Going deep: Why is Chicago area producing so many good high school quarterbacks?

Chicagoland's greatest fireworks show happened on a Friday night in Mundelein.

Fireworks, quarterbacks — the big show was a game between Montini and Carmel last fall on Oct. 3, when Israel Abrams and Trae Taylor combined to throw for 1,009 yards. Montini won 55-54 and the scoreboard somehow survived.

Both players were juniors at the time. Now heading into the 2026 season, Taylor is the No. 1-ranked quarterback in the country by Rivals industry rankings, while Abrams is No. 3.

A Carmel-Montini rematch is set for Sept. 18 in Lombard, but Taylor decided to spend his senior year closer to his college home of Nebraska, and he transferred to Millard South in Omaha. Abrams, a Miami commit, will be trying to lead Montini to its third straight state title.

“We brought back so many guys,” Abrams said this week. “One of my goals this year, I'm trying to get my guys in positions too. I take that as a responsibility, along with state championships.”

That 2025 game, plus these rankings, illustrate what's been happening in high school football. Chicago is suddenly a cradle of quarterbacks, which never really happened before.

Hersey's Jake Nawrot (Kentucky commit) is the No. 5-ranked QB in the Class of 2027, Maine South's Jameson Purcell (Indiana) is No. 34, and New Trier's Jackie Ryder (Purdue) is No. 58.

Five Chicago quarterbacks in the top 100 is not unprecedented, but that was just last year. The Class of '26 included Lincoln-Way East's Jonas Williams (USC), Downers Grove North's Owen Lansu (Minnesota), Fremd's Johnny O'Brien (Northwestern), Barrington's Luke Tepas (Oklahoma State) and West Aurora's Mason Atkins (Ball State).

Williams was ranked No. 8 in his class, giving the area four top-10 QBs in two seasons. Over the previous 20 years, there were just three — J.J. McCarthy, Clayton Thorson and Juice Williams.

The story of how Chicago beat the odds to become a hub of quarterback development isn't necessarily a perfect storm, more like a steady rain that's been pushing forward for 15 or 20 years.

“I always tell kids, if you can spin spirals in Chicago, you can spin spirals anywhere in America,” said former Stevenson quarterback Preston Earl, now a quarterback coach. “You have to play in bad weather. It's wet, it's cold, it's rainy, it snows. To play quarterback, you have to have a level of toughness.”

And remember, two of the most successful Chicago QBs of recent years were unranked and barely recruited — Jimmy Garoppolo (Rolling Meadows) and Aidan O'Connell (Stevenson). O'Connell is still playing for the Raiders, while Garoppolo spent the past two seasons as a Rams backup and is not currently in an NFL camp.

Here's a look at reasons why quarterback play in Chicago has been on the upswing:

Quarterback training

This category may have sprouted more than any other. An important figure is Jeff Christensen, a former Eastern Illinois quarterback who had a brief NFL career in the 1980s. He started Throw It Deep in the early 2010s and his reputation grew as his star client, Garoppolo, became a rising star in the NFL.

A trademark Christensen event was a two-hour session on Sunday mornings, that might draw 20-25 quarterbacks, plus receivers, to Hinsdale Central or Riverside-Brookfield. O'Connell also worked heavily with Christensen.

Christensen has since moved out of state and effectively passed the baton to Earl, who started QB Era with several other former suburban quarterbacks.

One of Christensen's partners in Throw It Deep, Greg Holcomb, branched out on his own and began Next Level training, quickly landing his signature client, McCarthy (Nazareth), now with the Minnesota Vikings. Holcomb has since worked with several college QBs, including current Michigan State starter Alessio Milivojevic (St. Francis), Lansu, O'Brien and Atkins.

Abrams uses Mike Hohensee as his quarterback coach, a relationship that began when Abrams was around 10 years old. Hohensee is still remembered for being quarterback of the “Spare Bears” in 1987, when the NFL hired replacements during a players strike. He went on to coach the Chicago Rush in the Arena league and was an offensive assistant at Montini during Abrams' sophomore year.

“He's been a big, big, big part of my journey to where I am today,” Abrams said of Hohensee.

Nawrot said he uses Hersey head coach Tom Nelson as his quarterbacks coach. Taylor worked with a QB coach in the Detroit area.

Montini's current offensive coordinator, Charlie Bliss, might be the area's original QB trainer. An assistant at Maine South for more than 30 years, Bliss would bring quarterbacks to Park Ridge on Sunday nights. Earl, an 2006 high school grad, was one of his regulars.

“I didn't charge for 20 years,” Bliss said. “I'd have 75 quarterbacks over at Maine South. I'd have 20 coaches that volunteer their time.

“I look at it this way. There are many ways to skin a cat. And whatever it takes to get the best out of somebody, good for them.”

Lucky sevens

Some coaches love to get on social media and yell about how 7-on-7 isn't real football, since there's no contact or pass rush. But the rise of 7-on-7 is a valid explanation for Chicago's quarterback boom.

It was the Naperville-based Midwest Boom program that sent the profile soaring. Started in 2013, a day that might have cemented Boom's national status was in 2018, when quarterback Mark Gronowski (Neuqua Valley), who played at South Dakota State and Iowa, led Boom to a championship win at IMG Academy over a Georgia team coached by Cam Newton.

Abrams grew up playing for Boom and got to square off against Taylor's team in 7-on-7 this summer. Nelson started a 7-on-7 program for the Northwest suburbs, known as TNT, which Nawrot played for.

“For a quarterback, it's super valuable just because of the amount of reps,” Nelson said. “Is it exactly football? Of course not. Are they still being able to diagnose defenses, space, timing, throwing footballs, getting reps? Yeah, and they're probably a lot better reps than just routes on air, since you have defenders.”

Maine South coach Dave Inserra thinks an early belief in the value of 7-on-7 played a role in the Hawks winning six state titles.

“We've had a dozen D1 quarterbacks, so we were well ahead of the curve at Maine South,” Inserra said. “In 2007 we went out to California to play 7-on-7. Nobody was doing that. We've been to probably eight different states.”

Pass to win

Obviously, quarterbacks can't develop if coaches don't throw the ball, something many were reluctant to do for decades, due to inevitable concerns about bad weather. Illinois schools featured plenty of run-focused, power football, relying on the double wing or wing-T offenses.

“Offense today looks a lot different from it did in 1996,” said Nelson, a 2005 Hersey grad. “Even early 2000s, I can remember Northwestern University being the first spread offensive football team, and that was crazy. Obviously the game has come a long way.”

Not every team will benefit from opening up the offense, but Bliss supports the value of getting people involved.

“I tell Izzy, my job is to get between 20 and 25 completions from you per game,” Bliss said. “That's my job, because if I do that, everybody's happy, and everybody's contributing to our offense. I don't want you to be 7 for 11.”

Can't be taught

The bottom line, especially with the current senior class, is there are some special athletes playing quarterback.

Abrams and Taylor have similar styles — tall, mobile, cannons for arms. They're able to escape rushers in the backfield, then fire passes 50 yards downfield on the run.

Abrams is an Elgin native who spent his first semester of high school at St. Viator. Taylor used to commute from the Crystal Lake area to Carmel.

“Izzy showed up here and has been awesome,” Montini coach Mike Bukovsky said. “He loves to practice, loves to get better. So when your best guy is a worker, then you've got a pretty good situations. And his arm is good as I've ever seen at the high school level.”

Nawrot is sort of a throwback, 6-foot-4 pocket passer with a big arm. He doesn't run a ton but is an accomplished basketball player with good feet and quickness. Nawrot said his plan is to play basketball again until midsemester when he'll enroll early at Kentucky.

Nawrot was a bit of a late bloomer in football, and in the past year or so has flown up the national rankings.

“After my sophomore year, I just put in a lot of time over that offseason and the junior tape I sent out is a testament to the work I put into it,” Nawrot said. “Getting a couple offers from MAC schools coming into the season gave me motivation to keep going and get better. I didn't know for sure if football was going to be my thing until those came in.”

Purcell is a bit smaller, a 6-foot-2 left-hander with amazing accuracy. He threw for more than 3,000 yards as a junior.

“His mechanics are almost flawless,” Inserra said. “He spends a lot of time, a lot of focus, a lot of coaching — not just from us but from other sources. So his mechanics, he can make any throw.”

Ryder, from New Trier, is listed at 6-5 and can do a little bit of everything — run, scramble and throw downfield.

Earl is a believer in Batavia's Michael Vander Luitgaren, who ranks just below the top 100 but has committed to Wyoming. Conference rival Ben Peterson from Geneva is committed to Eastern Michigan.

“Obviously, the kids are talented,” Nelson said. “You've got to give them the most credit. The genetics, the talent, all those things. And I feel like football's extremely popular again now.”

More people will be watching if quarterbacks like these continue to show up.