Sunday Slam: Babicz Packs Bags for Green Bay
Ex-Barrington Standout TE Signed to Packers Practice Squad
Barrington’s Josh Babicz is the latest pass-catcher from Chicago’s northwest suburbs to pack his bags and head north to Green Bay.
Babicz, a 2017 Barrington graduate who starred in football and volleyball, was signed to the Packers practice squad Wednesday. The 6-foot-6, 255-pound Babicz was signed as undrafted free agent out of North Dakota State by the Carolina Panthers and spent time on their practice squad.
“We’ve been able to stay connected throughout his college career and the beginning of his pro career,” said Barrington coach Joe Sanchez. “We talked through the draft process.
“I reached out Wednesday with a text and asked how everything was going and said it’s exciting you’re in Green Bay. He said, ‘Coach, it’s been a whirlwind trying to learn the playbook and figure out everything around here.”
Babicz would love to follow a similar path of fifth-year Packers tight end Robert Tonyan (McHenry). Tonyan was an undrafted free agent out of Indiana State, got cut by Detroit and is now in his third year as a starter.
Jake Kumerow (South Elgin) also spent two years with the Packers at wide receiver (2018-19) and is now playing in Buffalo. Sal Cannella (St. Viator), an all-USFL tight end with New Orleans, caught 3 passes this preseason with the Packers before he was let go at the end of training camp.
Babicz caught 40 passes for 633 yards and 11 touchdowns in his last three seasons at North Dakota State. His blocking ability for the No. 2 rushing offense in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), and national champion for the second time in three years, earned him all-Missouri Valley Football Conference second-team honors.
Sanchez hopes going from an uncertain situation in Carolina, where head coach Matt Rhule was just fired three weeks ago, to a more stable one in Green Bay will pay dividends for Babicz. Tonyan saw it happen with 52 catches for 586 yards and 11 TDs in 2020 and 18 for 204 and 2 TDs last year before tearing an ACL in the eighth game. This year he has 30 catches for 251 yards and a TD.
“They value the tight end position,” Sanchez said. “Hopefully with his skill set and an opportunity to develop we’ll have a chance to see him playing in the near future.”
Around the NFL
Joe Sanchez continues to see plenty of former star wide receiver Scotty Miller as the fourth-year Tampa Bay receiver caught 2 passes for 13 yards in Thursday night's loss to Baltimore. Miller has 10 catches for 79 yards this season.
San Francisco 49ers veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (Rolling Meadows) was 25-for-37 for 303 yards and 2 touchdowns in a loss to Kansas City last week. Garoppolo has thrown for 1,456 yards with 9 TDs and 4 interceptions as the 3-4 49ers meet the 3-3 Rams today in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship game.
Denver Broncos’ tight end Eric Saubert (Hoffman Estates) has 7 catches for 83 yards and 1 TD. Saubert caught his TD pass in a Week 2 win over Houston.
Bears tight end Cole Kmet (St. Viator) has 12 catches for 148 yards going into Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. Ex-Fremd star and NFL quarterback Scott Tolzien is in his third year as an offensive assistant to Mike McCarthy in Dallas.
Charlie Bullen (Fremd/Harper College) is in his third year as outside linebackers coach with the Arizona Cardinals and fourth year coaching linebackers with the organization. Linebacker Dennis Gardeck (Crystal Lake South) has 12 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and interception but will miss his second consecutive game this week with an ankle injury.
Kevin Kelly, an all-area player at Barrington who was St. Viator’s head coach from 1996-2000, is the Los Angeles Chargers Senior Director of College Scouting and has been with the organization since 2013. He started as an NFL scout in 2001 and has also worked for the Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets.
Rookie offensive lineman Andrew Rupcich (McHenry) has been on the Tennessee Titans practice squad all season after signing as an undrafted free agent. Rupcich gained significant attention for his rise from NAIA Culver-Stockton College in Missouri to an NFL prospect.
Familiar Name Burns Up Missouri Running
Being mentioned with Jim Ryun is elite company in the ranks of US distance running. That’s why Missouri high school senior Connor Burns, the son of Wheeling Hall of Famer Marc Burns, committed to run at Oregon in late September.
Connor Burns was the first high school runner in Missouri history to break four minutes in the mile with a 3:58.83 this summer. Burns also was the second junior to break a four-minute mile and eclipsed the 58-year-old mark of a runner in that class set by Ryun. Ryun was the first high school runner to break four minutes in 1964 and he went on to win a silver medal in the 1,500 meters in the 1968 Olympics.
Burns became one of only 15 high school runners to break the hallowed four-minute mark. He set a Missouri all-class record in the 3,200 with an 8:48.76 en route to earning Gatorade track and field athlete of the year honors in his state. He was also the student council president and held a 4.0 GPA at Southern Boone High School.
Marc Burns was inducted into the Wheeling Hall of Fame in 2019 after helping the cross country team finish third in the state in 1984 and helping the track team win an MSL title in 1985. Burns ran at Loyola and went on to a successful college coaching career at his alma mater, Wichita State, Bradley and Missouri.
Kaplan Twins Cross Country Daily Double
Twin brothers Matt and Brad Kaplan were in Jim Macnider’s top seven runners when Schaumburg finished 14th in the Class AA state cross country meet in 2001.
On Saturday, the girls cross country teams they coach finished 1-2 in the Lake Park Class 3A sectional to qualify for next week’s state meet at Peoria’s Detweiller Park. Matt’s Huntley team won its first sectional with 111 points to edge Brad’s St. Charles East team which had 134.
St. Charles East had state-meet finishes of eighth last year and 15th in 2019 under Brad Kaplan and Huntley was 19th both years under Matt Kaplan. There was no state meet in 2020 because of COVID-19.
Swan Thrive
Paul Swan is a coaching treasure best known around the area for working with athletes at Stevenson in some capacity since 1969. Since 2002, “Swannie” has also kept busy by spending his autumns in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul as an assistant football coach with the Bethel University Royals.
Not surprisingly, Swan is part of a successful program as Bethel came into this week ranked 13th in the d3football.com poll and improved to 7-1 overall and 6-0 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 38-17 win over St. Olaf. Swan is the running backs coach and film coordinator and he has coached two All-America running backs. His son Eric was also an offensive lineman at the school from 1996-99.
The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Famer has been a basketball assistant at Stevenson since 1969. He also was head and assistant baseball coach and an assistant football coach.
Noll Continues to Roll
Mike Noll has been an incredible success at all three of his head coaching stops - McHenry, Glenbrook South and now Richmond-Burton. He improved to 53-3 in five seasons with the Rockets and 10-0 this season as one of the Class 4A favorites routed Ridgewood on Friday night.
Noll is now 277-74 in 33 years with 30 playoff appearances and 4A title in 2019. He went 142-28 at McHenry with playoff trips in all 16 seasons (1988-2003) and was 82-43 at Glenbrook South with 10 playoff berths in 12 years (2004-15).
IHSA Media Award Winners
The Illinois High School Association chose three Distinguished Media Service Award winners for 2022-23 - sportswriters Jeff Bonato (Elgin Daily Courier-News, Lake County News-Sun) and Pat Disabato (Star Newspapers, SouthtownStar, Daily Southtown) and Peoria broadcaster Jim Mattson (WHOI-TV, WEEK-TV, ESPN Radio). The awards started in 2013-14 and returned this year after a two-year hiatus.