Neibch owns name, image and lineage at Wheaton North

Burke Neibch has earned all he’s gotten as a quarterback at Wheaton North High School without needing to make a name for himself.

The name came built in.

The 6-foot-2 senior quarterback is the grandson of the late Bill Neibch (pronounced “nebbs”), Wheaton North’s athletic director from 1977-2000.

The school gymnasium is named after Bill Neibch. It hosts the annual Bill Neibch Girls Basketball Falcon Classic Holiday Tournament.

In 2002, the year of his death at 64, Bill Neibch earned induction into the Illinois Athletic Directors Association Hall of Fame.

Burke’s lineage runs deeper than that.

His father, Chris Neibch, was a multisport athlete at Wheaton North and has been Waubonsie Valley’s athletic director for 14 years.

His mother, Wheaton North math teacher Michelle Neibch, was an all-DuPage Valley Conference guard in Falcons basketball — same as her brother, Brian, in boys basketball.

They are the children of Jim Allured, a quarterback in Wheaton North’s first four-year class, 1968. He went on to be head girls basketball coach and a football assistant at Wheaton Warrenville South.

“Coming in my freshman year there’s obviously just like a little bit of pressure, obviously already having a bit of a reputation with my grandfather, his name on the gym, my mom working here, and my dad, both my parents and both my grandparents going here. Obviously a legacy that I was walking into, kind of outside of my control,” Burke Neibch said.

“I definitely embraced it. I obviously am very proud of my family’s history and who my family is, as people,” he said.

Bill Neibch died before Burke was born.

“I’ve just heard that he’s a great man, a great leader — kind, caring, generous,” Burke Neibch said.

“I would have loved the chance to meet him,” he said. “Just talk to him, just get to know him. I know how great of a man he was, and I wish that I could have had that in my life. I still have my other side’s grandfather (Allured), and he means so much to me.”

Other than imploring his grandson to audible to a quarterback sneak — Burke Neibch defers to Falcons coach Joe Wardynski on that — Allured’s advice is simple but profound.

“I just tell him to get out there and do his best,” said Allured, who calls his grandson “an excellent field general.”

Neibch has done that on varsity since last season’s Week 2 injury to starting senior quarterback Jacob Johnson. In 2025 Neibch completed 91 of 160 passes for 1,022 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Neibch’s preparation met the opportunity.

“Unlike some years when you may lose a starter at a position and you’re nervous as to who’s coming in to replace them, we felt very confident about Burke coming in and taking that role,” Wardynski said.

“I felt like he did a great job for us, jumped right in and the kids believed in him and he led us throughout the rest of the year.”

Currently sidelined by a hand injury, Neibch helped pace a 4-0 start to this season, completing 25 of 43 passes for 374 yards and 4 touchdowns.

“I see my role as just doing my job to help the team win,” Neibch said. “I know I’m not going to throw 50 passes a game, I’m not going to throw 30 passes a game, even. But I’m going to take my skill set and do what I can do.”

Chris Neibch, a 1997 Wheaton North graduate who spent three years as athletic director at Larkin High School in Elgin before coming to Waubonsie Valley, said Burke knows the importance Wheaton North holds for the family.

Burke emphasized it in a letter to his parents on senior night.

“He spoke to us in that note, saying how much of an honor it is to carry on grandpa’s name, and be a part of the Wheaton North tradition. It hit home pretty hard,” Chris Neibch said.

With Burke Neibch out this Friday against rival Wheaton Warrenville South, another Burke — junior Rory Burke — will make his second straight start at quarterback in hopes of moving Wheaton North to 6-0.

In reserve will be Neibch’s younger brother, sophomore call-up Grant Neibch, perhaps positioned to one day continue the family tradition along with younger sister, Annie.

“Obviously I was kind of in his boat, what would be next year as a junior having a senior in front of me competing for that job,” Burke Neibch said.

“I definitely hope, as he’s been pulled up, too, to be a mentor to him … Even if he does end up not getting the job Day 1, just making sure he’s ready to step up whenever his name’s called.”