Glenbrook North senior Samuel Cray Paich felt like a new man over the summer.
“On the third day of practice, when we put on helmets and shoulder pads, I felt like a completely different player,” he said.
Paich had grown into a 6-foot-6, 310-pound juggernaut.
“It was night and day,” he said. “I felt amazing.”
Paich’s metamorphosis, a product not only of increased calorie intake but also more workouts and drills, began during the summer before his junior year and has catapulted him to elite status among offensive linemen in Chicagoland. It’s a major reason why more than 20 NCAA Division I programs offered him a scholarship. He has committed to Cincinnati, which is in its second season in the Big 12.
“The strength and mobility I now have make a really big difference for me,” Paich said. “It’s a really solid foundation that I can build upon.”
Paich, who goes by his middle name, is a captain for Glenbrook North (2-5) and an every-down left tackle who plays arguably the most important position after quarterback. On top of that, he plays roughly 65% of defensive snaps as a lineman. He’s a physical force.
But it wasn’t always that way. Paich, who arrived at Glenbrook North as a 5-11, 240-pound freshman, attended a camp at Iowa before his junior year. It was a slog for him.
“I was physically undersized compared to a lot of the guys there,” he said.
During the four-hour drive across Interstate 80 back to the Chicago area, Paich and his father, Brian, lamented his shortcomings.
“I remember being pretty disappointed,” Paich said. “My dad and I talked about my goals. How was I going to get to the level of those guys? I had to play catch-up. I was smaller.
“We made some short-term goals. I wanted to start that year and make the playoffs. I wanted to put on 10 to 20 pounds. I wanted to hone in on my technique. Then I wanted to be recruited by Division I colleges and be a captain my senior season. I wanted to have really good grades too.”
Paich annihilated his weight goal. He spent that summer lifting twice daily while consuming as many as 6,000 calories per day. For months, Paich said he routinely woke up and ate a breakfast of two to five eggs, some bacon or sausage, and a protein shake. Then he’d drive to Glenbrook North for his morning lift, head back home and dive into a second breakfast. Next up was a two-hour, position-specific practice on a field behind his house. Then he went to his driveway for jump rope sessions with his dad before another session of lifting.
Paich’s physical transformation became crystal clear to Glenbrook North coach Matt Purdy, who is a guru of the offensive line. Purdy started 37 games on Iowa’s offensive line and coached the position group for two decades as a Glenbrook North assistant. He has a mug on his desk that says “FIRST TO BLAME, LAST TO FAME,” leaning into the thankless nature of being a lineman.
Purdy started Paich at left tackle for every game of the 2023 season, and colleges came calling.
“Midway through the season, I saw how well he was playing,” Purdy said. “A few (colleges) were starting to come in. One day, I grabbed his parents. I waved them into my office. I don’t know if they thought they were in trouble, but I said, ‘I’ve got to talk to you guys. We’re going to get real busy this winter with his recruiting.’
“And we certainly did because he put himself in the position to be successful. He got bigger, faster and stronger.”
Paich continued to bulk up and weighed 270 pounds by February 2024. But he wasn’t done refining himself. He plunged into another intense round of lifting, eating and conditioning, growing to more than 300 pounds by May.
Paich’s dizzying recruiting cycle ended when he committed to Cincinnati that month.
“They really cared about developing me as a player, but also as a man,” Paich said. “After I’m out of college, how am I going to be able to go into the real world? Am I going in as a good man and a good football player? That’s what they really cared about, and I really, I really appreciated that.”
Paich’s teammates noticed the difference in him this summer. Mathew Gasior, a senior who plays next to Paich at left guard, sure did.
“He executes everything well,” Gasior said. “You can put two guys on him, and he’ll tell you exactly what to do. You put him one-on-one in a run block, and he’s going to drive his guy 10 yards downfield. This guy is one of the best football players I have ever played with.”
Paich has remained grounded, though.
“He’s handled things so maturely and politely,” Purdy said. “A lot of people in his position could be egocentric and not recognize his teammates, but he makes sure to highlight his teammates too.”
Amid a season that Paich called “disappointing” for the Spartans so far, they will need him even more going forward.
“We lean on Cray when things aren’t going well,” Gasior said. “He has developed into one of the people we see as the head of the team. Even if he’s not 100%, he pushes through.
“When people make excuses, he says, ‘Hey, you’ve got to work harder.’ He’s made himself into a guy people look up to.”
Sam Brief is a freelance reporter.
