Trainer | 2023 Notre Dame OL Target Sam Pendleton "The Total Package"

Corey Reich saw the potential right away when the owner of One Athletics first started working with a 13-year-old Sam Pendleton‍ a few years back.

“You can't teach a 13-year-old to be 6-3, 180 pounds,” Reich says. “But what really stood out was the work ethic and the willingness to want to learn and want to be better and not just say, 'Hey, I'm bigger than everybody. I can just ride that.'

“I knew that there was potential there, but I think it really started once he hit high school and his body started changing and you really saw all the fruits of his hard work come to fruition.”

College coaches have certainly seen it.

Now a 6-foot-5, 295-pound junior, Pendleton’s offer sheet includes schools like Notre Dame, Clemson, NC State, Virginia Tech, Penn State and Michigan among many others.

Pendleton is scheduled to be in South Bend for a visit next week.

“As far as a player and athleticism standpoint, he obviously fits the bill from 6-5, 300 pounds as a 16-year-old,” says Reich. “But what really sets him apart is his mobility, his quickness on his feet. A lot of kids are big, but to be big and be mobile and be able to move like that is what makes him special as far as an athlete goes.

“As a person, you talk about a high-character kid, a humble kid. I think he's got 20 something offers at this point and he's not a person who's boastful or likes to talk about it. He keeps a lot of it to himself and just says, 'Thank you,' when people tell him how great he is. Not to mention he's been raised in a Christian household, has Christian values. I mean, he's the total package, man, to be honest with you.”

Over the past couple years, Reich has seen the 2023 prospect expand his versatility.

“He played left tackle, he played right tackle, he could play guard, the kid could play center,” says Reich. “I've seen him just adapt to being able to do more than just one thing.”

He believes the next major step for Pendleton will come when he gets the experience of playing against players similar to his caliber.

“He's a very well-rounded player and he'll only continue to get better as he's pushed when he enters college, wherever he may go,” Reich says.

In addition to owning One Athletics, Reich is the offensive coordinator for North Davidson High School, who will face Pendleton’s Reagan High School squad.

“I'm in touch with some of his high school coaches too and they have nothing but good things to say,” Reich says. “They're appreciative of the fact that I still train him even though we're actually going to play against him the first game of the season this year.”

Pendleton isn’t the only player Reich trains who he doesn’t coach, but that doesn’t matter to Reich.

“Training athletes is what I do for a living,” he says. “Of course, I make some money from coaching, but I coach football because I just love football. But training athletes is my job. I also understand that one day all of these kids are going to graduate and then they're going to go on to college and then they're going to be adults. It's not going to matter where you went to high school.

“It's more of who you are as a person and the relationships that you make. I don't really let that affect me. Any kid who wants to work hard and be better, I'm willing to work with. It doesn't matter what school you go to.”

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