By Jared Brush ’15 | Staff Writer

Hundreds of hours of hard work have finally paid off for Chase Urbach ’15 when he committed to the University of Nebraska for long snapping. Division I football wasn’t on the radar for Urbach until a couple months ago, when  he received a text message from Nebraska’s special teams coordinator Bruce Read, who was interested in Urbach playing for the Cornhuskers. After a visit to Lincoln, Nebraska and a look at the schools campus and team, Urbach was confident about going there next year.

Urbach wasn’t always a long snapper; when he first started playing football at the age of seven, he was an offensive lineman due to his size advantage.  One of those positions included being the center for the team. Once the teams started to punt, the starting long snapper was struggling and they needed a replacement, Urbach said.

“The starting snapper wasn’t getting the job done,“ Urbach said . “So the coach asked me to give it a try and I was surprisingly good at it.”

After that Urbach would long snap throughout his middle school career and became more increasingly talented at the position. It wasn’t until the summer before his freshman year that he started to take his snapping to the next level. During a family vacation in California he attended Chris Rubio’s elite camps for long snapping specifically, Urbach said .

“At first I didn’t want to do it because I wanted to spend time with my cousins, Urbach said, “But once I started actually playing I really enjoyed it because I realized I was half-decent and could keep up with all of the kids”

Urbach moved to Grosse Pointe from New Jersey his junior year and head football coach Tim Brandon had only heard he was an excellent long snapper. Brandon enjoyed coaching Urbach for his two years at South because of Urbach’s hard work and dedication to his craft.  Hearing about his commitment to Nebraska, there was no surprise, Brandon said.

“He is the best long snapper I have coached in 25 years,”  Brandon said. “If he continues to work hard and improve, he should have great success at Nebraska.

Being a long snapper takes strength but the most important part of the position is being flexible. Urbach makes sure before every game he is stretched out and has his own routine to get ready for every game so he doesn’t pull a muscle.

“Flexibility is a major aspect of snapping,” Urbach said , “You have to make sure your arms get all the way through your legs and that your legs lock out as well. It’s an uncomfortable position for anyone who isn’t used to long snapping.”

Confidence is a mental part of the game, and that is just what Urbach is. Snapping is just second nature and most of the time Urbach doesn’t even look between his legs to see the punter.

A routine before every snap also helps, Urbach said .

“Every snap I do, I always walk up to ball and click my heels together and spread out into my stance,” Urbach said . “I put my hand on the ball and look directly at the tip of the ball.”

Whether he is on or off the field, Urbach is a supportive teammate. Kicker Andrew Fabry ’15 was always confident in Urbach to snap him the balls.  Urbach was always perfect on his snaps which led to him having perfect opportunities for field goals. This was necessary for him to kick the game winning field goal against Henry Ford, Fabry said .

“He came up to me and told me, “It’s like every day at practice” with a smile on his face,” Fabry said . “With his positivity I was so confident I wasn’t even nervous.”

Football is not the only sport Urbach played; he actually played lacrosse longer at an earlier age in New Jersey. After committing to Nebraska, Urbach decided to not play lacrosse his senior year, which was a tough choice to make.

“I didn’t like doing it but it was something I had to do,” Urbach said . “I can’t risk getting injured because this what I’ve been working towards, to become a Division I football player.”

It was a long road for Urbach to get offered a preferred walk-on spot at Nebraska. Season after season, numerous camps over the summer and always keeping in long snapping shape was difficult but worth it, he said.

Nebraska wasn’t the only school that offered Urbach a spot; Indiana State University and Hawaii University also offered Urbach, but once he visited Nebraska he knew it was the right place for him, said Urbach.

“I went to Nebraska to see the campus, meet the coaches and see what the academics had to offer,” Urbach said . “I met the special teams coach and the head coach, Mike Riley, and seeing his interest in me and the school itself made me know this was where I wanted to be, and I committed right there.”

As a preferred walk-on, Urbach wants to prove himself on the team and get the starting position. Another freshman is coming in with a scholarship and will have the starting position. Doing field goals and extra points is the goal as of now, Urbach said.

“Coach Riley wanted to bring someone else, so he contacted me,” Urbach said. “I will have to compete to potentially start.”

Going to a Big Ten school to play football is a huge accomplishment. Urbach joins an elite group of players from South; Jack Doyle and Ben Fry, preferred walk-ons to Michigan and Reid Fragel who played at Ohio State and is currently on the Atlanta Falcons. The traditions and historic value of the Big Ten is a huge plus, Urbach said.

“I was really overtaken by the size of the football stadium,”Urbach said . “The community loves football and the Nebraska players are treated as pros. Playing in front of 80,000 people will be something else.”