How a 22-second highlight video of quarterback drills inside the barn of his family’s 4,500-acre farm defines the world of teenage quarterback Teddy Kress.

June 18, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Matt Stevens/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN — What has become commonplace with high school athletes is the use of social media to spotlight a specific moment in time during a practice, a camp, or even private instruction when very few people are around.

Peoria Notre Dame High School quarterback Teddy Kress decided to inject a little of his family’s daily life in his football highlight reel.

These short videos on X or TikTok are typically done with spacious green grass in the background or an empty high school or small college stadium, showing the player’s willingness to do the work when nobody is watching. It’s high school football recruiting world’s version of being a social media influencer. On one March night, Kress decided to be a little different. The teenage quarterback attempted to show the world how he could make any environment the scene of his next throwing session - including one of the barns located inside his family’s farm.

At 10:16 p.m. CST on March 16, 2026, Kress published a 22-second video to X where you can see the 6-foot-6 quarterback doing his quarterback footwork near a large garage door before firing a football toward his father, Nathan, who is standing beside what is clearly a 10-foot crop/utility tractor.

“Oh yeah sure, that’s the barn at my dad’s farm, no big deal,” Kress said with a smile.

What Kress considers “no big deal” is a video showing the work ethic of the Peoria Notre Dame sophomore-to-be, who can still find time for throwing sessions before and after working on the Kress-owned Cross Creek Farms in nearby Brimfield, Ill.

The reason for the “no big deal” attitude of Kress is you’ll see his social media page flooded with short videos of makeshift throwing sessions the teenager has created inside a barn, out on a soybean field or in the several middle of nowhere spots of Peoria County, Ill.

Amongst the just over 200 players in attendance for the Rising Illini Football Camp inside the Irwin Indoor Facility on Monday, Kress was likely one of the only prospects who had already done a few hours of manual labor work beforehand.

“I probably got up around 4 or 5 a.m. to bail hay for a few hours before coming here today, sure,” Teddy Kress said. “There are days I’ll work in the farm, go to school, go to football or basketball practice, do my homework and then do it all over again the next day. I get how that’s not exactly considered normal for somebody my age or anybody else here maybe but it’s my normal and I need it. Honestly, I think baling hay and working in 90-degree heat on the farm puts into perspective the mental conditioning and training I need to play quarterback at my best.”

The Kress farmland property is approximately a 4,500-acre piece of farmland where they produce corn, soybeans and are responsible of a herd of anywhere between 120 to 300 Angus cows. The farm operation is also heavily tied to the Kress Corporation, founded by Teddy Kress’ late grandfather who he’s named after. The Kress Corporation, started in 1965, is a manufacturer of specialized industrial equipment for transporting and handling anything from steel to coal and other heavy materials for steel mills, the mining industry, and any operation needing large-scale earth moving.

Kress’ late grandfather, Ted Kress, started 18 consecutive left halfback at the University of Michigan finishing with 966 total rushing yards, 797 total passing yards from 1952-32 and was selected as an All-Big Ten Conference player in 1953.

Kress, who was amongst several quarterbacks ranging from incoming freshmen to rising high school juniors at the ‘Rising Illini camp inside the Irwin Indoor Facility on June 8, says his goal starting in August is to win the starting quarterback job at a Peoria Notre Dame program that is coming off a 8-3 season where they advanced to the second round of the Class 4A Illinois High School Association playoffs.

Among some of the help Kress was getting was 1-on-1 instruction on his footwork from the Illini’s projected starting quarterback, Katin Houser and face-to-face critiques on throws from Illinois quarterbacks coach Art Sitkowski.

“You really lock in on what they’re telling you because you know that not long ago, they were in my shoes going through camps like this just trying to get that much better,” Kress said.

Despite still being amongst the younger prospects in this camp, Kress’ 6-foot-6 frame was noticeable as he was carried by his 190-pound frame that got down to about 150 pounds following last season’s football season. Part of Kress’ summer emphasis to get the notice of scouts and improve his quarterback play has been to maintain a significant calorie count to withstand the physicality of a five-month season starting in August.

Kress sees a youth movement, with him included, hopeful to lift Peoria Notre Dame football, which has only two double-digit win seasons since 2000 and only one state semifinal appearance (2015) in the last two decades, into similar conversations that locals have about the soccer programs, golf programs and basketball programs within the small school community.

“I play basketball too, but yeah, at my school, you see the soccer players and basketball players wear their lettermen jackets, and football isn’t seen as the big winner at Notre Dame based on the history,” Kress said. “I’d love to be just a part of changing the conversation, so Peoria Notre Dame football is seen as a power program just like the soccer, basketball, golf, and others are seen there.”

Kress has completed a very busy early part of June where he competed at a Midwest showcase camp held at Lindenwood University, participated in Northwestern’s prospect camp, threw in front of several Illini coaches at the ‘Rising Illini’ camp, and then was invited to participate at the summer camp held by Toledo - in the mix of baling hay and working the decades-old family farm.

“I’m honestly not worried about my recruitment yet or thinking about the college level because I believe that will come if I put in the work,” Kress said. “I’d love to play at the Big Ten level as my grandfather did, but I really took to heart what they tell you at this Illinois camp - to focus on your development as a player and not so much what coaches are watching or what’s coming in the mail or over the phone with recruiting.”