When Texas State redshirt senior defensive end Chance Main graduated from Cherryvale High School in 2017, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life.
He received a couple of Division III offers, but like many other athletes, lower-level offers brought down his confidence to continue to playing football. However, his family pushed him to continue his football career.
“My dad played football at [Independent Community College] and he recommended me to try JUCO,” Main said. “It was right down the road so I jumped into that.”
At ICC, Main played under Head Coach Jason Brown who starred in two seasons of the Netflix original series “Last Chance U.” Main was one of the select players featured in the show’s fourth season.
“With the cameras and everything showing up, at first it was like, ‘Okay what’s going on?” Main said. “But you get used to it because they’re there every day all day.”
After Mane’s lone JUCO season, he had a few offers to play elsewhere but didn’t fully understand the recruitment process which made deciding where to go next a difficult choice.
An official visit with his family at the University of Incarnate Word gave him the opportunity to find his next stepping stone in 2019.
“They had a lot of good coaches there,” Main said. “One [was] Steven Foley. That was my coach that I really related to. He taught me everything I knew; pass rush-wise and all around.”
Main said he felt a huge difference in transitioning from a JUCO to a FCS school–– not just on the field, but in the classroom too. However, his time at UIW was cut short due to COVID-19 and an injury.
“The last game I blew my shoulder up, tore my labrum and bicep tendon,” Main said. “I immediately got surgery the next day and I kind of already decided that I was ready to leave UIW.”
With NCAA restrictions and regulations, Main’s time at UIW did not count as a collegiate year which gave him an option to play for another school without having to sit out a season.
According to Main, after entering the transfer portal once again, he had a hard time finding where to go next.
“I hit up one of my roommates, Jamar Montgomery, that I was at ICC with. He was at Colorado,” Main said. “I said, ‘Hey, send your coaches this film. I’m not having any luck with getting picked up.’”
Colorado’s defensive coordinator Chris Wilson saw Main’s film and immediately gave him an offer to play, which prompted him to pack his bags and move to Colorado. This time, Main played an entire, healthy season.
Colorado went 1-11; the worst FBS record during the 2022-23 season which led to the hiring of current Head Coach Deion Sanders and inevitable change to the program. However, Main unexpectedly had to fight with the NCAA regarding eligibility rules for the year that he missed in 2021.
“I got an email saying that my scholarship expired,” Main said. “For the next three months, I was fighting NCAA trying to get everything sent in.”
Ultimately, Main got his eligibility year back while battling for a spot at Colorado. He said the coaches wanted to change his position to nose tackle. But he didn’t want to play nose- he wanted to play his last collegiate year as an edge rusher. This led to his departure from the Colorado program.
“That was one of my low points where you don’t know why, but it’s low. Something [needed] to change,” Main said.
Main thought of ending his football career to move home and pursue a career in construction. Fortunately, after Main told his old ICC roommates he was done with football, redshirt senior offensive lineman Caleb Johnson told him to come to Texas State.
Main committed shortly after where he was the final member of new head coach G.J. Kinne’s 55-man recruiting class.
According to Kinne, Main has made tremendous strides despite his late arrival to the program.
“He doesn’t let little bumps or bruises bother him,” Kinne said. “He’s really grateful for this opportunity and I think if he would’ve been here in the summer, he probably would’ve been voted captain.”
