This is an opinion column.
So long to one of the biggest busts in Alabama football history. Jaylen Mbakwe, I’ll always wonder what could have been.
They used to say Alabama was where champions were made. That marketing campaign doesn’t really resonate with me anymore. Just look at Mbakwe. He never learned the first thing about being a champion at Alabama, and now he’s in the transfer portal and setting up visits to places like Georgia and Texas.
Maybe Mbakwe will figure things out at a different school under one of Nick Saban’s former assistants. I’m not hopeful, but I’ll be rooting for him.
Mbakwe played high school football at Clay-Chalkville. Like everyone that goes to Alabama, he was a big deal back in the day. He was ranked the No.1 overall athlete in the country by ESPN his senior year. He could do it all. Now he’s a cautionary tale. What happened?
Here’s the problem with college football these days, and it’s not just an Alabama thing. When kids are given money without earning it, that doesn’t make them professionals. It just makes them want to be lazy.
The fancy car comes without earning it.
Free money is wasted on obnoxious jewelry.
If you wanted a PC friendly column, then you came to the wrong place. That’s for someone else to write. Just real talk here. There is nothing I hate more in this world than wasted potential. Mbakwe’s story makes me angry. He showed up on campus as a Top 20 recruit. Five stars. Blah, blah, blah. He did nothing his freshman season at cornerback, so he switched to receiver. First, though, he wanted more money or he was going to leave.
I don’t really blame him personally. I blame the system. College football in its current form is pretty good at developing spoiled brats.
Does anyone remember what Mbakwe sidekick Ryan Williams wrote on Twitter after Mbakwe went into the transfer portal for more money? This was last year. Mbakwe was holding out. He wanted Alabama to pay up, or else.
Alabama finally caved.
“We got action,” Williams said.
Famous last words. What Alabama got was no action at all from Mbakwe, and Williams somehow forgot how to play football this season.
Lesson learned.
Mbakwe and Williams were more focused on developing a podcast and playing video games than learning how to be professionals.
I don’t want to get lost in the weeds here, but Alabama might want to think about demoing that silly podcast studio it built for football players.
Maybe get back to building champions.
Lions at war fighting over a piece of raw meat.
That’s how NFL linebacker Rashaan Evans once described practice at Alabama. That’s tough stuff.
Alabama football these days? I don’t see many starving lions.
The raw meat in Evans’ metaphor was the idea of becoming a professional through hard work and playing time. It was a fight for survival. Now there’s free food lying around all over the place.
Mbawke, not exactly a hungry lion.
He got fat the moment he showed up on campus, then he threatened to leave unless he received more grub and now he’s leaving to find the next free meal.
There’s your problem with Alabama football these days, and it’s something that Nick Saban never had to deal with.
I don’t have all the answers to the problems facing college football going into this offseason. If I were a general manager, though, I know how I would play this new game. Freshmen with fat wallets don’t win national championships. It’s more efficient to spend money on upperclassmen transfers like the guys at Indiana than five-star like Mbakwe.
Indiana flipped its roster over the last two years with a bunch of juniors and seniors who were starving for a chance to simply prove themselves. Just look at Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza. He toiled away at Cal for three years. How did Indiana coach Curt Cignetti find him?
He prioritized experience over potential.
Auburn fans should certainly remember Mendoza. Go back and look it up. His breakout game in 2024 was Cal’s 21-14 victory over the Tigers.
Another missed opportunity by Hugh Freeze? Go figure.
Cignetti was watching, though, and he built his team around a former two-star recruit who was once ranked 140 among high school quarterbacks prospects.
The transfer portal is open until Jan.16. More and more Power 4 teams will be following the Indiana model. Maybe Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer should go find some hungry two-stars and get to work.
College football is the same game. Just gotta find the starving lions.
Better to invest in hard work than waste money on the next big bust.
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