D1 18-year-old Wide Receiver, Caleb Clark (‘26), has recently made it official, and committed to California Polytechnic State University to continue his football career in hopes of reaching his childhood dreams of being an NFL player.
“I worked hard for it, so it felt refreshing to get an offer. I’m just grateful I got this opportunity,” Clark said.
Clark went on a trip to Idaho on Nov. 8-9 to make his final decision about which school he wanted to further his career with. After visiting University of Idaho and meeting teammates and staff, he finalized his decision to play at Cal Poly Slo for Coaches Paul Wulff and Tim Walsh.
When Clark started his football career, he was 9 years old playing for the Youth 5 Cities Eagle football, and then was encouraged to play in 8th grade, but wasn’t planning to continue playing football in High School.
“Actually, my freshman year, the Cal Poly Head Coach convinced me to keep playing,” Clark said.
Clark has been a devoted and passionate football player for the last 4 years. He played at the junior varsity level as a freshman at Arroyo Grande High School. Later in the same season, he got pulled up to play varsity, which made his love for football grow.
During his sophomore year, he realized that he had the skill to take football to the next level. He now trains at least 5 days a week, between the gym, practices, stretching, and watching film.
Clark’s parents have been his biggest inspiration and the reason that he continues to play and stay motivated.
“My parents and I’s relationship is really good, I have a lot of respect for them,” Clark said. “They work really hard for me and my siblings to do well in life, and give us the best opportunities.”
Alongside the support of the Head Coach at Cal Poly, Paul Wulff, his family members had a huge role in helping him become the player he is today.
“My biggest motivation is my dad and brother because they didn’t have the chance to [be successful] so they gave everything they could so I could do it,” Clark said.
Clark had to deal with a lot of racist, and degrading comments on and off the field and instead of letting the comments get to him and impact his playing, he uses it to become more successful and a better person. The negativity he endures is less harmful to his mental health with the support of his best friend and running back, Zack Tayman (‘26). They push each other to be the best they can on and off the field.
“He works hard everyday and makes me work hard to compete with him. He is a great upstanding individual and I love being around him,” Tayman said.
Clark and Tayman plan to finish their last season playing together strongly so that Clark can go straight to Cal Poly in January to further his education and career. He hopes to study business while playing wide receiver or safety. Clark will continue with his current mindset to succeed in his academics and the demands of football.
“Stay away from bad influences and just work hard to get a degree and be a needed player on the team,” Clark said.
Clark’s advice to anyone that wants to go far in athletics is to stay true to oneself and focus on what’s the most important to become successful.
