El Paso-Gridley football head coach Tanner Benedict is the fifth Journal Star-area winner of the Chicago Bears Coach of the Week honors since its inception in 1996.
The Bears choose a coach of the week and an all-star player from IHSA competition each week during the regular-season, with criteria including leadership, sportsmanship and commitment to their teams and communities.
The NFL team will make a $2,000 donation to the El Paso-Gridley football program to honor Benedict.
The coach led El Paso-Gridley to a 24-21 win over Downs Tri-Valley last weekend to push the Titans to a 5-0 start, their best since 2014.
Benedict was hired to the Heart of Illinois Conference team in 2021 at age 23, at the time one of the youngest head coaches in the IHSA. His teams have made the playoffs every season with him at the helm.
Other Journal Star area winners of the Bears award include: LaSalle-Peru’s Jose Medina (2021), Dunlap’s Brett Cazalet (2017), Tim Thornton of Peoria High (2015) and Jon Hebb of Rushville-Industry (2014).
El Paso-Gridley hosts Eureka on Friday.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria area high school football coach wins weekly honor from Chicago Bears
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
