With Standout ‘Feel,’ Chase Ketterer Paves His Path To Notre Dame
Chase Ketterer’s name is littered in Indiana high school football postseason honors lists and found on a national leaderboard.
He is the career scoring and rushing touchdowns leader at New Carlisle (Ind.) New Prairie High School, half an hour’s drive from South Bend. He was a first-team all-state player and ranked No. 36 nationally with 2,496 yards in 2019.
The list continues.
Asked about his best attribute, though, he answered with a non-physical trait.
“You can see my feel for the game,” Ketterer said. “I think I feel the game a lot better than some others do. I think just that was a standout thing.”
The combination of numbers and smarts led him to Notre Dame, where he will be a preferred walk-on starting this fall, or whenever college football resumes. Ketterer committed Feb. 27, choosing Notre Dame over Valparaiso. He will start his college career as a quarterback, he said. He is one of six walk-ons joining Notre Dame for the 2020 season.
As a quarterback in an option offense, the more natural the feel for the game, the better the offense can be. New Prairie’s 11-2 season was engineered by Ketterer and its offense. The gaudy stats naturally followed. In three years as a starter, the 6-1, 185-pound Ketterer ran for 5,494 yards and 98 touchdowns. He added 17 passing touchdowns.
“Shotgun, pistol offense the whole time,” Ketterer said. “It was me and one back or me and an empty backfield making reads on defensive ends and linebackers. A read-based option offense.”
Ketterer’s first two years as a starter went without much attention from college coaches. Shortly after his junior year of high school ended, he went to Notre Dame’s camp in June, where the Fighting Irish coaches saw him work out for the first time. He met director of player personnel Dave Peloquin and then-quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees, now the offensive coordinator. They stayed in touch. Other programs kept tabs on him, too.
A goal began to form for Ketterer, a Northern Indiana resident nearly all his life who attended a few Notre Dame games as a kid. He wanted to land a walk-on opportunity at Notre Dame. He made another stop by campus Sept. 28 to watch Notre Dame beat Virginia.
“I’ve always watched it and been around it being so close,” Ketterer said.
Valparaiso gave Ketterer his first offer in December. The Crusaders are members of the Pioneer League in the Football Championship Subdivision and, seemingly, offered a stronger chance at seeing the field for longer.
When Notre Dame extended the preferred walk-on opportunity, though, it instantly jumped to the top of his list. A few walk-ons have thrived in Brian Kelly’s tenure, most recently wide receiver Chris Finke, but the appeal runs deeper than a few past success stories.
“Just the combination of great athletic and academics really intrigued me,” Ketterer said. “I’m really all about academics. When I got the opportunity to go to Notre Dame and be part of the football team, I couldn’t pass that up.”
Ketterer, who also played basketball for New Prairie, has been forced to work out on his own like everyone else. His enrollment timeline is up in the air with Notre Dame’s classes operating entirely online through at least July 6.
Ketterer’s improvised gym situation is satisfactory. He has some weights to lift at home and runs at a football field near his house.
“I have a little weight room in my basement that I go down there lift and I can keep up,” Ketterer said. “It’s more than most guys who are struggling with it, but I’m lucky to have a bench press and other stuff in my basement.
“I’m trying to get stronger, bigger, faster. I want to be as ready as I can be when I get there so I can soak up as much information as I can.”
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