High school football: Former Illinois WR Steve Hull plays role in resurgent Cary-Grove passing attack

CARY – Quinn Priester was still playing with the Cary-Grove baseball team last spring when he heard about the Trojans’ new assistant football coach.

He was technically an assistant offensive line coach, this new guy, but he knew a thing or two about catching passes. Not until the summer did Priester formally meet volunteer coach Steve Hull, a former Big Ten safety and receiver at Illinois, and briefly with the New Orleans Saints in 2014.

“He’s caught passes from Drew Brees,” Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg said. “That automatically gives him some legitimacy.”

There are many reasons why C-G, which plays Crete-Monee in the IHSA Class 6A state championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday in Champaign, has found success passing the ball this season.

For starters, the Trojans have the right personnel. Quarterback Ben McDonald is accurate, completing 71 percent of his passes. At 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, Priester is the ideal deep-threat target. Speedy running back Danny Daigle is dangerous in the flats. Plus the triple-option rushing attack continues to attract much of the defense’s attention.

But behind the scenes, Hull’s tips and advice in the passing game have given C-G something it hasn’t had in some time.

“As coaches, the passing game isn’t exactly our forte,” Seaburg said. “So when he talks about some of the nuances of routes, we [the coaches] are sponges, too, and picking up on some things. It’s been good having him to say, ‘Hey, have you ever thought about this?’”

Hull, 28, is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. A two-way player in high school, he redshirted his freshman year at Illinois in 2009, then played safety for the next three seasons. A shoulder injury as a redshirt junior in 2012 limited him to five games.

He moved to receiver his senior season in 2013, in hopes of avoiding further injury. He caught 59 passes for 993 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, all Illini team highs in 2013.

Hull signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2014. More injuries ended his playing career midway through his first training camp.

Priester and his teammates soon found Hull's film.

“He hit hard as heck when he played safety, and he made some great grabs at receiver,” Priester said. “His routes – cuts on a dime, there’s no rounding corners with his routes.”

Hull works as a police officer in Wheeling. He coached for a couple seasons at Wheeling under coach Brent Pearlman (and with former Illini teammate Miles Osei). After moving to Cary, Hull attended last season’s second-round matchup against Prairie Ridge and was impressed with the program and the atmosphere at Al Bohrer Field.

“I just love the community, love that it’s a Friday night lights type of place,” Hull said. “I wanted to be a part of the program.”

C-G assistant boys basketball coach Dan Oziminski and Hull are friends. Oziminski recommended Hull to Seaburg when a coaching spot opened up over the offseason. By the summer, Hull was the new assistant O-line coach.

While his primary focus is the line, Hull has proved a valuable asset for Priester and the passing game.

“Watching him in summertime, I knew he was really talented,” Hull said of Priester. “I knew he had great ball skills. He runs really good routes."

Understandably, C-G doesn’t spend as much time as other teams working on the passing game in practice. Hull helps out where he can, and he and the receivers often work together before practice starts.

“[Priester] and Danny Daigle, Ian Masukevich, some of the other guys running routes for us, usually after practice they’ll come up to me with questions on things that they see on film, or how to run a route, or different tendencies,” Hull said.

Priester said those conversations have gone a lot deeper than they might have a year ago.

“The difference between how we’re going to change routes vs. Man, vs. Cover 3, Cover 2,” Priester said. “How we’re going to attack corners when they’re in different positions. A lot of things that I don’t think Cary-Grove receivers have ever really been taught.”

Coaching the offensive line was an adjustment, as was coaching the triple option. Hull came from an Illini program that ran a spread offense.

“With it being triple-option, it’s good to be part of the O-line, because that’s what makes it tick,” Hull said.

Much like Hull developed into Illinois’ top receiver in 2013, Priester changed positions from quarterback to split end over the offseason and has thrived.

A TCU baseball commit with a chance to hear his name during the MLB Draft in June, Priester said again and again during the offseason that he planned on playing football his senior year, no matter the injury risks involved.

“The fact that he’s even out here playing a game like football says a lot about him,” Hull said. “He’s got a great head on his shoulders. He’s very humble. Works really hard. It’s always fun to coach kids like that.”

Hull tries to make it to Memorial Stadium for an Illini game once a year, but he hasn’t had time this season. He'll gladly settle for making the trip with C-G and patrolling the sideline in his old home stadium.

“The kids have been joking around about it all week,” Hull said. “I’m excited to go back, especially in this atmosphere, with a high school game and a chance to win a state title.”