Nate Hooks named MCC football coach
Former rival Nate Hooks was named head football coach for Melbourne Central Catholic on Wednesday.
Hooks spent eight seasons as the head coach at the Hustlers' arch-rival school, Holy Trinity, where he was the first African-American head football coach when he was hired in 2014.
Again a head coach, Hooks said his first job will be to "restore the pride" in the program.
"We want to make the alumni, fans and students proud," he said. "We have to change the mindset. We want to look the part, act the part and think the part."
A 1982 Cocoa High graduate, Hooks spent the last year on the Tigers staff and was part of the Class 2S state championship victory last month. He finished his time at Holy Trinity with a 48-36 record and was coming off a 10-2 season when school officials told him he would no longer be the head coach there. He said his players received a total of 264 college offers in his eight years, and four Tigers developed into four-star recruits.
More:Mykel Benson named Heritage head football coach
Brevard County has seen two new head football coaches hired since the end of the 2022 season. The other was Mykel Benson at Heritage, who took over after the resignation of Mark Ainsley, the coach preceding Hooks at Holy Trinity.
Hooks follows Rich Pruzinsky, whose team went 2-8 in 2022, his only season as the head coach at MCC. Pruzinsky resigned after the season.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard County head football coaching change at MCC
