Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/542018
BY ANDREW IVINS Two days before Canadian wide re- ceiver Chase Claypool announced his commitment to Notre Dame, he was asked what he thought of Irish associ- ate head coach Mike Denbrock. Claypool hesitated at first and then smiled. "I have got to know him person- ally," Claypool said. When asked if that meant he saw Denbrock as a mentor-type figure, he hesitated, and then smiled again. "Not yet," Claypool said. "But I'm sure he will be." It became clear right then and there, on a field at Nike's World Headquar- ters outside of Portland, that Clay- pool's bond with Denbrock was some- thing different. Claypool, who was in Oregon for the annual prep showcase event that is The Opening, didn't have a relation- ship with other coaches like the one he is building with Denbrock. That's why when the cameras started rolling on July 10, Claypool picked Notre Dame over Rutgers, Michigan, Washington and Oregon on ESPNU. "I think a lot of it was him and Coach Denbrock," Karen Lopez, Claypool's trainer, coach and "second mom" said. "They just hit it off." There's no questioning that the two did, but there's a reason why the star receiver was drawn to Denbrock. Claypool was born and raised in Ab- botsford, a mid-size town that borders the state of Washington. His mother, Canadian Wide Receiver Is Drawn To Mike Denbrock Rivals rates Claypool, a 6-5½, 214-pound wide receiver from Abbotsford, British Columbia, as the No. 99 pass catcher in the class of 2016. PHOTO BY ANDREW IVINS COMMITMENT PROFILE CHASE CLAYPOOL "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." CLAYPOOL