Seattle Seahawks help Grey Zabel make history for South Dakota high school in NFL Draft

T.F. Riggs has never had an NFL Draft pick; the Governors also have never had another player quite like Zabel, a multi-time champion in high school and college

Grey Zabel can play anywhere on the offensive line, but the North Dakota State product is likely to be a starting guard or center in the NFL. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Steve Steele never did end up eating his lunch that day.

The longtime football coach didn’t mind.

It was fall of 2019, and Grey Zabel was in the final season of a standout career at T.F. Riggs High School in South Dakota. Steele, the Governors’ head coach, had an open period during which he’d sit in his office and prepare for the team’s next opponent.

“Grey came in one day and wanted to draw some stuff up with me,” Steele remembers.

Turns out, Zabel, who was selected at No. 18 overall in the first round of 2025 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks, Thursday night, had gotten an idea for “a sweet play” from a fellow North Dakota State commit, and the student couldn’t wait to show the teacher.  

The results of that impromptu game-plan meeting? Steele’s midday meal went uneaten … and the Governors scored a touchdown with the new play the very next game.

Zabel was that kind of player in high school, and it was that kind of year for T.F. Riggs. The points produced by Zabel’s play were six of the 710 scored by the Governors as the team set state records for points and yards in a season. They cruised to their third consecutive state championship — average score: 58-7 — with Zabel serving as a team captain.

To hear Steele talk about him, Zabel probably has a long-term future as a coach.

“I always enjoyed talking football with him because he truly understood schemes and the chess match involved in it,” Steele said. “When many kids today watch big plays or highlights, Grey truly loves dissecting every play of film.”

Zabel’s short-term future will involve him continuing as a player, now at the highest level of the sport. The kid from Pierre became the first NFL Draft pick from T.F. Riggs High (enrollment 800), where Steele has served as head coach since 2016.

“About midway through his NDSU career I remember chatting with one of their coaches about him and them thinking he had a real chance,” Steele said. “I was fortunate enough to get to work with the Tampa Bay (Buccaneers) rookie camp last year through their Coach Academy and remember watching and working with their first-round pick (Graham Barton) and thinking he was very similar to Grey.”

Zabel, who is listed as 6-foot-6 and 312 pounds, can play anywhere on the offensive line. He is expected to be a center or guard as a professional, but he started mostly at tackle for the Bison, helping them win two FCS national championships after the three titles he won in high school. 

For the Governors, he was a dominant force on the offensive and defensive lines and a two-time all-state honoree. He also competed in basketball and baseball.

Still, for all the on-field accolades, Steele was most impressed with Zabel, the person.

“Grey is about as loosey-goosey personality as you can meet,” Steele said. “He can have a conversation with literally anyone and go from just meeting someone to being friends and cracking jokes with them in 10 minutes.

“He is such a genuine person in his interactions and is never too big for anyone.”

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