Georgia Tech running back Jamal Haynes had a very solid and productive season in 2024, his second as Tech’s No. 1 running back. But he knows it could have been much better if not for the nagging injuries he had to deal with over the past four months.
“I’m not gonna say I didn’t meet my goals, but just with injuries and a lot of things going on throughout this season, it didn’t really happen with the way that I wanted it to,” Haynes said Wednesday after the Yellow Jackets’ practiced at the Brock Football Practice Facility in preparation for the Birmingham Bowl (3:30 p.m. Dec. 27, ESPN). “So definitely looking to respond next year and get back on track.”
Haynes still has totaled 808 yards rushing, an impressive number given that he missed significant time in multiple games trying to fight through a number of ailments.
There is no telling how many yards Haynes could have had against Miami on Nov. 9. He broke a 65-yard run and had 83 yards after three attempts before the first quarter ended. But he was held of the rest of the contest for precautionary reasons after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit.
The previous game, at Virginia Tech, Haynes left late in the first half before returning for the second. He grinded out only 47 yards on 18 carries. And in games against Syracuse, Notre Dame, Louisville, North Carolina State and Virginia Military Institute, Haynes was held to less than 36 yards in each.
“The way I was playing, as far as mentality, the mentality will always be the same,” Haynes said. “But as far as being able to move how I want to move or cut and juke and all those extracurricular things that goes on with being a running back, it did kind of wear down on me just getting toward the end of the season with back-to-back games. We did get a lot of bye weeks, which really did help. Coming off those bye weeks I was just a lot more healthier, just being able to go run through the line, take hits, take blows.
“As far as just being able to stay healthy, that’s probably gonna be my biggest thing just rolling into next season.”
Haynes still has a chance to reach the thousand-yard rushing mark this season, although he’ll need 192 yards against Vanderbilt in the bowl game to reach that. Should he achieve that benchmark, he would become Tech’s first back-to-back thousand-yard rusher since Jonathan Dwyer in the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
Not bad for a converted wide receiver.
“That’s my dog,” Tech cornerback Ahmari Harvey said. “Two years ago we were both on the scout team. In my head I’m like, ‘Why is we on scout team? I’m killing the offense, he killing the defense.’ Just seeing him grow up on the other side of the ball, I’ve really seen him turn into a man. He goes in there and grinds every day. One of our hardest workers, and I’m really proud of him.”
Haynes is averaging 5.3 yards per carry this season and has scored nine times (but only once over the past four games). He’ll face a Commodores defense that is allowing 136.7 rushing yards per contest.
A Grayson High School graduate, Haynes said he gave no consideration to sitting out the bowl game to rest and prepare for 2025.
“It’s honestly the mentality. It’s just how I was raised, how I grew up,” he said. “If I have the opportunity to play football, if I have the opportunity to compete, that’s what I’m about, that’s what I’m for, and if I have the opportunity to strap up in another GT helmet, hey, I’m taking that full opportunity, hands down.”
Haynes has 1,867 career rushing yards, the 19th most in Tech history. He needs to find the end zone four more times to enter the program’s top 10 for career rushing scores.
And if he returns to Tech for the 2025 season, his name will continue to move up through both all-time lists.
“That’s definitely my plan,” Haynes said of remaining a Yellow Jacket. “Things just happen, but, me personally, I’m just being where my feet are, focusing on the bowl game, trying to get a win with my brothers and our seniors for their last time.”
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