Ja’Marr Chase is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL and is playing with the Cincinnati Bengals against the Kansas City Chiefs for a Super Bowl berth. However, one successful college coach thought Chase wouldn’t work as a pass receiver

Munich – Les Miles was considered one of the best college coaches of his time. He coached the LSU Tigers from 2005 to 2016, winning the national championship in the 2007 season and the Southeastern Conference twice. At the end of his tenure at Louisiana State University, however, he was dead wrong about one assessment – Ja’Marr Chase.

The pass receiver recounts his early days in college: “Les Miles told me I couldn’t play receiver coming out of high school. That was something I carried on my shoulders.” That conversation took place when Chase was still playing for Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie, Louisiana.

Ja’Marr Chase was expected to play cornerback

Miles wanted to order Chase to play defense instead. “Les Miles told me he thought I could play cornerback,” he recalled. Chase, however, was not satisfied with the coach’s assessment. Rather, it was an incentive for him.

“I worked on my craft in the offseason. I got up early in the morning to train. I just stayed focused,” he says. The outcome is well known: Chase developed into one of the best wide receivers in college football and led LSU to win the college championship in January 2020 when he caught passes for 221 yards and two touchdown passes in the finale against Clemson.

Miles, however, was unable to capitalize on that as a coach. Before Chase even played his first game in college, the coach was fired. Chase was picked 5th overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2021 NFL Draft. He ranked among the NFL’s four most effective pass receivers with 1455 receiving yards and also caught 13 touchdown passes.

On Sunday Chase will play with the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs for a place in the Super Bowl