As a Durango High School alum who continued playing football in college on scholarship, I can't begin to express my excitement regarding Todd Casebier's hire as DHS head football coach. My dad was an assistant with Todd under Hester in 1995. Todd left quite the impression on a 10-year-old ball boy hanging with him and the assistant coaches.

The thing I remember best is Todd's approach to coaching. I got to wait around sometimes at practice and watch Todd build and develop the person first, the football player after. For anyone considering their son/daughter playing on the football team in Durango, you couldn't ask for a better mentor.

Todd left for Palisade in 1998 to be a head coach, a great opportunity for him and a missed one for Durango. The DHS head coach at the time remained only one season afterward. Todd's first year at Palisade was amazing. So good, in fact, that as I was an incoming, aspiring freshman football player and there was uncertainty about the head coach at DHS, my family looked at the rules to see if I could play football in the fall for Todd and return to Durango in the spring (this might be news to him).

We knew then as I know now, Casebier is great football coach and even better at working with the students. He ended up winning state for Palisade in 2003 (my senior year). AD Ryan Knorr hit the nail on the head, this hire is long overdue.

Go Demons!

Nate Anderson

Durango