Kyle Nabors of Ethel is the seventh member of the Star-Herald “Top 11 To Watch” to be unveiled. They are being revealed in no particular order on a week-by-week basis and all six of the schools in the Star-Herald coverage area — Kosciusko, Ethel, McAdams, French Camp, Central Holmes and Winona — Christian will be represented. Previously announced as members the Top 11 were Antonio Harmon and Kobe Carter of Kosciusko, Dalton Wiggins of Winona Christian School, C.J. Johnson of French Camp Academy, Jace Dean of Central Holmes Christian School, and Jalen Perteet of McAdams High School.
Ethel’s Kyle Nabors was put in a tough position last season. When things turned south for the Ethel football program, much of the burden of leadership was placed on Nabors.
Now with a new head coach in Adam Smith, Nabors enters his senior year as the unquestioned leader of the Tigers as the head to a new football season.
When Smith was hired as the school’s next football coach, it did not take long for Smith to figure out that Nabors was somebody he needed to be in contact with.
“Just coming in as a new coach I heard he was one of the guys that I needed to get in touch with early on because I was going to need him to kind of push everybody else to be here,” Smith said. “They said he would be a guy to galvanize everybody and get guys here that we want to be here and need to be here to kind of build off of our youth. He will definitely be a big part of our youth. He has already brought a few of those guys and put them under his wing and taught them do some things.”
And it has not taken long for Nabors to make a strong impression on Smith.
“Kyle is probably one of the hardest workers that we have right now,” Smith said. “He is a senior, so we are expecting him to be a leader on the team and he is doing a good job of leading by example. He is not a real vocal, rah-rah guy, cheering everybody on, but he does give a good example for everybody to follow.”
Last year was a tumultuous year for the Tigers and Nabors, who went 0-12 and were outscored 435-40.
“Last year, I started at linebacker and things kind of changed,” Nabors said. “A lot of people quit and I started playing running back.”
Smith said he could tell by watching film of last year that it was rough on Nabors, who finished the year with 241 yards rushing on 54 carries to lead the team.
“He kind of got thrown into the fire last year, not being a young guy, but being an inexperienced guy at the position,” Smith said. “They had some problems with players quitting last year, so he got baptized by fire last year. He had to play a position that he wasn’t as comfortable with and stepped up and did what he had to do.”
This year, Smith said Nabors is the unquestioned leader of the team and was elected as team captain. It is likely Nabors will start on both sides of the football.
“He is probably going to be playing at tailback and at linebacker for us,” Smith said. “Probably going to be one of the focal points, if not the focal point of our offense. We are going to knock it down to fundamental football and he has shown a clear understanding of what we want to do and how we want to accomplish things. He’s going to be that guy to lead by example. If we need a play ran, he’s going to be able to show our younger guys how to execute it.”
Nabors was second on the team last year with 73 tackles and four tackles for loss.
“I think his best position is linebacker but mainly because of experience,” Smith said. “He has played there and you can tell that he feels a little more comfortable playing there. He is just that kind of guy that is going to fly around and try to get to the football and make plays on the defensive side of the football. There are some things he needs to do at linebacker that we can tweak as a coaching staff to improve him and make him that much better as a player.”
Smith said Nabors is the kind of player he needs to be the team leader and help him try to turn the Ethel program around.
“In the short time that I have known him, he just seems like the kid that you want to coach,” Smith said. “He’s a good kid here and in the classroom. You don’t have to worry about him making his grades or worry about him taking off or skipping reps. He’s that character kid that is always going to do the right thing and be solid for you wherever he is, in the weight room, on the field or in the classroom. And that’s a big thing that I want to instill in my program. The main thing I want to instill in my program is to do the right thing in the weight room, on the field, in the classroom. We have to change the way we act in all facets of the situation.”
Nabors understands his role as team captain.
“This year, I’m the captain and try to keep everybody in check, doing what they are supposed to do,” Nabors said. “Hopefully, it will go better this year. We don’t have a lot of players out and need to build on it. We have a bunch of young kids. They are looking for me to be a leader. I try to encourage them to do better and push myself to be at the top so they can see that I’m not slacking off.”
Smith said he thinks his team made a wise choice for captain.
“The players stepped up and made him team captain on their own,” Smith said. “With all of the things going on right now, we haven’t had a chance to sit down and talk about captains. I think that is a player-decided thing but I’m definitely behind it. They made a good pick with Kyle being the leader and kind of person he is. I think they made a pretty solid pick.”
Nabors also plays on the basketball and baseball teams.
