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What was Jaylen Mbakwe Alabama football freshman season like? What his mother said
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- What was Jaylen Mbakwe Alabama football freshman season like? What his mother said
Even after Jaylen Mbakwe's first season with Alabama football , Gabrielle Willis, his mother, can't help but look back.
Willis harkens back the same story she told in Mbakwe's commitment announcement video: how her son would always ask for action figures, football helmets and race cars growing up, how he would transform each into his personal football roster, running his own plays, forcing each car or action figure to execute whatever play he wanted.
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It didn't stop there. When Mbakwe was in preschool and Willis was helping him learn to count, she would use numbers on football jerseys to help her lessons stick.
"He eats, sleeps, breathes football," Willis told the Tuscaloosa News.
Through Mbakwe's tumultuous offseason, one centered around a 24-hour stint in the transfer portal and a position change from Alabama cornerback to wide receiver, Willis said Mbakwe's relationship with football, and his relationship with those around him has not changed.
"I tell everybody all the time, I don't say this because I'm his mom. It takes me out of the mom equation," Willis said. "He's really a good person. He has a good heart, and he's going to help anybody that's in need or is willing to teach anybody who doesn't really understand what their position is on the field, or help someone get better.
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"I don't think that he has changed. He has been the same Jaylen all along."
Jaylen Mbakwe 'is going to be that deal'
Willis didn't watch much football until her son began playing at age 5. But it didn't take long for her to realize Mbakwe "is going to be that deal."
Mbakwe was always eager to improve, she said, to fix mistakes, attributes that have carried over to Alabama .
Playing both wide receiver and defensive back at Clay-Chalkville High School, and with his move to quarterback as a senior , Mbakwe developed a big-picture football mentality, Willis said, helping him understand major concepts that made him both a better cornerback and wide receiver in the long run.
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As an athlete, it's easy for Willis to see what separates her son from the rest.
"Once he is trying to get past who is trying to get to him," she said, "there's no catching him."
Why did Jaylen Mbakwe pick Alabama football ?
Throughout Mbakwe's recruitment, Willis was focused on two things: helping her son find his football family, and helping her son find a group of people that would tell him the truth.
"I have a very big spirit of discernment, so I can tell whether you are lying to me or not," Willis said. "I always tell people, 'Don't B.S. me because I can tell.'"
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Willis said she and Mbakwe found both at Alabama, through a recruiting staff that was "nothing but wonderful," one that included associate director of recruiting operations Ashleigh Kimble, who Willis said is the "mother figure" she was looking for for her son.
And once the former Clay-Chalkville five-star arrived, it didn't take long for the Crimson Tide fan base to know who Mbakwe was, starting a podcast with teammate Ryan Williams — a project Willis said the pair had been talking about well before they arrived at Alabama — and showing off his personality for the world to see.
"I don't think there was really a shell ever for him to come out of," Willis said.
Why did Jaylen Mbakwe enter the transfer portal?
Nov 30, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Ryan Williams (2) and Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Jaylen Mbakwe (9) bow in prayer together before the Iron Bowl game between Alabama and Auburn at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama defeated Auburn 28-14. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images
Throughout Mbakwe's freshman season, one where he had 15 tackles, two pass deflections and an interception as a cornerback, Willis said she asked her son about a potential move back to wide receiver. Mbakwe initially shut down the move, but continued to think it through, later bringing Alabama coaches into the fold.
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Mbakwe's offseason came to a height Dec. 16 when he announced he would enter the transfer portal, confirming the move in an Instagram post and calling it a "business decision." He changed his mind less than 24 hours later, announcing his return to the Tide with a "The Wolf of Wall Street" meme of Leonardo DiCaprio saying "I'm not leavin,'" and scrubbing any social media evidence of his prior decision.
"Some guys, just as they go through it, realize really what they want," Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said in December. "And, you know, we are just in the world right now where that's what it is. We're excited that he wanted to be here with us. And back out there going to work today."
For Willis, those 24 hours were radio silence. She said she went into a shell and distanced herself from everyone.
"I didn't need any outside talk trying to sway us on what it was that we were going to do," Willis said. "But that solely was (his) decision. I follow my son. I do whatever he wants me to do for him at that time. Whatever decision he makes, I'm behind him 100%. So this was a conversation we had. It was something he thought he wanted to do, but at the end of the day, it wasn't the best decision for him to make."
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Willis said Mbakwe loves Alabama. She hardly ever sees him, she said with a laugh, saying that's a significant indicator of his love for the Tide.
Willis is just ready for Alabama fans to continue to understand who Mbakwe is.
"I want them to know and understand who he really is as a person," Willis said. "He's really a good person. He's a good player. He's a fantastic player to me. But more importantly, he is a great person and if people would get to know that instead of basing it off of what they see, or what is put out there in the media, you would see more positive things that are said on social media."
What's next for Jaylen Mbakwe?
It doesn't matter the level. Every time Willis has seen Mbakwe put on a football uniform, she has teared up. It's powerful, she said, evidence of the future her son spoke into existence.
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Looking ahead, Mbakwe is now speaking about goals of graduating from Alabama in three years and eventually making it to the next level. But Willis continuously encourages her son to focus on the now, on the present.
"I am really, really happy that he is living the life that he has wanted to live," Willis said.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How Jaylen Mbakwe mother viewed son's freshman Alabama football season
