Unrecruited out of Holcomb High School, player carves out role with Washburn football

Holcomb High graduate Caeden Spencer eats, sleeps and works out by a simple motto: “There’s always an easy choice and a right choice. You won’t get better by taking the easy choice.”

Spencer has positioned himself as perhaps one of the greatest football players not to be recruited coming out of Holcomb.

“I wasn't recruited at all during high school and never talked to any college coaches,” Spencer said.

Still, it was a good time to be a Longhorn.

“My senior year was a blast at Holcomb,” the 2018 Longhorn graduate said. “Ten of 11 starters on defense were all from the class of 2018. We had all grown up and played together since 1st grade.”

That cohesiveness showed as Holcomb went 12-1 and won the 2017 Class 4A-II state championship.

“Western Kansas is known for hard-nose, run-the ball-football. That's the style of offense we faced almost every week,” Spencer said. “Meanwhile, we were a spread team. I played offense the first few games and only had a few receptions. My coaches decided I was better at defense, and that was my main focus for the rest of the season. I played cornerback and had 40 total tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery for a touchdown and we had the No. 1 ranked defense in our division.”

He also played baseball but was mainly a pinch-runner until he moved to the outfield his senior year.

Year at Washburn Tech proved pivotal for development

Spencer moved to Topeka and enrolled at Washburn Tech to study computers in the fall of 2018.

“I never thought I would play football outside of pickup games again,” Spencer said.

But something was missing in his life. It was football.

“Playing college football had always been a dream of mine,” he said. “After my senior season, it seemed like my football days were over. I graduated high school when I was 17 years old so I was always younger than everyone in my grade.”

That first year at Washburn Tech was a year of development for Spencer.

“I contacted coach (Zach) Watkins and he allowed me to walk on so I started going to the summer workouts after I finished my first year out of high school,” he said. “I was working out every day and I put on a good 20 pounds during my Tech year and I still had the drive to play football.

“I felt like I had the skill and the physical ability with an extra year of maturing.”

He went from a lean 6-foot-3, 155 pounds his senior year to a bulkier 190 pounds a year later.

“I worked out at the Student Rec Center and ate a ton of food at Lincoln Dining Hall,” he said. “My roommates and I made an intramural football team and this is when I became confident that I could compete at the college level.

“I started to put extra work in on the field to improve my skills. I knew that the competition of an intramural league was obviously incomparable to Division 2 MIAA football. However, my senior season I weighed 155 pounds and by the end of my first semester at Washburn Tech I was close to 190. My body had grown and matured and I knew that I had the ability to play at this level.”

He walked on at Washburn University and earned a full scholarship

He walked on at Washburn. His 40-yard time went from 4.78 seconds in high school to 4.62 seconds. The success story was beginning to unfold before his eyes.

“From Day 1, I had the mentality that I had to earn my spot. I was going to show up every day and work my tail off,” he said. “The hard work and consistency paid off and I earned myself a full scholarship.”

Getting to tell his mom the good news was a moment he’ll never forget.

“My mom is my biggest supporter,” Spencer noted. “When I told her I wanted to play football at Washburn, she believed in me and told me to go after what I wanted. When it was official, it was a moment of pure joy and excitement.”

A kid nobody recruited, nobody wanted. But apparently, Spencer’s western Kansas size heart didn’t get the memo he wouldn’t play college football.

His first year on the Moore Bowl turf came in 2021.

“I was on the kickoff and punt return teams,” he said. “I can say I was more nervous than I would have liked. It was time to put the work into action. I still get those butterflies in my stomach before each kickoff.”

His impact was made last November in a game against perennial power Northwest Missouri State.

“This last season I was in the defensive rotation. I only played 20-30% of the defensive snaps,” the Ichabod junior safety said. “The game I had the biggest impact on was against Northwest Missouri. My biggest play of the game was on a 3rd and 1. They lined up in a triple-back wildcat formation. I blitzed off edge and got a 3 yard TFL (tackle for loss). Celebrating that 3rd down stop with my teammates, coaches and fans was something I’ll never forget.”

He’s now a four-year member of the Ichabods, where he has appeared in 12 games making 11 tackles with six solo stops. In 2021, he blocked a kick against Missouri Southern.

The kinesiology major is a four-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.

“Since COVID gave everyone an extra year, we have had a number of ‘old’ guys on our team,” he said. “I may be 23 now, but I feel like I have so much more room to grow.”

Caeden Spencer has big goals for this season at Washburn

Despite what he’s accomplished, he’s not impressed himself just yet.

“Time flies by and sometimes I take this for granted. I have to stop myself and think back that this is a dream for so many high school athletes,” he said. “I am thankful for the opportunities I’ve been given, but I wouldn’t say I am impressed just yet. I have big goals for this upcoming season.”

Spencer has learned a lot about himself these past five years in Topeka.

“I have learned that you can’t escape fear,” he mentioned. “You have to embrace it and use it to push yourself further. It’s an ongoing mental battle with myself every day.”

For those future western Kansas athletes who have a vision and goal in life, Spencer has this advice.

“If you want something, go get it,” he said. “It may sound cliche but the only person that is holding you back is yourself. Put your head down and work! Western Kansas is looked as inferior already so what are you going to do about it?”

Don’t tell him this is an American success story. He’ll correct you.

“I would say this could be called a success story,” he said. “I wasn’t supposed to be here. I worked and willed myself into this position and that’s what being an American is about.”

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Holcomb graduate missed football and found role as safety at Washburn