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Carmody, Faza Lead Quietly

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By EDDIE DANIELS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 3, 2008

DADE CITY - When Tom McHugh arrived inside the Pasco High locker room last season, he saw something special.

Those outside the Pirates doors knew there was talent, but wasn't sure what to expect. McHugh had an idea.

"I think they really wanted to work hard and I'm not real sure they knew how to, so it was kind of one of those things where it was baby steps toward where I wanted them to go," McHugh said. "And once you get them walking, it went right from a walk to a full sprint and they really got it. These guys want to do well."

Pasco leapt from a 2-8 2005 and a 3-7 2006 campaign, in which the team finished third in Class 3A-District 8 play with a 1-2 record, to 2007 3A-8 champions.

That district title was the first to settle in at the Dade City school since 1998.

"I've never been in a place where there are better kids," McHugh admitted. "Kids you can talk to who wanted to do well, who wanted to please you, who wanted to do the things you wanted them to do, who wanted to work hard in the classroom. Sometimes you get so busy picking at people for what they did wrong that you forget to tell them they did something right and they react to that."

McHugh and others expect a steady incline with this group, which shouldn't be a surprise. Shifting the odds further into the Pirates' favor is the fact the defense was chock-full of juniors, plenty of whom were experiencing their first taste of varsity football. All that unit did was become the lowest scored-upon unit in the district, giving up 196 points.

In steps Jarrod Carmody and Zack Faza, two seniors who reprise their roles as quiet leaders. Faza returns to his outside linebacker/defensive end position, while Carmody moves from nose guard to defensive end/outside linebacker.

Faza admits the job of weeding out the egos last season was difficult, but not impossible.

"It was pretty tough," he said. "The biggest thing was getting everyone to work together because Pasco's known for having a lot of talent, if only you can bring it all together and make it work like a machine."

And when those pieces of the puzzle fell into place, the big picture was crystal clear.

"It just came together so quickly," Carmody said. "We had a new coach, a young squad. Everything was just new. It was a roll of the dice to see if something worked and it just came together. We lucked out."

Lucking out with a district title and a playoff berth isn't bad.

Contrary to what some may believe, the chest pounding and inflated heads from 2007 were nowhere to be found as Pasco prepared for 2008.

"As a whole, we're all pretty mellowed out and a real strong team," Carmody said. "We know we're a strong team, but we're still modest at the same time. We just want to work hard and do the best we can."

It's a quality Faza deems an utter must in order for a successful return to the top.

"It's unbelievably important," he said. "It's really the key because the bigger the head you get, the more individuals branch out and think each individual is the best, rather than the team as a unit. You stay modest, it keeps everyone working together, rather than apart."

As proof the team is committed to not allowing last season's results to be thrown on the ever-growing heap of fluke, they've adopted the motto "10 Plus."

"You've got to play your 10 games and your goal is to win a district title, go to the playoffs and go somewhere in the playoffs," McHugh said.

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