The highly sought after four-star recruit had offers from many football powers in the country, such as Alabama, California, Notre Dame, Georgia and Oregon.
His dad, Chad Cota was a former NFL player and safety for the Oregon Ducks. When asked about his son’s decision he said Chase made the right choice.
“Pretty excited for Chase and for South Medford High School too,” Chase’s dad said. “Everybody has a part in this so its a good day.”
Chad says Chase’s decision has been a long time coming.
“From throwing the football with him on the beach as a little kid, I can’t remember how many throws and catches we have over the years,” Chad said.
But there was a point in time when Chad was hesitant to put Chase into the game.
“A lot of former NFL players don’t really want to force football onto them because we understand its a tough-rough sport,” he said.
It wasn’t until Chase was in fifth grade that he got to play his first tackle football game. From then on the two haven’t looked back.
Now Chase will start his own football journey with a full athletic scholarship as a UCLA Bruin.
“It was Chase’s decision and everything was leading him to UCLA,” Chad said. “Pretty excited for him to go play for arguably one of the best college head football coaches ever.”
Chase will head down to UCLA in March and enroll in classes and participate in spring practice.
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