Chase Penry recaps first conversation with Karl Dorrell

On Thursday morning, Chase Penry, one of two Class of 2021 commits the Buffaloes currently have as verbal pledges, was able to get on the phone and speak with head coach Karl Dorrell for the first time.

In the last two weeks, the Buffs have seen two commits (2021 ATH Kaden Dudley and 2022 ATH Anthony Costanzo, both of Palmer Ridge High School in Monument) back off from verbal commitments originally made in the Mel Tucker era.

Dorrell consequently has been working to the best of his ability to reach out to CU's commits of the future, with whom he's been unable to meet face-to-face due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

When a head coach abruptly leaves an institution, as Tucker did in mid-February, blood is in the water. And sharks, taking the form of other schools and coaches, looking to steal recruits away from verbal commitments, start to appear.

Take Penry for example. One of two remaining commits in the Class of 2021, along with Braylen Nelson of Vista Peak Prep, Penry has seen a significant amount of schools come knocking on the door via the issuance of offers in the last calendar month.

Penry hit the nail right on the head when speaking to competing programs' approach to trying to court him in the immediate aftermath of the Tucker era in Boulder coming to an unexpected and premature end.

“I think (other schools) have seen what’s happened," Penry said. "I don’t want to name specifics, but I know Kaden (Dudley), before he’d even decommitted, he was getting attention. Coaches saw (the situation at Colorado), other schools saw it and wanted to reach out. I’ve been getting attention, receiving mail and getting phone calls — all that.”

"I’ve been hearing from other schools," he said. "I’ve gotten a lot of Ivy League attention. I’ve been offered by Princeton, Penn and have heard from Cal Berkeley and Stanford, too. I’m definitely listening but I’m really excited and looking forward to meeting the staff (at Colorado).”

Since Tucker left town, in addition to the schools he mentioned, Harvard and Yale have also offered him, as has Colorado State. Needless to say, the Buffaloes have some competition.

But throughout the COVID-19 ordeal, offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini, who also was Penry's primary recruiter, has stayed in constant communication with him.

“I’ve stayed in contact with coach Chev a lot; we’ve built a really good relationship since my sophomore year," Penry said. "As far as the new staff, (I) was supposed to go up (to Boulder) this spring (and meet Dorrell and Co.) but then all this happened. But I’ve been in contact with coach Chev for awhile now. I do look forward to going and sitting down with coach Dorrell and the new staff.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, he had yet to have a conversation with Dorrell. However, late in the morning today, Penry reached out and said that he was indeed able to get on the phone with Dorrell, with whom he had a productive chat.

“I had a really good conversation with coach Dorrell this morning," Penry said. "He’s obviously an impressive guy — clearly in charge. He told me he liked my film and said (he) wants me in Boulder. We talked a little about the position and my game. I hadn't thought about it that closely until the call, but between coach Dorrell and Chev, you’ve got two guys who know the wide receiver position about as well as anyone. So it was a good conversation (and) the first of many to come.”

“I know Coach Chev is really excited in where the program is headed. He’s obviously going the offensive coordinator now and is going to call the pays, so he’s real excited about that."

With that, it seems like Dorrell made a good first impression on Penry, who likes the prospect of having two sharp minds who know the WR position in and out overseeing him in college.

Penry at the moment, along with countless high schoolers in Colorado and across the country, is working to adjust to online classes and self isolation while staying in shape.

He did mention that he as well as the Penry clan in general remain in robust health.

"We’re all getting used to it," he said. "We all have to kind of grow up early, just (in) being exposed to the real world (like this). “I’ve just been going to the park a couple times a week. There’s a turf area there, so I’ve been doing speed work and as far as lifting, I have been doing my own stuff (such as) push ups squats and just as much as I can."

"I’m trying to stay fit and conditioned and take advantage of time that I’ve been given right now to make some good out of a really bad situation.”

While other schools, especially Ivy league institutions, continue to try to make Penry rethink his verbal commitment to Colorado, Dorrell, in his first conversation with him, appears to have laid some good foundational work which will be expanded in the near future.

"I just think the biggest thing with coach Dorrell is that he’s a professional, Penry said. "He knows what he’s doing and he has a lot of experience, so I think everyone excited and take the next step and make it to this fall, hopefully.”

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