on some wrists.
SORSN: How important is community support to the team’s success?
Coach O’Toole: Midway is by far the best place in the world to live. Nothing beats running onto that field on Friday night with all of SOR cheering you on. Its motivating to see how many people are willing to help with the program
SORSN: What has the team done well during the preseason? What still needs work before the first game?
Coach O’Toole: Our offseason attendance and work ethic is the best I’ve seen here in my 22 years.
In our scrimmage we played with a lot of energy, we made mistakes which is ok, now we must correct those mistakes if we want to get to the next level
SORSN: Are there still opportunities to be a 1st Down sponsor if anyone is interested?
Coach O’Toole: There are always opportunities to become a sponsor and support the #family
SORSN: What should Green Wave fans expect to see from the team when you open the season at Sale Creek?
Coach O’Toole: White helmets, jerseys, and pants
SORSN: Good luck this season and GBG!
The season kicks off August 23rd when Midway travels to Sale Creek for the season opener. Midway will be at home the following week, August 30, for the home opener against Red Boiling Springs.