ROSSFORD — Nate Childress found everything he wanted at the University of Toledo.
The Rossford High School senior has verbally committed to play football at Toledo.
The 6-foot-4, 275-pounder will sign his national of letter of intent during the sport’s signing period in
February.
Childress plays tight end and defensive end for Rossford, but is expected to move to defensive tackle
once he joins the Rockets in the fall of 2015.
“It was the whole total package. I couldn’t pass it up,” said Childress, who earned a full scholarship
from Toledo.
He has a 2.9 grade-point average and is considering a major in business.
“It’s close to home,” Childress said. “My family can easily come to watch games whether it’s a Tuesday
night game or a Saturday night game.
“It’s a good education. They’re becoming one of the best teams in the MAC and I want to help them win a
championship.”
Toledo was one of seven Mid-American Conference schools to offer Childress a scholarship. Akron, Ball
State, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Kent State and Western Michigan were the others.
Toledo was 7-5 overall and 6-3 in the MAC last season.
The school offered Childress a scholarship on June 23 and he accepted two days later.
“Toledo was the place I wanted to go,” Childress said. “Just because you’re not from a bigger school
doesn’t mean you can’t go to a bigger school or you can’t play Division I sports. If you work hard and
you’re a good athlete, schools are going to find you.”
Childress is a three-sport athlete. He’s the starting post player on the basketball team, and throws the
shot put and the discus, and anchors the 400 relay team on the track team.
“He brings a lot of athleticism to the table and he’s long,” said Rossford football coach Todd Drusback,
who also coaches the sprinters on the track team. “He works hard and he’s a leader. He brings some
intangibles to the table and that’s fantastic, too.
“College coaches like kids who play three sports,” Drusback added. “They want you to play other sports.
They want you to compete and to be in those pressure situations all around and the more you’re in them,
the better equipped you are to handle them.”
Childress had 55 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, caused three fumbles and recovered three fumbles last
fall when Rossford’s football team finished 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the Northern Buckeye Conference. He
was a second-team All-NBC selection on offense and defense.
He was the runnerup in the shot and the discus in the NBC track meet last spring.
“I need to get bigger, faster and stronger to play with the big boys in college,” Childress said. “All
three sports help each other. Track helps me with the speed and basketball helps me with my footwork.”

Childress has a 4.8 time in the 40 and bench presses 225 pounds for 16 reps.
“He’s what we’re looking for in a Rossford football player — he takes care of business in the classroom,
on the field, and in the community — and he does it in two other sports,” Drusback said. “This couldn’t
happen to a nicer person. He’s proven you can play three sports and you can play all of them well, and
still have opportunities to play at the next level.”