Four Goals Propel Polk

REDLANDS, Calif. - Edrena Polk and her son Christopher have a plan when looking toward college. Chris is a budding young high school football star, a 5-foot-11, 195-pound athlete who could play at any number of top universities. On top of that he's going to graduate high school on Friday.

Edrena wanted to make sure that her son's focus on football was tempered with a long-term vision - not just for any NFL aspirations - but also for his education.

Chris Polk verbally committed to play for the USC Trojans back in March. Ever since then, both Chris and Edrena have been fine-tuning their four-point plan for success, and Wednesday they finalized his plans with a verbal commitment to Tyrone Willingham and the Washington Huskies over offers from USC, Oregon, California and others.

"It's very big news for the family," Edrena told Scout.com Wednesday night, with a smile so bright no telephone could hold it back. Because Polk is on track to graduate early, he became a highly-coveted athlete. He will enroll at Washington January 7th with a full winter, spring and summer to get acclimated to college and college football.

So the biggest question with regards to this news is...why? Why would a top student-athlete from Southern California decide that it was in his best interest to leave the state?

Edrena brings out the four-point plan, and the answer materializes.

"Chris walked in with four goals in mind that he was hoping to reach," she said. "At Washington, he was able, after extensive research and some guidance, to reach those four goals."

Here are the four goals.

1 - A solid academic career. "Any of the schools that he was recruited for were very good schools. We wanted to make sure that he had a good education."
2 - Getting on the field right away. "Christopher loves to play football, and he wants to be on the field. When we went to the different schools, we sat down and looked at all the wide receivers and running backs, and some had more depth than others. A lot of wide receivers - five senior receivers - were coming off of Washington, so he could get on the field. Also with Oregon, who had three (leaving) receivers. And there were a lot of receivers at USC. He could have played at any college because he's a good player and he loves competition, but we wanted to make sure that goal could be taken care of.
3 - An opportunity to get to the NFL. "By getting on the field, one day he could transition to the NFL, which is what he wants to do."
4 - Comfort Zone. "Because this is the first time he's going to be away from home, he wanted to be comfortable with the coaches and he wanted to establish that trust and also be comfortable with the team. That's why we went to all the different colleges, to see if we could accomplish those four goals.

You could certainly argue that all the schools the Polks were looking at could have easily handled the above goals. But they felt that Washington afforded Chris his best opportunity to put his plan into action. His official visit to Seattle back in mid-October also helped to sell the Huskies as the best fit for him.

"Going to the official visit with Washington, we were very impressed," Edrena said. "We were impressed with the facilities. The people were very organized with regards to the academics. It was very well explained, very thorough. The tours to the different facilites - he was very impressed with. The team - he felt very close and very good with the team, along with the coaches. He felt at home. It was a very good visit. It just stuck in his mind."

This is big news for the Washington Huskies. They lose five senior receivers, and are very limited in experience at that position. Polk stands an excellent chance at making the kind of impact he envisions. "I'm not one to really boast, but I am his number-one fan," Edrena said. "Christopher is a very extraordinary athlete. He runs a 4.34 40 and a 10.5 in the 100, so he's very fast, very swift. He's very agile and he has hands. He has the talent to be in the backfield and get through the hole if he has a good o-line. He's already trained at both positions (receiver and running back), so all he needs now is to be polished."

So once the family felt that Washington was the place for Chris, all that was left was the announcement to the Head Coach. "He was very, very excited," Edrena said of Willingham's reaction to Chris' decision. "I guess him and Coach (Charlie) Baggett were there together and they were screaming. They were just very happy."

Ironically enough, as hard as it is to graduate early and be a mid-year high school transfer to college, the Washington football team is about to get their second mid-year high school transfer from the exact same school in SoCal. Quarterback Ronnie Fouch - along with safety Marquis Persley - will be waiting for their former teammate with open arms. So did Fouch and Persley help grease the wheels a little bit in terms of making Polk comfortable away from home?

"We were focused on those four goals," Edrena said. "He has a lot of friends at USC as well. That wasn't the focus. This is his career, this is his life. He's going to be transitioning into adulthood. He can make a lot of friends along the way. As long as we have these four goals and we're focused on those four goals wherever they lead us, he'll make his friends. It just so happens that those four goals could be accomplished at Washington. Being that - he does have friends he did have in high school, and that's just an extra plus for him."

Any mother would naturally feel a little apprehensive having her son leave town. That's the maternal instinct kicking in. But Edrena has seen Seattle, and she went with Chris on his official visit to UW. That trip allayed all fears.

"As a mother, he's going to be away from home - so when I close my doors and lay my head down and think of him, I want to know he is OK," she said. "I had to go with him to feel and to see for myself with my own eyes who will be taking my baton as I pass my son on - and I feel very confident and very comfortable with his decision."