It was the kind of tryout that teams routinely stage, and there was senior linebacker Caleb Fitts, auditioning to be North Chicago’s punter.
Fitts got the job, not only filling a void on special teams but also opening an entirely new door for himself.
“We thought to ourselves, ‘Where did this kid come from?’” North Chicago special teams coach Denny Porter said. “He stood out from day one and can really boom the ball. He has very nice speed to the ball, and he’s very coachable.”
To answer Porter’s initial question, Fitts has been in the Warhawks’ midst all along. He became their starting middle linebacker last season, when he was also the backup punter. But he didn’t get to kick.
This season, Fitts is averaging 42.5 yards per punt with an average hang time of 4.17 seconds. His longest punt is a 52-yarder during a Northern Lake County Conference game against Grant in Week 3.
After booting the ball, Fitts stays on the field to play defense.
“It’s definitely a unique feeling,” he said. “When I hit a good punt, it motivates me to play even harder on defense, and it’s a confidence boost for me and my teammates.”
The 6-foot, 195-pound Fitts plays like it. He has 32 tackles, including eight for loss and a sack, through four games for the Warhawks (1-3, 0-2). Last season, he had 66 tackles, including 14 for loss and three sacks, in seven games and was named all-conference.
“He certainly doesn’t shy away from tackling, and he plays hard every play,” North Chicago coach Wilton Hill said. “He’s always around the ball and is a calming force in the middle. We put a lot on him, and we’re asking him to be more vocal this year, too, and he’s bought in to that.”
Led by Fitts, the Warhawks’ defense has been solid, recording a shutout against Wheeling in the season opener and yielding only seven points during a 19-14 loss to Grayslake Central on Friday.
“As the middle linebacker, you’re the leader of the defense, which I enjoy,” Fitts said. “You have to study film a lot because you have to know the other team’s formations and be able to read plays before the snap.”
Fitts also credits extensive work in the weight room for his success. He often finds himself locking horns with bigger players, and he has become more comfortable with that over time.
“For me, the toughest thing about linebacker is dealing with linemen, especially on run plays when you have to deal with them coming into the next level,” Fitts said. “Most of that comes down to using your hands because once they have their hands on your chest plate, they’ve got you.”
There are no such one-on-one challenges in punting. But that doesn’t mean Fitts isn’t just as eager to find ways to improve.
“I’m trying to kick more spirals, make sure my drops (onto his foot) are better and get the ball off faster,” he said.
Being a relative newcomer to punting, Fitts knows he still has a lot to learn in order to maximize his potential. Since July, much of his training has taken place at weekly Sunday morning workouts in Kenosha, Wisconsin, organized and overseen by Porter, who has more than five decades of experience instructing kicking and special teams.
The workouts bring together other special teamers from high schools in Illinois and surrounding states, as well as guest instructors and even college coaches whose participation is limited to watching from a distance.
“Each week, he gets better and better, partly because he picks up everything pretty easily,” Porter said of Fitts. “He’s meeting other kickers, and they can bounce things off each other, and he’s getting a lot of exposure.”
Porter is pleased with Fitts the punter but also marvels at the fluidity that Fitts shows on punt returns, when he’s in charge of keeping the center from sprinting downfield.
“I think there’s only been one time that the center has gotten by him,” Porter said.
Performing at such a high level is only one of Fitts’ goals. He also wants to play the entire season. Doing so would represent a first for him, since both of his past two seasons were cut short by injuries. He suffered a broken collarbone in 2022 and a fractured AC joint in his shoulder in the seventh game last year.
“Being injured definitely hurt, but I wouldn’t be as good of a player without those injuries because it made me realize that I had to work even harder to catch up to others and surpass them,” Fitts said. “To play football, you have to be violent, and that comes with risks.”
Getting as many punts on film as possible would enhance Fitts’ chances of playing football in college.
“I’d like to try to take this as far as I can,” he said. “If I get an opportunity to do this in college, I’d take it. The goal now is to get as good as I can and enjoy it while it lasts.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
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