Talking With Wheeling Linebacker Joseph Nitti Class Of 2025 - Name To Watch
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Joseph Nitti Wheeling Linebacker/ATH Class Of 2025 6'0 185
Joey Nitti how is your summer so far? Pretty good, been working on my craft and getting myself in the weight room looking forward to a great team camp coming up within the week. What does football mean to you? At first football was something new, all the sports I had played before were too slow for me and as soon as I got into football I was hooked. Football to me is a passion. I don’t do it because people want me to it because my friends are. I do it because I see myself doing great things. Football is significant to me because it’s made me a better man than I was when I started. It represents hard work and commitment and isn’t something you can half-ass just to get through. What should college coaches know about you? I want college coaches to know that I demonstrate persistence and dedication for what I do. If I start something, you best know I’m going to finish it. I take things serious and always strive to give it all I got and then some. Being a team leader, I hold myself accountable for my actions and the actions of the team and make sure everyone is on the same track and working as one. I believe what makes me what I am on the field is my IQ and knowledge of the game. More importantly, I do well in the classroom as well.
What do you feel is your strongest trait on the football field? I feel like my strongest trait on the field is smarts. I find myself picking up on new techniques or plays as well as scouting reports super easily. I am able to apply what I learn and already know to the field quickly. I think my ability to pick up on things quickly and use my knowledge to my advantages is what makes me best on the field. What part of your game did you work on in the offseason? I wanted to specifically target my speed. Mainly covering receivers. I felt as if stepping into outside linebacker this season compared to middle linebacker was a bit different. I worked multiple times throughout this off season covering guys and working on more coverage related drills. I also worked on my footwork, coming off an injury I felt like I needed to regain all that I lost and working on my footwork felt critical to me as it would enhance my speed and reactions on the field. What do you like about playing linebacker? I love the play of a linebacker. I love being able to stop the play before it happens and be there quicker than anyone else. I also enjoy being able to get the quarterback out of his rhythm. Whether that’s batting down one of his balls or sacking him for a loss. I also just love being able to bottle up all my anger and frustration and use it to just lay a hit out on someone 1on1. A lot of times a running back would be coming my way and I’d just be able to hit them right in their mouth before anyone else got to them.
How does Wheeling look for the upcoming season? I think Wheeling is looking good. With our last head coach stepping down. We brought in Coach Moody along with several others coaches. So far, they have taken things up a notch and have pushed the program to where it needed to be. With losing 19 seniors last year most being starters kind of messed up the flow of things. We are a fresh team with alot of younger guys who I think over this summer with the new coaching staff will be able to learn the game and get up to the level we need to be. Overall, I think we are in to have a pretty decent season. Who else on Wheeling should we keep an eye out for this season? I think I got a couple of dudes I believe are gonna ball out this year. One being Justin Ghibea. Last year he learned a lot about the QB position being on varsity and him now becoming a junior i’m excited to see him take the QB spot and help our team get to where we need to be. I myself have seen him excel in his ability and i’m excited to he hopefully catching balls from him this year. He has been working a lot on his craft this off-season and bettering his QB ability. I also think our RB Miguel Guerrero with his strength and speed I see him being a key part of our offense this year. Last year, he got some moments to shine especially during our Elk Grove game he had some huge plays leading up to a TD. I think we also got some hogs on the line this year. One being Angel Jimenez a 265 LB beast, I am looking forward to seeing production out of him this year and Rafael Flores another beast who has been putting in the work especially in the weight room.
What goals do you have for yourself this season? I have some key goals I want to achieve this year. One being an all-conference selection. I think if I have a productive year I have a great shot at being an all conference selection. I think I have what it takes to achieve this. I would love to see my name up their with other talented players. Another goal I have is to have an 80+ tackle season. I believe that 80+ tackles at the outside LB position would be amazing and reaching that 80 mark would prove to me that I had a productive season and would push me further for an even more productive senior year.
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