Scouts Football: Spring Notebook Edition
Senior commits, NFL draftee, and other offseason happenings
Photo Courtesy of Andy Goodman
We are deep into the spring sports season, but one of the reasons we love football— the sport is never out of season.
The latest happenings as we head towards the end of the school year and the spring/summer camp season. Lots of news, so let’s get right to it.
FINN GOODMAN LANDS AT PURDUE
When Finn Goodman was just a kid, probably around seven or eight years old, he sat in the stands for a University of Purdue football scrimmage. That was the beginning of a long love affair with the gold and black, the colors of the Purdue Boilermakers.
"My dream school since second grade,” Goodman said.
Fast forward 10 years. Goodman has grown up to be an all-conference defensive end for the Scouts. Good enough to play at the college level. Offers come in, he accepts one from the University of Dayton. All that’s left is graduating high school, then it’s off to begin the next chapter as a Dayton Flyer,
But in life, sometimes plans change. Especially if those plans involve the dream school.
It started in January. Goodman received a social media message from the new Purdue defensive ends coach, Jake Trump. Trump told Goodman he liked his film and “thought I’d be a fantastic player,” Goodman said. But with a new coaching staff (Purdue turned over its coaches ahead of the 2025 season) and all of the changes happening in college football, he didn’t think they had a spot for him.
In early March, Trump reached out to Goodman again and asked him for contact information for Coach Spagnoli and Goodman’s dad, Andy.
“I didn’t think much of it,” Finn said.
Shortly after, Trump contacted Coach Spagnoli and asked about Goodman.
“I said he’s committed to Dayton,” Spagnoli said. Trump told Spagnoli the school may have a spot open for Goodman and that they’d like to take a closer look.
Spagnoli had never spoken before with Trump, who came to Purdue from the University of Arkansas. Spagnoli gave Trump one directive. “You cannot contact Finn. You don’t understand, he loves Purdue. He doesn’t kind of like it, he loves (Purdue),” Spagnoli said. “Unless you know (there’s a spot), you cannot contact him.”
Trump reached out to Andy, Finn’s dad. Trump said they were interested in Finn for a potential walk-on spot and wanted to bring him down for a visit.
Armed with that information, Spagnoli, Andy and Finn’s mom, Rebecca, all agreed on a strategy—no one else will know. Not even Finn. So they sat on it.
Spagnoli revealed to Finn that Purdue was interested but didn’t tell him the extent of their interest. “I told him, ‘Hey, I heard from Purdue but don’t get too excited,’” Spagnoli said.
All this time, a visit was being scheduled. But Finn never knew until just a few days before.
By early April, it was time for the big reveal.
Andy sat Finn down inside the family’s home and asked a question.
“‘Are you sure you want to go to Dayton? Are you sure?’ I’m like, ‘why are you asking me?’” Finn said.
Then Andy let his son in on the big secret: Purdue was interested in having Finn walk on. They had seven scholarship spots and one reserved for a walk-on. That spot was Finn’s “if he wanted it,” Andy told Finn.
Oh, and they were leaving in a couple of days to visit the school and meet the coaches.
“I’m dumbfounded,” Finn said. “They kept it a complete secret. My mom and dad thought it was the best approach in case it didn’t happen.
“It’s the biggest surprise ever.”
Coach Spagnoli explained the clandestine approach.
“(With Finn), you have to temper what you say so he can understand that nothing is decided. I don’t know the coaches at Purdue well enough, and without knowing those guys very well, it’s hard to say whether it was going to happen or not,” he said. “If you think Finn was the only guy they were looking at, well, there could have been three on the list and we don’t know.
“It doesn’t matter what you want, it’s what they want.”
Soon after the April 8th visit, Purdue made it official—they wanted Finn to be a Boilermaker. They called to break the news.
“I was star-struck. I didn’t have words,” Finn said.
A “yes” was all that would do. And Finn had been preparing to give that yes his entire football life.
The visit just affirmed his already long-held beliefs about the school.
“I’ve seen the school so many times but this time, was able to see the campus. We went on a tour, had lunch and met the strength coach. I was like ‘wow this is pretty cool,’” Finn said. “I had a feeling (the offer) would happen. They didn’t bring me down there for that not to happen.”
Finn said he hasn’t had too many conversations yet about where he might fit in the Purdue defensive scheme. They like his measurables—height, wingspan—and believe he has the body type to put on the necessary weight to play in the Big 10.
He also knows this—college football in 2025 is a bottom-line, year-to-year business. Produce or get fired. To free up a spot, Purdue had to let a player go. Next year, he could be the guy who gets cut. “Every semester, (your spot) has to be earned. Nothing is guaranteed, which motivates me to work harder.
“I like having that as an extra (motivational) chip.”
One other extra incentive—his twin sister, Kiley, will be joining him in West Lafayette. She’ll be attending Purdue in the fall.
So, congrats on living your dream, Finn. No one has earned it more.
Now get back to work.
TWO FORMER SCOUTS MAKE THE NFL
It’s been quite a couple of weeks in the lives of two former Scouts.
Late Tuesday, it was announced that punter/wide receiver/quarterback Kai Kroeger, a 2020 graduate, signed a free-agent contract with the New York Jets. Although Kroeger became a cult hero at South Carolina for his arm on fake kicks, he will earn a living in the NFL with his leg.
The left-footed Kroeger went undrafted last month but received mini-camp invites from a handful of teams. One of those teams was New York. The Jets cut last season’s punter, Thomas Morehead, to make room for the 6-3, 213-pound Kroeger.
Kroeger's 47.8 yards per punt last season were a career high, and he was named first-team All-SEC. He spent five seasons at South Carolina.
Kroeger played quarterback as a Junior Scout and freshman at LFHS. In his senior season, he doubled up as punter and wide receiver.
As talented as Kroeger is as a punter, he’s a better person. Humble, gracious, and never forgetting his roots, while at South Carolina, he always came back home during his off weeks to visit with Scouts coaches and talk to current players. He would even stop by Jr. Scouts practices and kick for the middle school-aged kids. A true role model, we are very lucky to have a person of his character representing the program in the NFL.
If you missed it, I interviewed Kai pre-draft for the podcast.
Another former Scouts player of great talent and character was drafted last month.
Rylie Mills, an all-state defensive end for Lake Forest who went on to be a five-year player at Notre Dame, got picked in the fifth round (selected 142 overall) by the Seattle Seahawks.
Mills, a Notre Dame captain in 2024, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Fighting Irish’s playoff game against Indiana in December. He’s expected to recover in time to play in the 2025 season.
“As a player, he changed the game,” Coach Spagnoli said of the 6-5, 295-pound Mills. “The teams we played did things because he was in the game. A huge personality…he was a great player and a better kid. He never met anyone he didn’t like. With any luck, he’ll get healthy and have a nice career.”
You can watch the video of when the Seahawks called Rylie to tell him he’d been drafted here:
https://www.seahawks.com/video/rylie-mills-gets-the-draft-call-2025-nfl-draft
That’s two Scouts signing pro contracts in one draft cycle. Pretty incredible.
SPAGNOLI TO RETURN FOR 23RD SEASON
I wrote over the winter that it was not certain Coach Spagnoli would return in 2025.
His status has been resolved—he will be back as head coach for his 23rd season this fall. He was informed sometime around spring break.
All that’s left to be determined is whether Spagnoli, who is retiring from teaching, will have to “sit out” for a month, per the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, once the school year ends. The team’s first official summer practice is scheduled for June 30.
Spagnoli broke the school’s all-time record for coaching wins in 2024. His career record at Lake Forest spanning from 2003-24 is 135-96.
Happy to have coach back on the sidelines for another season!
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