- December 4, 2025
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Plenty of eyes fixated on Hudson West following his breakout freshman campaign under center. One particular pair saw something special in him.
Those belong to North Carolina coach Bill Belichick, an eight-time Super Bowl champion.
West received an invite to the Tar Heels’ summer camp back on June 8. He left Chapel Hill that day with a scholarship offer in hand as the MVP.
It marked a memorable stop on his wild offseason tour, but with his recruitment blasting off into the stratosphere, he’s keeping his feet firmly on the ground.
“I’m the same Hudson. That didn’t change me,” West said. “I was the same person before, and then after.”
The Sarasota quarterback has embarked on his sophomore season, now shouldering the attention that comes with being a bona fide Division I prospect. It didn’t take long for his pigskin prolifics to put him on the map.
Cincinnati, Kentucky, Virginia Tech, North Alabama and Toledo are all competing with Belichick’s interest as other programs that have offered the 6-foot-5 signal caller. Then there’s Alabama, Texas, Florida and Virginia — hosts of other camps that West competed at this summer.
But he’s back to work with the Sailors. Following a 3-7 season in which the team missed the FHSAA Class 7A state tournament and went winless in District 8, West put in the preparation necessary to try and inspire a bounce-back.
“Confidence-wise, I worked a lot in the offseason. I watched my film over and over again,” West said. “‘What did I do wrong? What did I do good?’ And I fixed it.”
Such adjustments were tested at the outset this fall. Facing Bayshore in Week 1, he threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns while completing 14 of 18 pass attempts. For extra gravy, he surpassed 300 all-purpose yards by rushing for 51.
His team wound up on the wrong side of a 36-30 overtime loss, but with that first act, the Hudson West show had formally arrived in 2025.
The youngster was able to apply the benefit of hindsight. Rookie growing pains have instilled lessons, and he's not alone in that regard. Another crucial contributor now has a year under their belt donning the orange and black.
Anthony “Amp” Campbell — former Michigan State defensive back under coach Nick Saban — is another year older, another year wiser as the sideline steward. After watching Sarasota’s late-season struggle snowball into five straight losses to close out 2024, he went out and got a new offensive coordinator to better build around their top talent.
He crowned Tommie Battie with the headset. And with the playbook in his hands, Battie has wasted little time in leveraging the pass catchers around West to light up the scoreboard.
Sarasota is fresh off a commanding 27-7 victory over Braden River in last Friday's home opener.
“It’s fun, it’s explosive, and it’s big plays. You’re not dinking and dunking to drive — you’re scoring,” West said. “It feels like we can score whenever, and I love that. I feel like I can score with every guy that’s out there.”
The 15-year-old field general connected with junior wide receiver/cornerback Jayden Rivers for a trio of touchdowns through the air in Week 2. Combining their talents for multiple chunk plays, they paced the Sailors’ offense all night long.
Under Battie’s playcalling, West was able to air it out downfield while Rivers flexed his route-running ability. Their partnership is still in its early stages — Rivers being a Lakewood Ranch transfer — but figures to be pivotal in the grander scheme for success.
“Their bond has been amazing since this summer. When (Rivers) came over, they started working hard,” Campbell said. “They’ve done an unbelievable job here in the past three months.”
It’s a welcomed addition to the weaponry at West’s disposal. The list of targets also features senior tight end/wide receiver Scotty Wells, senior wide receiver Viktor Monoki and sophomore athlete Cooper Hamilton, among others.
All of them look to the man under center. He’s been the de-facto leader in Sailors circles ever since securing the starting job as a newcomer, and he’s a rookie no longer.
Inexperience has given way to experience despite a high school career that, in some respects, remains in its infancy.
“Right now, he’s a little bit more confident than when he was a freshman. His ability to lead as a sophomore has been outstanding,” Campbell said. “He’s a kid that I feel we could put the offense in his hand, and he could run it himself.”
Attention on West won’t dissipate as the fall rolls on. Though it may fluctuate with his performance, eyes are already on him — more than most his age deal with.
This is the burden that comes with great talent, and it's a spotlight the signal caller has been granted little time to get comfortable with.
He doesn’t waver from the truth he knows.
“I’m still Hudson,” West said.
