'We're a part of history there': Two former UWF football players turned coaches remember early years of program

When asked to reflect on the desire to come to a brand-new college football program, both Kaleb Nobles and Martes Wheeler had the same answer: it was the vision.

Then-head coach Pete Shinnick and the rest of his coaching staff, which included assistant coach Steve Saulnier, came in with a certain gameplan, Wheeler said, and that coaching staff never strayed away from it.

For Nobles, who is the son of a football coach, he knew that the University of West Florida could play at a high level “pretty quickly” given the lack of Division II programs in Florida. There are currently just two Division II football programs in Florida – but the other program, Edward Waters University, didn’t join the NCAA ranks until 2021.

Plus, Nobles, who played at Gulf South Conference rival Valdosta State before transferring to UWF for the 2016 season, saw Shinnick and Saulnier in action while they were still part of the coaching staff at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke.

“I knew they had a good offense and all that. That struck me pretty well,” said Nobles, who played quarterback in 2016 for the Argos. “You meet Coach Shinnick, you meet Coach Deese, you meet other people that are on staff, and you’re like, ‘These guys have got a plan. They have a vision.’”

Wheeler, a Jackson, Alabama, native, joined UWF a year earlier than Nobles in 2015 – a season where the Argos didn’t play any opponents. It was just practices and intrasquad scrimmages for the whole fall.

What made him commit to UWF was his desire to build things and leave a mark somewhere.

“When I came down, it was just the campus, the atmosphere and the vision they showed us,” Wheeler, who was a linebacker from 2015-2018, said. “I felt like we could do something special there, especially with the group of guys I came in with. … It felt like home to me.”

Saturday’s game for UWF against Shorter University serves as the college’s homecoming game. And, when thinking about it, Nobles, Wheeler and several other players from those 2015-16 rosters are considered the “older generation” of UWF football.

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Even Saulnier made a joke, knowing that homecoming was coming up and some of those original players might be returning. “I guess that makes Coach Nobles one of those ‘old players,’” Saulnier said, smirking.

“It’s crazy because we’re really not that old,” Wheeler said. “I know Kaleb’s a few years older than me, but we’re really young.”

“It’s kind of weird to think about that,” Nobles said. “But it’s cool to be somebody that our guys can talk to, because I’ve sat in their chairs, played on their field and been a part of the experiences they’ve gone through.”

The formative years

That 2015 season was unique. Some might not even call it a season given there were no opponents for the Argos.

They practiced all season long, and scrimmaged against one another five times – one of which was at Blue Wahoos Stadium, where the Argos would eventually play their home games from 2016-2021.

Wheeler noted his favorite memory from that season involved one of his best friends from college, fellow linebacker Josh Smiley. Smiley collided with one of UWF’s running backs, Jaylon Hamer – who weighed in at 240 pounds at just 5-foot-9 – during an inside drill.

“Him and Smiley meet each other in a hold, and Smiley’s helmet ended up turned backwards. They just hit each other and they’re just looking at each other,” Wheeler said with a laugh. “It was the funniest thing. … We talk about it all the time.”

Then came the 2016 season, where UWF would finally play opponents. And Nobles was in town, ready to lead a new program.

“It was so funny. … Kaleb’s not the tallest. Every time we simulated in practice, he used to have this little Schutt helmet,” Wheeler said of his first impressions of Nobles. “He was the shortest guy out there. Just to see this short guy out there, barely looking over the line, throwing dots, Kaleb was an awesome teammate.”

Said Nobles of Wheeler, “His energy, first of all, it's contagious. There’s no bad days when you’re Martes Wheeler, and no bad days when you’re around him. He does a phenomenal job of bringing spirits up.”

Not going against any other programs in 2015 made the Argos’ first game special – even if it was on the road at Ave Maria College, just north of Miami. It was a nine-hour road trip and there was a torrential downpour, forcing players to compete in muddy conditions, and a lightning delay caused a long pause during the game.

But none of that mattered – the Argos won 45-0.

“By the time game time rolled around, it was an amazing feeling,” Wheeler said. “It was just a thrill of actually getting to go against somebody else that wasn’t your teammate.”

While Nobles said the first win over Ave Maria was fun, the Argos’ first ranked win – against Florida Tech on Oct. 1, 2016 – was what made him realize why he transferred to UWF. Nobles was part of some “big wins” at Valdosta State, he added – and to see his teammates get the same feeling was what made it worth it.

“Being able to see those guys celebrate after a big win was pretty cool, just to be able to step back and say, ‘This is why I came here, right here,’” Nobles said.

Coming full circle

In 2023, both Wheeler and Nobles are head coaches for football teams. Wheeler was just named interim head coach at Pensacola High School and is in his third week at the helm of the program. His team played on Thursday, and won’t be attending homecoming on Saturday, he said.

Instead, Wheeler is headed back home to Alabama on Friday to watch his little brother play in a high school football game.

“I don’t get to see him play anymore,” Wheeler said, with the time commitment of being a football coach.

“I’m excited Martes is getting a great opportunity. He’s got a lot of high energy. He’s a great person. … I know he’ll do well in that program,” Nobles said. “I know those kids are probably flocking to him.”

But when he does go back to UWF and watch the Argos, he said it’s cool to see that the team is still doing some of the same things they did when he played – and Wheeler got what he wanted, to make that mark on a program.

“It’s a great feeling to know that we built that from the ground up, and we’re a part of history there,” he said. “Just looking at what we started as and where that program is now, it’s mind-blowing how fast that program exceled.”

Nobles, now the head coach at UWF, said “it’s a blessing” being back with the Argos. On the field, the “benchmark” for success has moved every year. Still considered a generally new program, UWF has been to three national championship games, including capturing the crown in 2019.

The Argos, currently ranked No. 6 in Division II football in the latest AFCA poll, have a certain standard, Nobles said.

“We know the standard is to be in the playoffs and compete,” Nobles said. “I think this is one of the best – if not the best – jobs in the country, regardless of level. … I like the high standards. If I wasn’t going to a place with high standards, I wouldn’t go.”

“Since we got done playing, there have been numerous teammates that have coached over there. Kaleb getting that head coach job was really big, I was really excited for him,” Wheeler said. “It just shows you how far we’ve all come.”

It’s also off the field where Nobles said he has an immense amount of pride in UWF. Not only do he and his wife, Katy, a fellow UWF alum who was on the women’s volleyball team, get to come back to a place they “can call home,” but they also get to raise a family in Pensacola.

The Nobles have a daughter, not even a year old yet. She attends the UWF football games, sitting with Katy in the stands, and Kaleb makes sure to wave before the start of every game.

“It’s pretty cool that she doesn’t know what’s going on, but how much it means to her mom and her dad to be back here with such good people. I’m excited to be here for a long time with her and be able to raise her around such a good place,” Nobles said, a little choked up. “It's pretty cool to be at a place that I know that I kind of helped start and build.”

Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on X (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF Football: Kaleb Nobles, Martes Wheeler reflect on beginning of the Argos