[New post] ‘They’re following his lead’: freshman center Jack Ziebell controls the offensive line for UNC football
gqlshare posted: "Jack Ziebell is an unusual college football player. Maybe uncommon is a better word. Or unique, as his offensive line coach calls Ziebell.A 6-foot-3, 300-pounder, Ziebell as a freshman is currently the starting center for the University of Northern Colora" Sterling Journal-Advocate
Jack Ziebell is an unusual college football player. Maybe uncommon is a better word. Or unique, as his offensive line coach calls Ziebell.
A 6-foot-3, 300-pounder, Ziebell as a freshman is currently the starting center for the University of Northern Colorado football team. That's the uncommon part.
An 18-year-old freshman might not typically start in a position where he's "in control of the offensive line" the way Ziebell is now with the Bears, UNC O-line coach Spencer Patterson said.
"He's communicating to everybody," the coach said, referring to the other offensive linemen from the guards inside to the tackles and even out to the tight ends. "They're following his tempo, his … lead. It's definitely unique, but he's a unique kid."
Patterson said the work of the center is in understanding where the defensive linemen are lined up in relation to the Ziebell and the offensive line.
The center — who also snaps the ball to the quarterback and blocks — in pre-snap has to consider where the Bears' line play call is designed to go and the type of play being called.
UNC quarterbacks, starter Jacob Sirmon or his backups, are going to the line of scrimmage "telling us which direction we're going and what type of play it is," Patterson said.
It's all about protections with the center: who's blocking who.
"Ziebell is telling us how we're going to get there, who's going to work together (against the defensive linemen), who's going to be by themselves and how we need to get to the person we're going to block," Patterson said.
Physically, Ziebell has been ready for the job since he arrived on campus in June from his home near Austin, Texas, according to UNC head coach Ed Lamb.
"He's got the strength of a veteran college football player already," Lamb said last week.
In a January story in the Austin American-Statesman, Anthony Wood, Ziebell's high school coach said Ziebell is "truly understands the game."
"He's like a quarterback playing on the offensive line," the newspaper quoted Wood as saying about Ziebell.
Patterson said Ziebell "kept working and working" through fall camp. When redshirt sophomore Wilson Clark suffered an injury in preseason, Ziebell was ready to step in and compete for the starting center role.
University of Northern Colorado freshman center Jack Ziebell prepares to snap the ball while playing Incarnate in Greeley on Saturday Sept. 9, 2023.(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)
Lamb, 0-2 in his first season heading to Saturday's game at Washington State (2-0), has made a point of saying starters — and coaches — are always being evaluated on his teams.
Clark was listed as Ziebell's backup on depth charts for both games this season — at Abilene Christian on Aug. 31 and for the home opener against Incarnate Word last Saturday. Patterson said Clark saw time on the offensive line against Incarnate Word.
Patterson said what's allowed Ziebell to join the team and come in as a starter is he's a coachable athlete.
"He showed up in camp playing hard," Patterson said. "Physically ready. The right weight. He's athletic enough. He did a good job of being physically prepared, and he played hard, he listened. He took coaching. He tried new things. He got better."
Ziebell came to UNC from Leander, Texas, which he said is about 45 minutes from downtown Austin. He went to Westwood High School in Austin where he was selected as an all-district lineman on offense and defense.
When it was time to pick a college, Ziebell's heart was set on UNC. This goes back to the previous coaching staff under Ed McCaffrey. With the hiring of Lamb in December, Ziebell said he thought it was "a dead dream to come here and play football."
University of Northern Colorado freshman center Jack Ziebell looks to snap the ball while playing at Nottingham Field in Greeley Sept. 9, 2023.(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)
Ziebell's family is originally from Brighton. He was raised in Texas, but the family roots run deep in Colorado and at UNC. His parents, an uncle and a grandmother all attended UNC.
Lamb said he received an email from Ziebell's coach when Lamb himself was hired. He looked at some film on Ziebell and reached out to Ziebell.
"It was a very exciting night going from nothing happening to all of a sudden, I'm back," Ziebell said.
He's studying sports exercise science with the goal to become a physical therapist. Ziebell said his transition to college as a student and an athlete has been "pretty smooth."
Having time on campus earlier in the summer and taking a couple of classes helped the process to adjust to college life along with roommate and fellow freshman offensive lineman Levi Johnson.
Ziebell's life now includes a schedule with no classes on Tuesdays, which is a reality Ziebell continues to fathom.
"It's definitely odd," he said. "Not showing up to anything on Tuesday has been a little bit odd since I feel I like I should be somewhere. It's super nice. It's definitely still growing on me the fact that I'm not looked after so rigorously anymore. That's taking some time to get used to."
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