Libertyville senior Jack Treutelaar’s chosen position doesn’t garner much attention.
But the 6-foot, 220-pound Treutelaar knows there’s a market for long snappers. That was confirmed last week, when he received an offer from Michigan. He committed the next day.
“There’s a part of me that still doesn’t believe it, but once I posted it on social media, that’s when I thought, ‘This is actually happening,’” Treutelaar said. “It’s been a dream of mine to play Big Ten football, and to be able to go to that type of school with that kind of tradition, I can’t describe how great it is.”
Treutelaar’s commitment capped a whirlwind recruitment that didn’t even begin until January. Although he was rated as one of the top prospects among long snappers in his class, he started the new year with only an offer from Toledo. But much of that staff had left for Kansas State, where a long snapper was already in place.
Treutelaar also had discussions with several other programs, including Illinois and Purdue, where his father, Justin, was a long snapper, but nothing concrete transpired.
Treutelaar vividly remembers taking a phone call from Kerry Coombs, Michigan’s new special teams coordinator, as he sat in his car in his driveway. The two sides quickly got to know each another, and then over a four-day period beginning Jan. 27, Treutelaar received an offer, committed, traveled to Ann Arbor for a tour and announced his decision on social media.
“Of course I was getting a little nervous, but in the end I knew it would work out,” Treutelaar said. “Specialists usually get picked up last, and it’s gotten more complicated now with the portal and so many coaches taking new jobs. I knew I’d end up somewhere.”
Treutelaar had good reasons for such confidence. Due in large part to his father’s background, Treutelaar began long snapping informally as a young child. Justin Treutelaar, a 1997 Libertyville graduate who was in the same incoming class at Purdue as former NFL quarterback Drew Brees, coached Jack through middle school, at which point they decided it would be better to learn from other people.
“It was probably when he was around 5 years old that we started doing some rudimentary training, just getting down some basics,” Justin Treutelaar said. “You could tell from a very early age that he was going to be really good.”
Jack Treutelaar also had a successful three-year stint as a starting linebacker for Libertyville. Some of the skills he employed on defense made him a better long snapper.
“When it comes to long snappers, some schools want blockers, and some want cover guys, and Jack is known as a cover guy partly because of his linebacker skills,” Libertyville coach Tim Budge said.
“He had a really nice three-year career at linebacker, and a lot of coaches liked that about him. Return teams typically don’t block the snapper, so Jack can really exploit that with his speed and tackling ability. You couldn’t have written a better story on how it turned out.”
Sure enough, Treutelaar’s ability to get downfield to make a tackle is something Coombs referenced in talks that led to the offer. Treutelaar also has the typical tools, including ultrafast hand-to-hand snap times and pinpoint accuracy.
Justin Treutelaar likened the mechanics of long snapping to those used by golfers. The slightest alteration can cause something to go astray, which is magnified when everyone in the stadium expects each snap to be perfect.
“Even when we’re working out in the backyard, we film his snaps from the front and side and send it to a couple of his coaches,” Justin Treutelaar said. “The average person couldn’t see what’s wrong, but when you have even one little hitch, you need someone to see and fix it, and then you’re right back where you need to be.”
Jack Treutelaar said he has grown comfortable with the pressure to perform.
“Bad snaps happen to everyone, but you have to have a goldfish memory about it,” he said. “I try to have a smile on my face as I’m running out onto the field, and I have my presnap routine that puts me in a good mental space.”
Committing to Michigan puts Treutelaar in a good mental space too. He and Libertyville senior offensive lineman Myles Batesky, a Harvard recruit, had a signing ceremony at school on Wednesday.
“It mostly feels like a sigh of relief,” Treutelaar said. “To be able to get an education from such a great school with such a great football program and to be done with recruiting is really nice.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
