Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/542018
Jasmine, was a single parent working two jobs to support her family, which meant a majority of the time Chase was isolated. "He went to school on his own and kind of raised himself," Lopez said. "He's the youngest of four kids, and his mom was just always working. That's kind of his story. He just did what he did." It's also how Claypool somehow found his to Air R a i d A c a d e m y, w h e r e L o p e z works. The 6-5 1 ⁄2, 214-pound wide receiver was rec- o m m e n d e d t o the sports perfor- mance center by a high school coach, who saw his po- tential to play at the next level. C l a y p o o l w a s hooked from the start. "When he's look- ing for family, he's looking for fam- ily," Lopez said. "And that's what he was doing … He was always attached to his youth foot- ball and high school coaches, and he found that." It was the ideal situation and one that Claypool wanted to have in the next chapter of his life. Claypool picked up his first scholar- ship offer from Nevada in February. That opened the floodgates for other schools to get involved. Bids came in from Oregon, Washington, Mississippi State and Arizona, but it was the call from Notre Dame that stuck out. Claypool was put on the phone with Denbrock, and he quickly realized that the wide receivers coach could be the mentor he was seeking. "I'm not looking for someone too young who I might sometimes think of as a buddy rather than a coach that I look up to and respect," said Claypool. "The older coaches have been through it, and can tell you stuff and give advice." Denbrock, who has 29 years of col- legiate coaching experience to his name, certainly fit the bill. B u t i t w a s n ' t just Denbrock that sealed the deal, it was also Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly. C l a y p o o l i s ranked by Rivals as a three-star tal- ent and the No. 96 wide receiver in the 2016 class, but some schools were recruiting him as a linebacker or safety. "What stood out with Coach Kelly was the developing of athletes. That's what stuck," said Lopez. "He's like we develop players. We have guys here and take them here. These are the athletes that we develop, and what we do. That's what stuck with Chase," Lopez said. So did Denbrock. ✦ FILM ANALYSIS Strengths Already has elite size and length for either side of the ball … Has good game speed and surprising agility for a player with his size … Can beat the defense deep and turn a short throw into a big gain … Uses speed to close extremely well as a defensive back … Shows good vision and instincts with the ball in his hands. Areas To Improve Very raw and plays questionable competi- tion … Needs a lot of work at the technical part of the game … Has the versatility to play multiple positions but also does not have one natural position. — Bryan Driskell