Walk-On, Scholarship, Captain, Win: Case Hatch

The following quotes were adapted from an interview with Case Hatch and Untold Athletes.

I come from a family of five brothers. Growing up, we were always fighting and were kind of brutal with one another so my parents put us in sports to keep us more calm in a way. Pretty early on we all fell in love with sports..

I was in seventh grade when I figured out that I was actually pretty good at football. We had just finished a game when one of the coaches came up to me and said,  ‘You know you're the only one that had tackles tonight?’ We went a whole game  and I was the only kid that made a tackle the entire game.  That moment made me realize that I wanted to do something with this sport and that drove me through high school even now at college it's driving me for sure.

In high school I was able to accomplish many goals that I set for myself. I had great examples in my life that embedded in me that the mission was an opportunity to go out and give myself to the Lord. I made the decision even before high school that I was going to go serve the Lord, hoping and knowing that he would take care of my goals and ambitions after the mission.

When I was being recruited, not many schools liked the idea of me leaving for two years for a church mission. I saw this firsthand with the old University of Arizona coach. He came down to our office at my high school (Perry) and he offered me a full ride scholarship. The only catch was that I’d have to say no to the mission.

That was going to be my first major offer. As a junior in high school, I really felt like football was my life. I had to make a huge decision right then and there.

While I was sitting there in the office, I remembered something from a few days ago. My dad had said to me, ‘Case, with everything going on with football, no matter what happens, just put the Lord first and it will all work out.’ That’s what kept coming up in my head so right there I told the coach that I was going on a mission.

He took the scholarship, tore it up and threw it in the trash. That was that. It was a major moment in my life, where I said, ‘You know what, nothing is going to be more important than this mission.’

In the following weeks I had many schools make offers and then take them away when they heard I was going on a mission. Everyday I’d get a call from a coach saying they were going to pull the scholarship. It started a little downhill spiral that ultimately almost ended in no scholarships at all after high school. It was tough and I was about ready to give up on football.

I remember hoping that one day I’d play against the teams that had turned me down. I had just been named Defensive Player of the Year in Arizona and didn’t have any offers. Honestly I was pissed. I really felt like my chances of playing at the next level were over.  I was about to leave on my mission when Southern Utah University offered me a scholarship to play when I got home. That opportunity was huge for me. It’s what kept that desire to play stay within me. I thought, ‘Okay, I can come back from the mission with a full ride scholarship to a D1 school and continue to play.’ That’s what kept me going.

I served my mission in Miami, Florida. I was influenced by a lot of good people out in Miami. I was able to gain a new perspective and learn how to keep working when things are tough. It was an incredible experience. Two weeks before I came home, I was contacted by ASU about walking on. I had to call Southern Utah and tell them I wasn't going to be there which was tough, but I knew I belonged at a Power 5 school.

When I got to ASU I was fired up. I had to prove to every single person that I belonged on the field and so I definitely had a chip on my shoulder. The first day I got back, we started spring ball and as a linebacker I was hitting every guy I could. My coach had to come up to me and tell me to calm down a bit. Because I wasn’t on scholarship, I was working construction everyday to pay for school. 

That year I played some snaps at linebacker and a bit more on special teams but I wasn’t playing as much as I would’ve liked. At the end of the season, before the Oregon game, the offensive coordinator asked if I’d ever considered playing fullback. I told him I hadn’t and he said it was basically the linebacker of the offense so I gave it a try and immediately loved it. One of my favorite things was now at this position, I got to go against linebackers. So, now I’m going against guys that took my spot at other schools and I’m thinking, “I’m going to take that linebacker out, he’s not going to make any plays.”

At the end of my Freshman season, I was awarded PAC 12 First Team Special Teams player. In a team meeting Coach Herm Edwards called everyone up to the front of the room who won an award. When he called me up, he gave me a shirt, and on the back of the shirt it said I was awarded a full-ride scholarship. It honestly was 100% a surprise to me. It was one of the craziest moments ever and my dreams really came true in that moment. Everything I had worked for had been fulfilled, but I immediately told myself, ‘I’m not done yet.’

I’ve always been a vocal guy and being a bit older, I feel obligated to help some of the younger guys out. Preparing for the sophomore season, Coach Edwards elected me as a captain. I was super excited for the opportunity but also shocked frankly.

I think my experience serving a mission has helped me as a captain. On the mission, you learn to just drop boundaries and get along with a lot of different people from a lot of different places. I think that’s allowed me to connect with my teammates, no matter what lifestyles or areas we come from. I want everyone to know that we’re a team, and a family. Two things that I work on every single day with every single player are respect and trust. If you don’t respect your teammate, if you don’t trust your teammate, how can we play together?

We've been working our butts off for the last two years. We’ve been hitting the same guys over and over in practice for two years, so I’m excited to finally hit someone else for a change. You can expect a lot more from me this season. My position is more versatile. I’ll be going for blocks but also be running and catching passes. The guy that I really look up to is Kyle Juszczyk, the fullback for the San Francisco Forty-Niners. I really look up to the guy and respect what he does on and off the field. Overall, we’re ready to roll, I won’t say much more than that.

To younger athletes, the best thing I would say is to bet on yourself. You can’t have a plan B when it comes to your goal. Don’t give yourself an opportunity to fail. You’ll have setbacks, I for sure have had mine in my life, but bet on yourself and you’ll never truly fail.