Green Bay Southwest offensive lineman Thomas Paasch commits to Northern Illinois

GREEN BAY – The last offensive lineman from Green Bay Southwest to play football at Northern Illinois University ended up in the NFL.

Thomas Paasch has a long way to go to match former Trojans star and Houston Texans guard Max Scharping, but his quick rise up the recruiting ranks the past year already has earned him a scholarship entering his senior season.

The 6-foot-7, 295-pound tackle recently announced his commitment to NIU. He picked the school over several other NCAA Division I offers, including the University of Kansas, Illinois State, North Dakota State, University of South Dakota, Fordham University, Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan.

All nine of those offers have come since late January, making for a busy start to 2022 for an athlete who also was juggling a track and field schedule to go with his football recruiting.

Several schools either called or made visits to Southwest to meet with Paasch.

In the three weeks leading up to his verbal commitment, it’s estimated that four or five schools per week were coming to Green Bay to either speak with the coaching staff or Paasch.

Southwest put him through workouts for some teams so scouts could see how he moved.

“The offensive line coach came up a few times to talk to him and talk to me,” Southwest co-coach Aaron Van Eperen said. “Their interest was pretty clear that he was one of their targets and they wanted to get him on campus.

“He went on the visit down there, and that helped on his decision as well.”

Paasch was offered by NIU on April 15.

He talked in October about his longtime desire to play beyond high school, which only got stronger when he learned about the accomplishments of Scharping and former Bay Port offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen, who had a strong career at the University of Wisconsin before being drafted by the Green Bay Packers last year.

Paasch is just the latest Southwest lineman to land a scholarship at a DI school, following in the steps of Scharping (2014 graduate) and Rice University’s Isaac Klarkowski (2019).

The Trojans struggled last season in going 1-8, but it shows that if a player is talented enough, college coaches often will find them.

“I think it’s definitely exciting for the program,” Van Eperen said. “We want to see our athletes, our players, go on and do really great things after high school. Sometimes, for some of them, that’s on the football field like Thomas. Others it will be in the workforce or at a different college just going to study.

“A lot of kids on the team, it’s definitely something they can aspire to and they have seen happen how. For our younger guys, they know you can get noticed at Green Bay Southwest and you can get that Division I look.”

One of the first things that likely stood out to colleges about Paasch was his size, not to mention his continued improvement.

He also has displayed a strong worth ethic since his junior campaign ended, always in the weight room when asked and likely right back there soon now that his track season is complete.

Van Eperen hasn’t just seen growth in his pupil on the field, but off it.  

“He’s had a really good offseason for us, he’s grown up a lot,” he said. “Which I think the recruiting process helped with that and the seriousness of it. He has matured a lot, physically and mentally.”