Henry To’o To’o, So., LB
On who the toughest ball carrier on the team is…
“All of our backs, in my opinion. We’ve got the best backs in the country. I’ve got so much confidence in them, that they’re going to do what they need to do to get us a win on Saturday.”
On how the younger linebackers have stood out to him and how much they have come to him for insight…
“Our entire freshman group has done a tremendous job and guys like Morven Joseph and Tyler Baron on the defensive side have been doing a (great) job of getting the playbook down. They try to come to me, try to ask me for advice, asking me how I adapted and how did I do things when I got here. I just told them to work hard. Those guys, every single person on the offensive side and defensive side is doing a great job of coming in, putting in the work, focusing on the playbook and trying to hone in on knowing what we are going to do this week. Those guys are going to contribute big this week.”
On if he ever had doubts that a season would be played…
“First off, when we got quarantined, it was kind of hard to see a football season happening. It was kind of hard, but as we came back and as we transitioned to coming back after quarantine, we took the necessary steps to be able to have a season. It’s truly a blessing to be here, to have such a great medical staff, a great coaching staff, to be able to lead us the right way and know our safety protocols.”
On if he believes that this year’s team is equipped to get off to a better start than last season…
“Yes, we know, as an entire team, we know what to expect and how good we can be. When we play to our full potential, we can do great things on the field. Things will change and it’s up to us. The coaches lay out a game plan for us to execute and it’s up to us now.”
On what advice has he given the freshmen on their first road game and what type of experience he expects there to be on Saturday…
“You just try to tell every single freshman to come in, put their head down and work. That’s probably the best advice that you can give a freshman. It’s not high school anymore. Every single freshman that we have on this team is going to do a tremendous job executing for us, contributing to the team and going into any environment. South Carolina is South Carolina. It doesn’t matter how many fans they have in there, but we’re there to play ball. The environment that we expect to play in is strictly football. We’re ready for any challenge that comes upon us and it’s going to be fun this Saturday.”
On how his transformed body is translating to the field…
“My body, where it was from last year to this year has been crazy. It’s a true testament to the people back home, to my dad, to my parents for training me hard and dedicating myself to be able to come out and be the player that I want to be. I can feel myself moving faster, moving quicker. I feel stronger and it’s just a testament to everyone that has put the work into me.”
On keys to a strong defense after departures of a couple key starters…
“The relationship we created, to tell you the truth. We created a relationship, a bond, not only on the field, but off the field. We can confront each other when we do something wrong. We can confront each other when we’re doing something bad off the field. That relationship can carry on so long, not only on the field, but off the field, and far down the road past football. That’s something that we realize as a linebacking corps and as a defense, that if we build a relationship together and if I know you as a person and you know me as a person and why I do thing and why I react to things, then we’ll be able to excel in anything we do. That was kind of the approach that we took losing a lot of leaders on the defense. We have to come together as one.”
On how his relationship with Jeremy Banks and Quavaris Crouch have strengthened the defense…
“We have a close, tight-knit relationship. Those are my brothers right there, those two. It’s not only just those two, but it’s guys like Aaron Beasley, Solon Page (III), Martavius French, we’ve all done a great job of coming together as one. We held barbecues. We had our mask on and everything, but we had a barbecue. Every Sunday we had it and we shared Scripture verses and talking about the Heavenly Father’s plan for us. That relationship is going to take us a long way. I feel that we’re tight. We’re close. As long as we’re one, we’ll be able to excel on the field.”
On how ready is to be able to hit another opponent other than his teammates in practice…
“I’m ready. I’m ready. I’m not going to lie. I’m ready to hit somebody that’s not wearing orange. It’s going to be fun.”
-UT Athletics
