One way or another, Dami Ayoola was going to run out of the Arizona Stadium tunnel.
That he has not done so yet, but will do so in Friday’s Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl for South Alabama, is one of those cruel realities of college football.
On both sides, apparently.
When the Arizona Wildcats cut ties with their then-verbally committed running back in October 2014, Ayoola was crushed. He’d spent one season with Arizona Western Community College after being dismissed from the Illinois football team, where he played as a three-star recruit out of high school.
He hadn’t produced much in junior college, though, and six months after accepting his verbal commitment, Arizona — as it is said in college football — “parted ways.”
Ayoola described his unofficial visit to the Wildcats as awesome; he was blown away by the atmosphere.
“It broke me to pieces when I had to reopen my commitment,” he said.
And so, he landed with the upstart Jaguars, only a college football team since 2009, only FBS since 2012, rushing for 345 yards and five scores this season.
You don’t think Arizona, which lost Nick Wilson this year, could’ve used a senior running back?
From ‘knucklehead ’ to Jaguars leader
All you hope to hear out of someone seeking contrition is a little honesty, and of his brief career with Illinois, Ayoola offers it up.
“My time ran out there,” he said. “I had my fair share of being a knucklehead.”
As a freshman out of Fort Lauderdale’s vaunted St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Ayoola was often late to meetings, if he showed up at all. Football was a thing he did, but at the time, it wasn’t a priority.
He re-emerged at Arizona Western a changed man, and a changed player. His mind was set: He wanted to get back with the big boys.
“I came in there being sold on getting out of there,” Ayoola said of his juco stint. “Everything I did was to set myself up for the next step. I went up with a business mindset. I got to rewrite my own story.”
He ultimately chose South Alabama over Kansas, in part to help the young program continue to establish itself. Coach Joey Jones and his staff made a major impression.
“They were one of the first schools that started recruiting me, and I didn’t know where I’d be, but they stuck with me,” he said. “I thought it was honorable they stayed with me. I really wasn’t too impressed with stadiums or gear. I wanted a chance to win. I saw a chance of winning, and postseason play, but also a chance to become part of something that’s never been done.”
And don’t look now, but the Jaguars have a chance to do just that in the Arizona Bowl: A win over Air Force would be the first bowl win in program history.
“It’s really humbling, to be honest, to be able to put your stamp on history,” Ayoola said. “We knew this was a special group, but we didn’t know what it meant yet. But there was something about us that was a little different.
“The resiliency, the willingness to keep fighting.”
Sounds familiar, no?
‘How do you measure success?’
There is no simple set of instructions for when the light will turn on for any college student, much less college football player.
You talk to Jones, Ayoola’s coach at South Alabama, and it’s clear the bulb is as bright as the running back’s future.
“He’s for sure one of our leaders,” Jones said. “He’s a very positive influence on the other players. He’s grown up tremendously not only from when he left Arizona, but since he’s been here. It’s been fun to watch him.”
Football may be a part of that future, or it may not. Ayoola plans to give the NFL a shot, no matter the odds. And if that falls through? Ayoola sees a path ahead.
What’s a good running back without vision?
“Lots of guys come through our program and they all grow at different maturity levels, and hopefully they learn something about life and success and about having dreams to shoot for, and Dami is certainly one who has done that,” Jones said. “He thinks years down the road, as opposed to a lot of guys who think about tomorrow at the most.”
Ayoola sees this time in his life as if he is “finally stepping in my destiny.”
He is a contemplative guy, often thinks about his future, the road ahead.
Ayoola wonders about those college football players, the ones who seem to always have it easy, like they were chosen the second they stepped on the turf. He wonders how they handle that success, particularly the trappings of it.
“The guys you see at this stage in life who have great success, it doesn’t always translate to later in life,” he said. “The fundamentals aren’t set. I’m glad things went the way they did for me. If I had it good the whole time, I could be sitting back with a torn ACL wondering what to do. My journey is so fulfilling.”
He majored in interdisciplinary safety, and if the NFL doesn’t materialize, he’d like to return to school to become a pharmacist. A cousin of his is a pharmacist and is looking to open up nursing homes in the South.
Ayoola is reminiscent of former UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin, who was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 2013 after shattering the Bruins’ record books, only to suffer a neck injury during his rookie season.
During his time at UCLA, Franklin was known as “The Mayor” for his inspirational leadership. He now works in community outreach for the Los Angeles Rams.
Told about Franklin, Ayoola lights up.
“Getting over that NFL mindset is crazy, and I’m glad a guy like that can be so solid in his mind,” Ayoola said. “Guys who have that success early on, girls pulling at you left and right, you get to the NFL and you’re a nobody and it seems like your life is in shambles – but he knows his worth.
“He knows there are so many avenues to success.”
It takes one to know one, it seems.
“How do you measure success? If I’m not playing on Sundays, is that the only success in life?” Ayoola wonders. “Thinking about that, it’s given me so much peace now.”
