FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (June 5, 2020) – At various times in his football career,
Stacy Chukwumezie has turned to simple, well-known phrase as he continued to push forward.
"Everything happens for a reason."
For Northern Arizona's redshirt senior receiver, it is what he told himself as he was passed over by colleges as his high school career at Downey came to an end, and again when he went down with an injury that cost him all but a few games of his first season of Division I football.
"We did the best we could, we won the championship my sophomore year and almost won another one senior year," Chukwumezie said. "My game speaks for itself. I'm in the opportunity I am right now because nobody took that chance on me in high school. It gave me my confidence to go to junior college and do my thing. Now here I am."
The Big Sky Conference became abundantly aware of Chukwumezie's presence this past fall. Racking up 963 yards through the air, Chukwumezie finished fourth in the Big Sky and 33rd in the FCS. The total came on a little more than four catches per game, as his 19.26 yards per catch ranked 17th in the nation, though no receiver ahead of Chukwumezie reached his reception total.
That number has Chukwumezie, known as "Chuk" to many, in a few places around NAU's record book. Ranking inside NAU's top 10 for yards per reception in single season, Chukwumezie's 19.26 topped such seasons as
Emmanuel Butler's historic 2015 run. More so, his career total of 19.0 is tied atop NAU's all-time list of the statistic with Ken Frazier, who's career span 1977 to 1979.
Quickly becoming one of the conference's best deep threats, Chukwumezie scored five of his eight touchdowns from 50 or more yards out.
"No doubt he got to the point where he was one of the most explosive guys in the conference. I'll just point to the Weber State game for that," said NAU offensive coordinator
Aaron Pflugrad, who watched his receiver break off a 63-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter against the Wildcats, only to top it with a 94-yard touchdown seconds before halftime. Add that catch to Chukwumezie's growing list of all-time marks as it is one of the Lumberjacks' longest pass plays in history.
MAKING A NAME
However, before Chukwumezie could play a starring role in the nation's No. 1 passing offense, NAU needed to beat out a few others to get him in the program.
Overlooked coming out of Downey High School in 2015, Chukwumzie moved just a few miles away from the high school he won a CIF title in 2012, the first for Downey since 1957. Two years at Cerritos College had raised his profile, as the receiver put up similar numbers as a freshman and senior for the Falcons while continuing to show his speed was tough for defenses to match. While the yardage totals, 448 and 451 respectively, don't stand out as much as his numbers in Flagstaff, Pflugrad said there's a specific method to scouting junior college players.
"There's a lot of situations in JC football where it's hard to get guys the football. So a lot of it is just identifying guys that have got around that 500-yard mark on the year and then the film," Pflugrad said. "The film really stands out of a guy who would fit into what we do offensively."
Chukwumezie's yards per catch totals of 18.7 and 17.3 told some of the story, as did his longest catches in each of his seasons: 94 as a freshman and 95 as a sophomore.
Seeking replacement for
Elijah Marks, who bares a resemblance to Chukwumezie in style of play and skill set, Pflugrad worked a connection from his playing days at Arizona State. A fellow receiver for the Sun Devils, Mike Willie, played for Cerritos before moving out to Tempe. Cerritos head coach Dean Grosfeld coached both Willie and Chukwumezie.
"I was familiar with the program and we actually got on him kind of late," Pflugrad said. "We were kind of late to the party on him, but then just started developing the relationship from there."
NAU would be Chukwumezie's fifth offer, but the one he, and most importantly his mom, felt was the right fit.
"My first offer was Idaho, then I got offered by Marshall and then a couple more offers started coming in. But I wanted to stay close to Cali. I wanted to stay close, so if anything happened to my hometown It wouldn't be a problem for me to just drive back," Chukwumezie said. "When they came and visited me at my home, I got that good vibe from them. And the even bigger thing was my mom got that good vibe from them. When they left, she was high on Coach Pflu. She was like 'this is the one'."
The Lumberjacks weren't necessarily the closest offer to home Chukwumezie received, they just did so for the right sport. A CIF champion in long jump, with a personal record of 23-8 as a senior in high school, Chukwumezie's success in the event carried over to Cerritos. In fact, Cerritos' track program was part of the draw when he was looking for a junior college.
But even with USC inviting him for a visit as they recruited him to be a long jumper, Chukwumezie knew he wanted to remain on the football field.
"It was pretty much football to me, I just had love for it more," said Chukwumezie, who reached the California Community College State Championships in the long jump. "Track, it's cool and everything, but I like scoring touchdowns more than I like track meets."
Chukwumezie arrived at NAU with plans to jump for the track program in addition to playing football, but those went by the wayside as he and Pflugrad felt the difference in conditioning and training may throw off his weight for football season if he was spending nearly half of the year with the track program.
FINDING HIS FIT
With he and his mom in agreement that NAU would be his best option going forward, much of Chukwumezie's research paid off. The receiver had taken notice of Marks' style of play and Pflugrad's usage of him in the offense. Excited about the opportunity a similar player had been granted, Chukwumezie became confident he'd find success within the Lumberjacks' system.
"We have a similar body frame, similar speed, a similar style of play," Chukwumezie said. "I said if he can take advantage of his opportunity and do that, I can do it no problem too."
Additionally, Chukwumezie's first year in the program allowed him to learn from Butler, who he expected to play alongside in 2018. With an impressive fall camp ahead of the season opener at UTEP, Chukwumzie stood out as the replacement for Marks, as expected. However, an injury unfortunately robbed him of most of the year and led to a redshirt season.
"He was our most explosive guy in camp and really he was more than we thought he'd be," Pflugrad said. "Having that deep threat would have been great that year, but everything happens for a reason. Now we're looking at it where he still has one more year left instead of last year which would have been his last year in our program."
It was the first time an injury took Chukwumezie away from football for a significant chunk of time.
"It was pretty much an eye opener for me... but it just made me want to come back stronger. With my success I had in camp, I knew I was going to contribute to the team," Chukwumezie said. "I didn't want the coaching staff to give up on me in a sense, so it made me hungrier."
Two years of junior college football, as well as the drive he maintained since his high school days, aided Chukwumezie in coming back from an injury. While four-year universities have solid structures, holding athletes accountable for their recovery and workouts, some junior colleges have looser requirements.
"It's either you want to work or you don't. There's nobody that's going to push you to do anything, really except the coaches," Chukwumezie said. "But nothing is mandatory like it is in four year. You have to really love football to make it out of a JuCo."
BOUNCING BACK
Chukwumezie's drive and work ethic paid off as he entered the second go-around for a junior season. With Butler graduated, NAU was in need at receiver going into the 2019 season.
Through the first three games of 2019, Chukwumezie scored a pair of touchdowns with a few long receptions. However, his connection with quarterback
Case Cookus didn't start smoothly right off the bat. Catching four of his first 16 targets, Chukwumezie knew he could play better, even with his big play ability already apparent.
"It took me a couple of games because, I guess I'd say I was kind of nervous at the beginning of the season," Chukwumezie said. "I just had to really look myself in the mirror, ask myself what like, 'What are you doing? You are not playing how you play. You have got to relax, do your thing and ball out'."
An eight-catch, 81-yard game against Illinois State, in which he caught all of his targets, helped push Chukwumezie in the right direction. With his confidence headed in the right direction, Chukwumezie reached 68 yards in seven of his final eight games of the season.
Now entering his senior season, Chukwumezie will play a key role among an incredibly deep group of receivers for NAU in an offense that led the nation in passing yards last season.
"Coach (Junior) Taylor really coached him hard and stayed on him," Pflugrad said. "He really continued to develop throughout the year. Then this offseason, he's really developed in a leadership role and continued to develop as a wide receiver. So we really expect big things from the season."
