Trainer: A Lot To Like About 2020 TX CB Jalen Kimber

There’s plenty to like from a physical standpoint about Jalen Kimber‍, but those aren’t the first things Texas DB guru Clay Mack mentions when talking about the 2020 Texas cornerback.

“He’s a very smart kid,” Mack says of the Mansfield Timberview standout. “From the cognitive side of it, he has a high football IQ and he takes pride in what he’s doing. He really cares about the game, he loves the game, he’s a student of the game. That kind of lends itself to being successful given his football IQ and passion.

“From a physical perspective, he’s a long kid. 6-1ish, long and rangy. The prototypical kid as it relates to his physique and physical nature. He’s a very, very extremely skillful kid. He has all of the tools. If we were talking about a baseball kid, he’d be a five-tool kid. He can do it all. The thing I like about him as it relates to his length is he’s twitchy. A lot of times you get a longer kid who isn’t as twitchy, so it’s hard to put him in the slot and things like that. But he’s a long kid who is twitchy, so you can play him inside or outside.”

Notre Dame liked what it saw as well and extended a scholarship offer to Kimber on Tuesday.

Mack has trained scores of top defensive backs over the years, including several elite high school prospects, All-American college players and some of the best NFL DBs.

“He’s a real, real laidback kid,” Mack says as he continues talking about Kimber. “He’s a real cerebral kid. He’s one of those types of kids where if I had an organization, he would be one of the kids I would definitely groom to be a part of my organization, life after football type of deal. He comes from a great, great family. I think a lot of it stems from that.

“You never have to worry about him, you never have to worry about him acting up or anything like that. He’s real calculated with his approach in society. He’s careful about the types of kids he hangs around, he’s conscious about things like that. He’s a yes-sir/no-sir type of kid. From everything I hear from the school, he’s a yes-sir/no-ma’am kid there too. He’s just a great all-around kid.”

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Kimber also has offers from schools like Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, TCU, Baylor, Houston, Purdue and Penn State among others. Still, Mack said he was “extremely, extremely excited” about the Irish offer.

“You know how when you talk to somebody, you can hear the smile through the phone? It was one of those types of moments. Again, that fits his disposition. Notre Dame fits his type of disposition. And he’s a Midwest kid anyway. He moved to Texas from Chicago. He grew up watching Notre Dame Football, etc. From those aspects, he’s definitely excited. His family is excited about it. It’s still relatively early in the process and he has to cycle through some things, but he’s really, really excited. He’s gotten other big offers, but this offer here was one of those that I could really, really tell there was a lot of jubilation about it.”