Illinois football walk-on, and junior long snapper, Ethan Tabel got a surprise Monday afternoon.

Head coach Lovie Smith announced Tabel would receive a scholarship for the 2019 season after two seasons with the team. Smith and Tabel took to Twitter to share the announcements and their thoughts:

https://twitter.com/LovieSmith/status/1166036360362385409

Ethan Tabel on Twitter: “I want to take the chance to say thank you to my family, friends, teammates, and coaches for constantly pushing me and believing in me. This is undoubtedly the best moment in my life and I couldn’t have done it without your support! #WON https://t.co/TOIwnyF5tk / Twitter”

I want to take the chance to say thank you to my family, friends, teammates, and coaches for constantly pushing me and believing in me. This is undoubtedly the best moment in my life and I couldn’t have done it without your support! #WON https://t.co/TOIwnyF5tk

Tabel began long snapping during his junior year of high school at Barrington, where he led the Broncos to the second round of the IHSA Playoffs in 2015. He also won the 2015 Barrington Unsung Hero Special Teams Award and garnered Academic All-Conference and State Scholar accolades.

The Illini junior is slated to take the field in Illinois’ first game of the season at home against Akron.

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