Willis, Chapman share football background
Junior wide receiver Corey Willis, top left, celebrates with his team after scoring during the game against Kent State on Oct. 29, 2016 at Kelly / Shorts Stadium.
When Central Michigan senior wide receiver Corey Willis arrived on campus in 2013, he was not a wide receiver.
Willis prepped at Holland high school. He played both sides of the ball, starting as a defensive back and quarterback, while also getting time some at receiver over four years.
The transition from high school to college came easy for Willis and he was open to whatever CMU needed.
“Playing quarterback was something that I always loved to do because I like having the ball in my hands,” Willis said. “I did play some receiver in high school, so it wasn't completely new, but I decided to do that because it’s what the coaches thought I would be good at.”
The 172-pound receiver became a football player thanks to a video game that inspired him to give it a try.
“For me, there was never a specific person," Willis said. "I just remember watching the NFL and playing Madden all the time. I really got inspired to just be the guy in Madden and that is how I really started to play football, well actually asked my parents to play football.
"They didn't really want me to play at first but once I was able to play there was nothing else they could do, I got on that field and no one could take me off."
Willis said that basketball was his first love in third grade. He also ran track because it was something that his dad did in college.
Something about football just stood alone in Willis’ eyes.
“I love almost every sport and gave it my all in them, but with football, it was a love I had unlike any other sport,” Willis said. “When other seasons would end, I would just be ready for the next one, besides football. I was always ready for football.
The senior wideout had scholarship offers from Iowa, Western and Eastern Michigan coming out of high school.
“I felt like CMU gave me everything I needed,” Willis said. “When I was in high school, I needed that security and a team that was going to love me through thick and thin. The main reason I picked (CMU) was because of the family atmosphere I felt the second I got here.”
Willis said that Cooper Rush always made him feel like there was a coach on the field. Tony Annese was one his best friends since the first day they met.
Sophomore receiver Brandon Childress talked about the family atmosphere at CMU.
“When I got here, Corey was the first guy I got myself attached to,” Childress said. “Corey was the goofy guy kind of like me, and I love playing along side him and (Mark) Chap(man) because I learn from them. Just watching them play has helped me learn this position at this level.”
Childress was also a multi-sport athlete that was being recruited to play Division I basketball, but chose stick with football when he started getting more offers as a senior.
Childress, Willis and Mark Chapman have been able to form a receiving unit that is full of experience. Childress played quarterback in high school. His father inspired him.
“I was a quarterback my entire life until I came here and a lot of that has to do with my dad because I wanted to be like him,” Childress said. “The coaches recruited me here to play receiver like Corey because they also could see something in me there and the transition went well.”
Head coach John Bonamego believes that the experience between this receiving core couldn't have happened at a better time than this season.
“We feel like whoever the quarterback is, whether its Shane (Morris) or Tony (Poljan), we have so much talent around them,” Bonamego said. “They go out and perform at a high level so players like Corey (Willis) and Mark (Chapman) are here at the right time.”
Willis is in his final year with the CMU football program, but he doesn't want his football career to end in college.
“We just have been sharpening our tools and winning our individual battles,” Willis said. “If we can do that, we will win the game and at the end of the day that's what truly matters.”
“You have to keep hitting the nail into the ground, the thing is about the NFL is that it's a constant process," Willis said. "People think that you just wake up one day and your in the NFL but there is so much that goes on with it. A lot of us have been having this dream since we were in fifth grade.
“It’s always just grinding day-by-day that gets you into the NFL.”
Willis said that this team is ready to “show the world” what it can truly offer, and that this team will be one to surprise some people.
“We just have been sharpening our tools, and winning our individual battles,” Willis said. “If we can do that, we will win the game and at the end of the day thats what truly matters.”
