For a year, Georgia Tech defensive tackle Jabari Hunt-Days has felt the pain of having football taken away from him. Declared academically ineligible in May 2014, Hunt-Days spent last season on the scout team, his scholarship revoked, and watched the magic of the Yellow Jackets’ 11-win season from the sidelines, at once both a participant and spectator.
Hunt-Days earned his eligibility back after summer school, and is preparing to play his senior season at a new position and with renewed passion. On Tuesday, he spoke for the first time with media since losing his eligibility.
“I’ve never been to jail, but I could imagine it’s something that… you love something that you want to do and you can’t do or don’t have the opportunity to do because of yourself and the things that you’ve done to get yourself there, and now you want it back,” Hunt-Days said. “It’s kind of detrimental, and throughout the whole year, I just swallowed my pride and I did the best and made the best I could.”
His effort to catch up academically, while serving as a dedicated member of the scout team, drew the notice of coaches and teammates. He was named the defensive scout-team player of the year at the end of the season.
“I’m very proud of how he’s responded to adversity, how he’s picked himself up off the mat and done what he’s needed to do,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said.
Roof and defensive line coach Mike Pelton were among those helping ensure that Hunt-Days didn’t waver, checking with him multiple times each week for updates on his classwork. Hunt-Days, from Hillgrove High, lost his eligibility after falling behind an NCAA-instituted checkpoint measuring progress toward his degree and needed to catch up. His GPA was also a factor.
“We had a routine with him, but he had to do all the work,” Pelton said. “That’s just a tribute to him. He can finish his career on the field and not in the stands.”
Coaches and teammates know well the impact he can have on the Tech defense. After last season, guard Shaquille Mason, who practiced against Hunt-Days daily as he served on the scout team, said he was the best defensive lineman he faced all season, and gave him credit for helping him earn All-American status. Pelton joked that the best part of his summer was his pupil’s eligibility getting restored.
“He’s got to get back in the swing of things, but he’s getting there,” Pelton said.
Hunt-Days is with the second-string defense at tackle. The last time he played, in the 2013 season, he was a linebacker listed at 247 pounds. He is now 290. In the 2014 spring practice, he was tried out at defensive end before again being transferred to tackle.
“I can say I kind of miss (linebacker), but I’m loving this defensive line thing,” Hunt-Days said. “I’m loving everything that’s being taught to me that’s new, and transitioning from linebacker to defensive tackle, I think it’s pretty good.”
He will make his return Sept. 3, when the Jackets open the season against Alcorn State. In his estimation, it is not only his physical appearance that has transformed.
“I definitely think it’s changed me,” Hunt-Days said. “I think it’s made me more mature, more than anything, as a man.”
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