This story first appeared on cciw.org.
When Will Campbell’s time in high school was coming to an end in early 2022 and his college decision neared, he knew he was going to have options thanks to his success on the football field and in the classroom.
As a student-athlete at Kaukauna High School just 24 miles southwest of Green Bay, Campbell was the John Anderson Award recipient as the top linebacker in the state of Wisconsin. He was a unanimous All-State selection and the Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the Fox Valley Association.
He made a lot of college visits. Through that process, he began getting a glance behind the curtain of college football at the scholarship level – essentially, what it might be like to compete against your own teammate for scholarship dollars. The culture was ruthless and Campbell decided it wasn’t for him. His time looking for a college home eventually pointed him nearly two hours south of his home to Carroll University.
“When I visited Carroll, they had a very good thing for their football culture … with different leadership programs,” Campbell explained. “You come in as a freshman and you’d have the juniors and seniors you’re competing against trying to help you learn the plays. Everyone’s being really nice to you. And that’s kind of the environment that I wanted.”
It’s been a great fit for Campbell and the Pioneers. The 6-foot linebacker – now a junior – played in all 10 games as a freshman, making 63 tackles, ten of which were for a loss. He was voted College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year by the league’s 10 head coaches at the end of the 2022 season. Through last Saturday’s game versus Wheaton, Campbell has appeared in 23 consecutive games to start his career with 161 tackles.
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