On a football team with 115 players, Lincoln-Way East is anything but short on talent. Rob Zvonar’s group also has a handful of rock-solid senior leaders, numerous academic standouts, and enough mature upperclassmen who have molded their own personal skill sets together to make the Griffins a legitimate contender for an 8A state championship. That much is clear from their 5-1 record, their +163 point differential and unanimous top-5 standing in preps rankings across the state.
Still, it’s a rarity to find among a host – albeit the largest roster in the state – of teenagers to find a student-athlete who embodies each of those traits. That’s where the Griffins’ x-factor, senior captain Sam Diehl, enters the picture. The 6-foot-3, 285-pound offensive lineman has provided crucial stability in every phase of the Lincoln-Way East program and made the inevitably rocky journey to Champaign a little bit smoother for himself, his teammates and his coaching staff.
“He’s the total package,” Zvonar said. “He’s (got) tremendous character, (he’s a) very smart young man, and a heck of a football player.”
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One year ago quarterback Brandon Bauer began what he hoped would be an annual tradition. The senior quarterback invited the starting offensive line to his house each Monday for dinner as a thank you for the protection his hogs upfront provided the previous Friday night.
Diehl was among the weekly attendees. But when the Griffins bowed out of the 7A state playoffs, he realized the tradition might have been a one-year deal. The projected quarterbacks included Max Shafer, who played wide receiver as a junior, and Jake Arthur, a transfer from Lincoln-Way North. Neither player understandably knew much about the dinners Bauer had hosted. So Diehl took the initiative of keeping the tradition alive.
Prior to the Griffins’ season opener in South Bend, Ind., Diehl approached his parents and asked if they wouldn’t mind hosting the starting offensive line and both quarterbacks for dinner at the start of every week. It meant something more than a simple meal shared among friends; Arthur was new to the team and school, as were a pair of North transfers starting on the offensive line.
“I thought it w as special because we get together on a Monday with no one else around,” Diehl said. “It’s just us, we get to sit and talk about practice and just jell together a little bit more.”
Diehl is quiet by nature, but his actions – like hosting the linemen each week – speak volumes. It’s the same way he leads on the field. His fellow linemen admitted Diehl does very little trash talking on Friday nights, or talking for that matter – “He sort of just grunts, even to us,” they admitted at last Monday’s dinner of brisket and mac ‘n cheese.
There are enough vocal leaders on the team. But Diehl is the only one of the 115 with the experience to command that type of respect from his peers. He’s one of two offensive linemen in Lincoln-Way East program history to start as a sophomore – the other being current Illinois starting guard Nick Allegretti – and that rare high school experience of watching two senior classes lead before him has been instrumental to the way he handles his business.
“He can kind of govern the guys a little bit,” offensive coordinator Joel Pallissard said. “He’s been through the wars. He’s doing a great job at leading, and doing it very positively. He doesn’t have to get on them too much. He’s a good leader as far as just, ‘Let’s do it this way, guys.’ And they follow.”
Diehl was the leader of the offensive linemen over the summer, getting the group of 25 together to relax at teammate’s pools after a workout or practice, and setting the tire flip record as the Griffins won the 2016 Red Grange Classic Lineman Challenge.
“He’s the leader of our team,” Zvonar said. “Whether it’s the offensive line, the offense, or the defense…there’s a tremendous amount of respect he has among his teammates and coaches. His maturation’s been in all phases.”
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Prior to Diehl’s junior season, offensive line coach Ed Lefevour approached his star lineman with a difficult request: learn each of the five positions on the offensive line.
The ultra-versatile Diehl, naturally a left guard though stout enough to play tackle and smart enough to play center, obliged. He studied the playbook, watched countless hours of film, and absorbed it all. Watching Allegretti, East’s center who was also Diehl’s sparring partner for a year on the wrestling team, and playing alongside Kurt Gavin, also a current Illini offensive lineman, allowed Diehl to soak in the importance of knowing not only his own assignments, but everyone else’s, too.
It paid off early in his senior season. Diehl began the year at left guard and moved to left tackle for a Week 3 showdown against rival Homewood-Flossmoor. When Luke Braigel was injured two weeks ago Diehl moved to center, making adjustments and calls at the line for the no-huddle Griffins offense – while also working with East’s two-quarterback system.
The Griffins are a spread, pass-heavy offense, but also tout three capable running backs of carrying the rock at any point in the game. They did so last Friday night, rushing for 275 yards in a blowout victory over Andrew. Diehl provided key blocks on two of East’s three long touchdown runs, one from Brendan Morrissey and the other from Nigel Muhammad, a close friend of Diehl’s.
“Seeing Sammy run across the field,” Muhammad admitted, “is like seeing a bear running through the woods. It’s the scariest sight ever. It’s amazing.”
Added Allegretti, who returned to East for homecoming to watch Diehl play a few weeks ago: “He’s a mean player, an aggressive player. I love watching him out there. He’s definitely an intense player that’s fun to watch.”
Pallissard’s offense has numerous options through the air and on the ground. Split wideouts Jeremy Nelson and Ken Anderson are deep threats, slot receiver Nick Zelenika adds another dimension, Shafer can run with the ball, and the aforementioned running backs all are deserving of carries. But even Pallissard admitted that, at times, he’ll dial up plays knowing Diehl is the lead blocker.
“I’d like to say we don’t, but we do,” he said. “It makes (calling plays) a lot more comfortable when you know where Sam Diehl’s at. ‘Hey, he’s on the left side, we’re going to run here. He’s on the right side, we’re going to run here.’”
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Playing college football wasn’t always on Sam Diehl’s mind. Being the young kid all the time will do that.
As Diehl grew into his body in grade school – his father, Bob, referred to him as a “roly poly” growing up – he was naturally slotted to play with older kids. Bob even coached Sam as a youngster to ensure his son could find some semblance of playing time among the older, more experienced players.
Sam was moved to the varsity squad of the Frankfort Falcons in sixth grade, where he played three years before enrolling at Lincoln-Way East. And at his freshman open house, when most incoming freshmen were simply getting a lay of the land and feeling out the place they would call school the next four years, Sam ran into a prominent figure. Head coach Rob Zvonar.
“He talked to me about playing sophomore football as a freshman,” Diehl said. “It was something nobody else had done other than Nicky (Allegretti). I just knew at that moment that maybe (college football) wasn’t too far-fetched.”
Diehl played with the sophomores his first year, and started on varsity as a sophomore. He continued to mature and posted an impressive junior year for the Griffins, who went 8-3. And during this past summer, when he was busy corralling his fellow offensive linemen to lift weights, practice, and cool off in swimming pools, an opportunity presented itself.
It was Colgate University, and the Raiders were interested. Diehl and his parents, Bob and Barb, took a trip out east during the summer to look at the school, along with a number prestigious institutions such as West Point, Lehigh and Harvard. He also had a scheduled visit with Brown.
But when the Raiders offered a full-ride scholarship, Sam’s decision became an easy one. He and his parents returned to their hotel room that night and, on his own, Sam called Zvonar. He got off the phone with his head coach and told his parents Colgate was his decision: “This is where I’m supposed to be.”
Sam could have waited on selecting a college. With the dominant season he’s posted already in 2016, an opportunity to play for an FBS school may have surfaced – though the Raiders went 9-5 last year and advanced to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs. Even his mother, Barb, admits a part of her wanted Sam to wait and see what was out there. But none of that mattered to her youngest son. The combination of playing football and attending U.S. News’ No. 12 college in the country was more than enough.
“I don’t think it’s any kind of badge for him to say, ‘I have 12 offers,’” Bob said. “He wanted to have the right offer. And Colgate for him, once he had the right offer it was a done deal.”
Added Barb: “He had his head on straight, so I accepted it. And once Sammy determines something it’s hard to get him to change his mind. So I felt very comfortable. It’s a great program, great school. I’m proud of him.”
Sam Diehl is Lincoln-Way East’s total package. Even if the last thing he wants is the spotlight, it naturally finds him. The Griffins offense will lean on their soon-to-be All-State offensive lineman and attempt to run behind him all the way to Champaign. And they couldn’t have picked a better leader.
Two siblings, loving parents and myriad older guiding forces to learn from have transformed him into that player and person. But he’s also had the maturity to embrace and absorb all he could.
He’s that bear running through the woods, looking for the next poor linebacker who happens to come across No. 66 on a Friday night. But just as quick as he is to lay out a different colored jersey, there’s a 17-year-old kid inside understanding the bigger picture.
“Sammy will knock someone down, and he almost picks them (back) up,” Barb said with a smile. “He’s in it to do right and good, but when he knocks you down he’ll pick you up.”
Added Bob: “Every aspect of whether it’s athletic, he’s a good kid. Academic, he’s a good kid. It swells out heart to hear people say, ‘Man, Sammy’s a good kid. Grades, whatever. His skill, whatever. He’s a good kid.’”
Plenty of people do talk about Sam Diehl. And they'll continue to do so long after he's done walking through the halls of Lincoln-Way East. But the ever-humble leader hopes that when his name comes up, they remember all those who helped him along the way.
"I just hope they don't focus on me as much as they focus on the whole team," he said. "I'm so glad that I got an opportunity to be a part of this very special team that hopefully has the chance to win a state title."