Having known Chris for many years now, and helping him to choose OSU, I think last year, in general was pretty non-productive.<O:p</O:p
First, I will share a recruiting story on him:
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Chris was scheduled to come up for the OSU camp in the summer of his JR. year. At that time, it was a 3 day camp. The first day, Chris did not show. I called his Mom and she said he missed the plane from his Aunts to <ST1:p<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Ft.</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Lauderdale</st1:PlaceName></ST1:p and would be up the next day. Day 2, Chris does not show up. I called back to his house; he was there and promised he would come that day. Day 3, Chris strolls into the facility on to the turf field, with his shoes tied together over his shoulder. I was so relived to see him. At the time he came in, I was standing next to Cooper, and told him this is the kid I wanted him to see and that he was the best kid in <ST1:pSouth Florida</ST1:p<O:p</O:p
On this day Cooper was working with the offence. I told Gamble to go jump in and do some reps with the receivers. The first pass was a basic down and out. Chris was there, 5 steps against the best DB on the field. Cooper noticed. The second rep he had, was air-it-out, where the quarterback throws to the end zone. Chris was standing alone waiting for the ball when it arrived. At this point, Cooper calls over <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:pBell-a-sorry</ST1:p</st1:City>, and tells him to throw the ball as far as he can. Once again, Chris is there to get the ball unchallenged. After these 3 throws, Cooper tells Gamble to go sit down, and that he wanted to meet with him at lunch to offer him a scholarship.<O:p</O:p<O:p</O:p
A half-hour latter, I am walking around with Cooper, and we hear a lot of cheering and hollering at the other end of the field where the DBs are practicing. In the short walk that it takes us to the other end of the field, Cooper sees this kid intercept 2 passes. He asked an assistant who was doing all the interceptions. The assistant said it was some new kid who had just come in from <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1:pFlorida</ST1:p</st1:State>. Cooper then starts yelling at Gamble, telling him to get into his office, where Cooper offered him on the spot, starting his 2-way career.
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Chris did not receive a lot of coaching at OSU, in major part, because he was going both ways. The majority of his success was due to natural ability. During his junior year, other teams knew what they were up against with Chris. So they could neutralize him a little more. His Jr. Year, he also moved in with his girlfriend and had some personal issues arise in his life. I know no more than the average 20 year old kid. As most know, he was involved in a fight, outside of <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:plincoln </ST1:p</st1:City>tower. What most people don’t know is that he had recruits Anthony Reddick, Dennis Kennedy and player Nate Salley with him. I'm glad that never got out at the time.<O:p</O:p
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But in general, Chris had made his mind up about 6 games into the season he was going to go Pro, and then had all those issues to think about. With everything combined on his mind, it seemed every time he would try to pick off a pass or make a great play, he miss judged it.<O:p</O:p
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I am very, very proud of Chris. All the stuff <ST1:p<st1:City w:st="on">Auburn t</st1:City></ST1:pried to pull at the end of the recruiting process, his dad having huge legal problems, his mom working 2 jobs, I look back and think, how lucky he really was to make it to OSU, and to have such a promising NFL career in front of him, just makes it all worth while.
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I prommise that in In the NFL, Chris will get the Coaching to allow him to be insanely successful.