Nashua North football not planning for a drop off this season

When the Nashua High School football team gathered for its first official team meeting on Friday, there was one word written on the white board.

Rebuild.

Titans coach Chad Zibolis walked to the board and erased the word.

"I said I hate this word," the coach said. "Everything I’ve heard so far is that Nashua North is going to rebuild. We’re erasing this word right now and I don’t want to hear it again. We’re moving on, we have open positions, it’s time to play football."

North has plenty of holes to fill, with 20 seniors gone from last year's team that went 9-0 in the regular season before falling to Bedford in the Division I quarterfinals in Zibolis's first year as head coach.

That includes three players - Derek Finlay (baseball), Jack Peters (lacrosse) and Toby Brown, Jr., (football0 - who will be playing their respective sports at the Division I level in college.

"You don’t replace those guys," Zibolis said. "You get different guys in there. You’ve just got to find people to take those spots and I think it will happen. These guys seem pretty excited about it. You could see it in their eyes when I erased that word. The seniors don’t want to be that."

This year's senior class is a big reason why Zibolis feels confident that the Titans will be in the mix for ap playoff spot again this season. With so many contributing seniors a year ago, many of the underclassmen didn't have the opportunities to contribute, and they're looking forward to finally getting the opportunity.

John Barry, Jr., one of the few seniors who did see a lot of varsity time last year, feels like once his classmates get their change, they're going to shine.

"I’m really excited, especially because last year, I wasn’t playing with my (class)," Barry said. "I was playing with the older kids. This year, I’m back with my old team that I had in middle school. I’m pretty excited to see what we can do.

"No body (from outside) knows what we’re doing in here. As a team, we’re connected and supporting each other. We’re there for each other all the time. Nobody is going to know what we are until the first game. It makes it really exciting."

Senior Steven Rosario likes that North is flying under the radar and believes the Titans have the right kind of roster to thrive playing with that chip on their collective shoulder.

"We definitely have a lot of underdogs and that’s the reason people are looking down on us," he said. "The senior class we had last year, they compare us to what we had and think we’re not going to be that good. We have a lot of people who are ready to work.

"We don’t have a bunch of star athletes like we did last year. Everyone is working for those spots and the competition (within the team) gets us ready for games."

For Zibolis, his second year in charge has already seen a significant change for him on the sideline. After focusing on just being the head coach in his first season, he plans to get back into leading a position.

"I’m taking the o-line back over this year, so now I have a lot more coaching," he said. "You stop coaching football a little bit as the head coach. You trust the guys you’re with, and I trust my guys. I’ve got a great defensive and offensive coordinator that can practice plan and put things together. They take that off my plate.

"Last year, I felt like I wasn’t coaching. (Friday) morning, I lost my voice right away. It was good to get back there and I just love the o-line."

Darius Smith, a junior lineman, was happy to see Zibolis return to coaching the offensive line.

"I missed him on the o-line, so it’s been nice to have him back," Smith said. "It's always been smooth. He’s just more vocal and more specific with things."

As much as the Titans want to eclipse outside expectations, they know this will be a good year for the program if they continue to form the connections that last year's senior class had.

"They had the chemistry," junior Luke Peters said. "Wins don’t define your season. It’s the bonds (with teammates), it’s getting better as a team, it’s being a better teammate. Football is a great sport to build character and I love that."