High school football: Linebacker Jack Munn leads Crystal Lake Central on, off field

CRYSTAL LAKE – One day at school last year, Jack Munn was called down to the dean’s office.

“I was incredibly nervous,” Munn said. “I thought I was getting a detention or something.”

Instead, Munn and three other Crystal Lake Central students were asked to come in at 7 a.m. the next morning and help the superintendent and the school board interview candidates for Central’s next principal.

Munn and his fellow students sat in on interviews for some six hours the next day, chiming in on interviews with all the candidates.

With only a handful of students participating in the hiring process, Munn felt “flattered” that he had been chosen.

“They said it was just through teacher recommendations,” Munn said. “I thought that was pretty cool. I was surprised.”

If the school trusts Munn, who has a 4.2 grade-point average, with such an important task, it’s easy to see why his coaches and teammates trust him at linebacker.

Munn is one of four returning starters for the Tigers' defense. The rising senior was a key contributor last season for a Central team that went 5-5 and made the IHSA Class 6A state playoffs for the first time since 2014.

Munn played mostly on offense as a freshman. Sophomore year he converted to defense and moved up to the varsity squad.

“Back then it was a little nerve-wracking,” Munn said. “I definitely adjusted to it and I love it now. Defense is my favorite. It’s a great group of guys that we have on there. I think it’s going to be really good this year.”

Munn, now a senior, believes he has become a much more physical linebacker in the two years since. He also believes his hard work in the weight room is paying off.

“After a while, playing the defense more, moving into a leadership position, I’ve definitely become more comfortable and just more physical from the weight room,” Munn said. “I’m feeling stronger than ever. I definitely feel like I can run the field a little bit.”

His coaches have noticed, too.

“I wish I had a 100 Jack Munns,” Tigers head coach Jon McLaughlin said. “Hard-worker, smart, good leader, the type of kid every coach would love to coach. He’s a great kid in school and in the classroom.”

Munn will anchor the middle of the Central defense this fall. Munn noted that outside linebacker Caleb Noennig and cornerback Jake White have impressed him throughout the offseason.

McLaughlin also mentioned linebacker T.J. Keene and cornerback Drew Jenkins as potential key contributors on defense.

“We’ve looked the most athletic that we’ve looked in a while,” Munn said. “Truly, I think it’s the training that we put in in the offseason. We’ve done speed training with Davis [Speed Center], we’ve done a ton of different things in the weight room, we’ve done plyometrics."

McLaughlin said Munn almost always knows his job and what he is expected to do on the field. The coach believes that for Munn to take the next step his senior season, the linebacker has to trust his instincts in certain situations.

With every smart player McLaughlin has ever coached, he sees a similar theme. They usually do their job as they're expected to. But when the opportunity for a calculated risk presents itself, they are more reluctant to take the gamble. It’s those plays, those gambles that come along every once in a while – maybe only a few times in a game – that often result in tackles for loss.

“They want to do their job and be correct all the time,” McLaughlin said. “And sometimes that gamble’s worth it. We need him to do that. Once [Munn] does that, he’ll go to another level as a player.”