Valparaiso is academic for Schaumburg's Derbak

Finding the right college fit was more academic than where and how much Patrick Derbak would play on the football field.

What sold the Schaumburg senior on signing a letter of intent with Valparaiso was an opportunity to talk to one of the business professors during his campus visit.

"Academics came first," said Derbak, who has a 3.8 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, scored 28 on the ACT and wants to study business marketing.

Derbak said he had also talked to Butler and some Ivy League schools. But he always had Valparaiso in his mind because of the caliber of academics.

Everything clicked football-wise after new coach Dale Carlson got a chance to see Derbak's film from holdover assistant Robert Lee.

"The coaches were friendly and made me feel very comfortable," Derbak said. "And it's a chance to play Division I football."

Valparaiso is part of the Pioneer Football League of schools that don't offer athletic scholarships for football. The versatile 6-foot-3, 215-pound Derbak was recruited as an inside linebacker but he also played outside linebacker, tight end, defensive end and offensive tackle at Schaumburg.

"It really didn't matter because I've played a lot of positions," Derbak said. "I'm open to a position change."

Derbak said he's expected to compete early for playing time as Carlson tries to turn around a program that was 15-40 the last five years.

"I've always thought about it and after my junior year I started thinking about it more and more," Derbak said of playing in college. "I didn't want to stop playing."

As long as it didn't interfere with Derbak's primary objective.