Plenty of young football players who make the NFL can usually point to a career-defining moment in high school, a singular event where they cement their status as a future pro.

Not Patrick Chung. Chris Van Duin, Chung’s coach at Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) High School, remembers a high schooler who steadily advanced up the depth chart with hard work and dedication. A relatively undersized youngster who started his high school football career at age 12, there were no highlight-reel hits, no trail of college coaches beating a path to Rancho Cucamonga to see him play.

Instead, there was a do-anything attitude and a willingness to keep learning, especially from high school teammates like Terrell Thomas and Gerald Alexander, both of whom would go on to play in the NFL.

“For us, with him, it was a maturing process,” Van Duin said of Chung, who was taken in the second round of last weekend’s draft by the Patriots. “I think watching him as a sophomore and being willing to listen to guys like Terrell Thomas and Gerald Alexander, guys who were ahead of him, we knew then he had that level of maturity about him.”

He had an excellent high school career, but he wasn’t ranked by any of the major recruiting services, and Van Duin said there were just two scholarship offers -- Oregon and Boise State.

“It was one of those things where you were having to convince people that he had a huge upside,” Van Duin said of Chung, who was 16 when he graduated high school.

The 6-foot, 210-pound defensive back decided to go to Oregon, and quickly built a career as a big hitter, a rep that quickly grew after this video of him delivering a pair of crushing blocks while a teammate ran back an interception against Michigan hit the Internet. (Chung is No. 15.)

“He can bring it. That YouTube play, that’s a great example,” Van Duin said. “That first guy he hit had to be 6-foot-6, and he just annihilates him. And then, he goes and gets another one.”

A four-year starter and two-time first-team all-conference honoree at Oregon, he quickly came into his own with the Ducks. As an upperclassman, he quickly became a defensive quarterback who played several roles, including rover and free safety. As a senior, he finished the regular season as the team’s third-leading tackler (92) as well as the program’s fourth-best tackler of all time (384) -- tops among non-linebackers.

Chung said this past weekend he looks to safeties like Bob Sanders and Brandon Meriweather for inspiration, but some believe his big-hitting ability and smarts are similar to veteran safety Rodney Harrison. Van Duin says Harrison and Chung do have a similar game, but he believes Chung is closer to San Diego safety Eric Weddle, someone who has played both safety spots and has even seen spot duty at cornerback.

“Weddle does a lot of different stuff, like Patrick,” Van Duin said. “I saw Eric as a high schooler and at Utah, and he’s just so effective no matter where you use him. They found a spot for him, and I think the Patriots will do the same thing with Patrick.”

Because he wasn’t coddled, because he wasn’t a part of the star system that causes young players to get hyper-inflated egos at an early age, Van Duin said Chung remains grateful and loyal to those who stood by him, and points to the fact that less than 48 hours after he was drafted by New England, he was back at Rancho Cucamonga, signing autographs and accepting congratulations from teachers and students at his old school.

His high school coach believes he’ll continue to do just that as a professional.

“I will say the No. 1 thing with him -- and it held true at Oregon -- is that he’ll be incredibly grateful for the situation he’s been put in. He’ll respect the organization. You can always count on him,” Van Duin said. “I don’t think he’ll ever take anything for granted.

“I think he’ll be perfect in New England. They are all about business, and he takes his business very serious as well. He is the type of guy who can have his fun when it’s appropriate, but when it’s time for business, it’s all business. When it’s time to be serious, you don’t have to worry about him. New England is in good shape with him. He’s a good fit.”

Christopher Price covers the Patriots for WEEI.com.