Husband and wife strength-and-conditioning duo making impact at STU

Nate Scola was a seventh-grade football player in Arizona when he started dating gymnast Carly McMahon, who was a high school sophomore at the time.

“All the girls used to think Nate was really cute,” Carly said. “I thought he was cute, too, and I said, ‘He’s going to be mine.’”

Carly was right.

“I got called a ‘cougar’ for a long time because I was dating somebody younger,” Carly said. “He was seen as the cool kid because he was dating a 16-year-old with a car.”

Said Nate: “I was just a little dude, but we clicked.”

More than two decades later, Nate, 31, and Carly, 34, are still together. In fact, they are now Mr. and Mrs. Scola, and their common bond – athletics – is still intact.

Nate is the strength and conditioning coach at St. Thomas University, overseeing the Bobcats’ array of 11 men’s sports and 14 women’s sports. In July, he became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, passing a difficult test that is considered the gold standard in the industry.

Carly coaches part-time at STU, teaching strength and conditioning to Bobcats softball and volleyball players.

“It’s unique,” said Carly, who also works at a gym called Armed Fitness, serving as the director of operations as well as a coach and personal trainer.

“I don’t think you will find very often a husband-and-wife team doing what we do, but we both have a passion to serve others.”

Both Nate and Carly are impressive physically.

Nate, who is 5-foot-9 and weighs 210 pounds, played Division III college football as a linebacker at Wabash in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He is still active in a fitness program known as CrossFit, and he can back squat 500 pounds and bench press 357. He has been doing CrossFit for seven years, and he currently trains at Team Soul, located near Tropical Park.

“I’m stronger and leaner than I’ve ever been,” said Nate, who weighed 228 pounds in college. “I’m doing more running. I do the equivalent of a 5K twice a week.”

Carly, who is 5-1 and 122 pounds, was a two-year starter in gymnastics at Arizona State, specializing in the vault. Although she is not an active CrossFit competitor like her husband, she can still rip 34 consecutive pull-ups, putting most men to shame.

“Everyone asks me if I’m still a gymnast,” Carly said with a laugh. “In my neighborhood recently, a lady asked me if I’m a pro athlete. She said, ‘You have the most amazing legs.’

“It was awkward but nice.”

Melanie Chiquillo, an STU volleyball player, said Carly has shaped her – literally and figuratively.

“She’s a role model to the point that now I don’t give up on my dreams,” Chiquillo said. “She believes in you even when you don’t believe in yourself.

“During workouts, when I’m in my head listening to a million voices saying ‘just give up’, Carly will say, ‘Dig deep. You can do it.’

“All of a sudden, your negative thoughts vanish, and you accomplish your goals.”

Nate and Carly often bounce ideas off each other regarding fitness and coaching.

Prior to this year, Nate had served as an assistant football coach and strength coach at St. Thomas and elsewhere. But now that he is running the entire STU strength program, he’s leaning on his wife more than ever.

“This is the first time Nate has coached women athletes,” Carly said. “He comes to me for advice.”

Nate and Carly, who do not have children as of yet, use different coaching styles. Nate is intense and can come off as intimidating. Carly is intense “but with love”, she said.

“He’s nice to me,” Carly said of her husband. “But he holds his athletes accountable.”

STU athletics director Bill Rychel, who also serves as the school’s football coach, said he wanted Nate to run the strength and conditioning program because of his knowledge and his passion.

“It’s about the evolution of our athletic program that we’ve gotten so big that we needed someone to run and oversee strength and conditioning for all sports,” Rychel said. “I needed someone I trust, and Nate’s that guy.”

Nate still attends STU’s football meetings.

“(Rychel) keeps me plugged in,” said Nate, who manages a staff of two full-timers, two graduate assistants plus his wife. “I miss the day to day of coaching. But my impact now is greater.”

Nate and Carly, who had their engagement photos taken on the Wabash football field and were married in Arizona in 2015, still like working out together whenever they can find the time.

“We’re both career driven, and college athletics can be very demanding,” Nate said. “But we definitely enjoy living a healthy lifestyle. We enjoy doing hard stuff together.

“It makes our bond stronger.”