PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Chris Daniels, Trinity
Sport: Football
Position: Defensive Tackle
Class: Junior
His story: This highly recruited lineman enters his final year with the Trojans football program in the fall, and big things are expected. Trinity finished with a loss to eventual state champ Allen in the fourth round in last year's playoffs. The Trojans have a new head coach in Chris Jensen, last season's offensive coordinator, who takes over for longtime coach Steve Lineweaver (three state titles in 15 years with Trinity). Daniels calls both coaches true role models in helping his progress. Daniels began playing football at age 7, which is also his jersey number, and played running back until he was 15. “I play for my cousin E.J., who passed away – he is one reason I started playing and why I haven't stopped,” Daniels said. He started on offense and defense, but moved primarily to defense after becoming bigger and stronger as years went by. He has 22 offers from various colleges, including TCU, Texas A&M, Baylor, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Miami, Southern California, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and SMU. Daniels also competes in shot put, where he participated in the regional final on May 2 in Arlington.
Fun fact: Daniels loves to sing and looks to major in theater arts and drama. His favorite artist is Chris Brown and he would love to both act and play in the NFL one day.
He said: “Trinity is really exciting, it's very diverse and we're a different type of team. We have tradition and we have a motto: ‘If it ain't rough, it ain't right,’ and we live by that and that's why we win.”
Linebackers coach John Thompson said: “Chris is a great player, great speed and has good work ethic. Great kid off the field (who) is maturing right in front of our eyes. He will be the anchor of our defense, and expectations are high with him.”
- Brian Gosset, bgosset@star-telegram.com
Correction: An incorrect photo was run with the print version of this feature.
This story was originally published May 11, 2015 at 2:55 PM with the headline "PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Chris Daniels, Trinity."