MOBILE, Ala. – Some prospects come to college as four- and five-star recruits, meet those high expectations and move on to professional careers in their sport. Some arrive with those same lofty accolades and never live up to the perceived hype, only to disappear from rosters never to be seen again. And others take time to develop, to grow into roles and eventually contribute to their team before their eligibility runs out.
Within the University of South Alabama football program, there is no doubt that fifth-year senior Jeffery Whatley falls into the latter category.
While it's great that the defensive lineman has emerged for the Jaguars this fall as a standout on the field, if you're not paying attention you may have missed that he has developed as much, if not more, outside of competition.
"What I remember about Jeffery was that he was a cool guy, but he pretty much kept to himself like all the other new players who were trying to get a feel for everything," says fellow defensive lineman Tyree Turner, who came to South with Whatley in the fall of 2015. "If he knew you he knew you, and if he didn't he didn't care too much."
Over the course of the last four years that has changed, due to several factors, but if there is one thing many within the Jaguar program can agree on it's when they started to notice.
It started on Thanksgiving weekend last fall. Nearing the end of his fourth season at South, Whatley had appeared in 26 contests and been credited with 22 tackles. But in the season finale against Coastal Carolina, a game that the Jags would win 31-28, that's when he made his first career start. It was a moment that would spur Whatley as he participated in spring drills, and he hasn't looked back since.
"It started with the Coastal Carolina game and continued on into the spring," he recalls. "[Assistant] Coach [Harland] Bower sat down and told me that I could be a really good player in our defense, it showed me that he was invested in me; when I see that, I want to give more for my teammates and my coaches. I had a solid fall camp and I could see they were relying on me, I feel like that's helped me take my game to that next level."
According to Bower, the process actually began in the spring of 2018 after head coach Steve Campbell took over the program and he joined the staff.
"I think from the moment I met Jeffery I always thought of untapped potential, not only on the football field but in academics," he says. "Whenever he would sit in that chair across from me I would always tell him, 'There is more in there. I know you don't see it, but I do.' It was always pushing him to get to whatever his next level, his potential, is.
"My first impression of him was that he is a great kid who is going to do everything the right way, but he needed to be pushed that extra mile. I think we are starting to get there.
"He has taken that challenge from me every single day since our first spring practice. Last season he was in a back-up role, but this offseason he had a really, really good spring; he has taken that challenge every day, and now he has started to reach my expectations. But it is still an everyday battle, he is still grinding."
"Jeffery has been an outstanding player for us. Last year he did a lot of good stuff, but this year he has really stepped up," adds Campbell. "It started in the spring when he became a dominant force for us on the defensive line, I was asking 'Where did this guy come from?' He has been playing at a high level since the spring, and there were a couple of times during fall camp where he just dominated — he has really taken a step to play at that next level. Not that he gave bad effort before, but he has picked up his effort level which is important because he is a high-motor guy for us. He's been a great leader, he is a worker and he is making a lot of plays."
And it's not just the coaches who have taken notice.
"He has turned into an animal, it was like he came out of nowhere," says Turner. "About a year ago, he started showing up in practice every day; one day he came up with four or five plays in a row and we were all saying, 'OK Jeff, we see you.' Ever since then it has been the Jeffery Whatley show."
"I've made a lot of improvement, and it starts with just being confident in myself and relying on my training in games," says Whatley. "Coach Bower has confidence to put me out there in the game in those situations to make plays for our team, he pushes me to the point where practice is harder than the game so I can play all game if he wants me to."
On the field is not the only place where Whatley has grown. Now that he is comfortable in his surroundings, both coaches and players are discovering the personality behind the facemask on Saturdays.
"Oh my gosh, he is hilarious. Jeffery is definitely a character on the team, and probably one of the funniest guys in the program," Turner says. "I would've never believed he would be this way as a freshman, he just kept to himself. He is certainly showing who he is now, now that I understand Jeffery I know he is a great guy."
Adds Bower, "First of all, Jeffery is a comedian. In my opinion, he is absolutely the funniest guy on this football team. He always lightens the moment up, whenever we are out there stretching and it's 110 degrees he is always cracking jokes and the guys are laughing at whatever he says; he keeps the guys in a light, jovial mood.
"But what is awesome about Jeffery," he continues, "is when it's time to go, he can flip the switch and he is like an animal. He is a different dude, and when it is time to go kick people's butt he can do that."
"I wouldn't have been comfortable doing that when I first got here, I have opened up a lot," Whatley explains. "Besides my group of friends, if I don't know you I won't go out of my way to talk to you. I don't resent anybody, that's just me being kind of shy — I don't come across that way, but I really am. I am not the type of person who is going to go out of my way to introduce myself — 'Hey, I'm Jeffery, nice to meet you' — but rather keep to myself.
"Once you get to know me I am pretty open, I love to laugh and joke."
While some are just now finding out about Whatley off the field, his loyalty dates back to when he was growing up.
"We moved around a lot, but it was mostly in the Dothan and Midland City area. I went to elementary school in Dothan for a little bit, and after that I moved back to Midland City and those friends that I had back then, if you go and look at my social media accounts, you will see that I am still tight with that same core group; we went through every sport together. I had the chance to go to other schools when I was in middle school and high school, but I didn't want to go anywhere else."
Whatley first started playing around the time he was seven years old, although he admits that at first he didn't know necessarily what he was getting into. "My cousin's dad was the coach, and when my mom told me I was going to someone's house to play football I liked the sport but I wasn't thinking we were going to actually do drills and stuff like that," he explains. "At first I didn't want to play because of all the running, but as I got older I became good and ran with it."
While he continued to play, it wasn't apparent to him early on that he might have the potential to play at the collegiate level.
"If you know me as a person, you know that I am not the type of guy to gloat about myself. I will never think I am good enough to do anything until I actually start doing it," he says. "I wasn't that great in my ninth grade year, I wanted to quit football and focus on baseball and basketball. But mama wouldn't let me quit, and in 10th grade I got a little better and we had a better season — winning helps everything — and at the end of 11th grade that's when I knew that I could definitely do this. That's when coaches started calling and e-mails started coming in."
As a junior at Dale County High, Whatley posted 81 stops with 17½ of those behind the line including five sacks as the Warriors went 11-1. The following fall, he recorded 33 tackles for loss with 13 sacks among his 105 total stops while helping the team reach the state 3A championship game on the way to a 14-1 finish. For his efforts, Whatley was one of three finalists for the 3A Lineman-of-the-Year honors after being named first-team all-state for the second straight season.
With that performance came scholarship offers from Southern Mississippi, Troy, Georgia Southern and Florida International, but he had several reasons leading to his signing with South.
"I really, really liked [former head] Coach [Joey] Jones and that staff," Whatley says. "My cousin played basketball at Bishop State [Community College], so I had been around the area and felt it was home before I ever started to get recruited to play football. It wasn't too far from home, it was new and I wanted to make a name for myself here. Troy is right there where I am from so everyone was expecting me to go there, but that didn't feel like home to me. When I took my official visit, a lot of the guys were already committed and I felt like I had a bond with them. That's what did it for me."
But once he arrived, Whatley was in for a learning experience. It started when he sat out in the fall of 2015 as a redshirt. "When I was in high school I was thinking that if all these college teams want me I must be pretty good and can play at the next level," he explains. "Having to sit out as a redshirt humbled me, after that I knew I had to put my head down and go to work. It was really hard because I am not used to not being in the game. But being around guys who were as good as me — if not better — made me rely on my work ethic and my morals."
Whatley appeared in four games as a redshirt freshman, then saw action in 11 of 12 contests the next fall before playing in every game a year ago. The difference now, however, is in his role and his production in the Jaguars' first two outings this year — he recorded his first collegiate sack in the opener at Nebraska, and followed that up with a pair of stops behind the line of scrimmage in last week's 37-14 victory over Jackson State. And that has come with Turner — a preseason all-Sun Belt Conference selection — sidelined with an injury in the opening quarter in Lincoln.
"My accomplishments mean nothing, I want us to play every game as hard as possible no matter who the opponent is and leave everything out there. If we can do that, good things tend to happen," says Whatley. "Not only that, but I want to win regardless of the opponent — you can see we gave Nebraska a run for their money, we can play with anybody. Week in and week out we have to come in and do our job, if we do that I think at the end of the year we'll be right where we want to be.
"The individual stuff doesn't matter. If Tyree is out, we have to keep rolling with the punches; in this game anything can happen, not just to Tyree but to any one of us on the field. On the defensive line it's a standard that Coach Bower always talks about, and playing at that standard no matter who is in the game. We played young guys in that game too, and they did just as good as I did. There are not one or two guys and after them there is a letdown, that's not how it is supposed to be. And at the end of the day, if we are not living up to that standard Coach Bower is going to tell us."
With his senior season underway, don't expect Whatley to be looking at anything other than the upcoming opponent — in this case, Memphis, who the Jaguars will play host to on Saturday afternoon.
"I was thinking about that [his last collegiate season] after the Nebraska game, which was my last 'first' game," he says. "It is kind of surreal, but at the same time I've been here a while and seen a lot of stuff; I've been around the block a time or two, and am trying to cherish all of it. I try not to think about the future because if I am thinking about everything down the road then I am not really focused on what's in front of me — a lot of times that can get you in trouble. I am just going to take it step by step, I am going to play in this game and keep chopping wood and at the end of the year I will have my degree. If everything goes as planned of course I would love to keep playing football."
That degree will be in history, which is both a passion of Whatley's and the subject of a potential career. "To be honest, I really like history," he explains. "As far as the civil rights movement, World War I and II, the Civil War, how America and other countries came to be and what they are now just interests me. I also want to teach and coach.
"My mom and I just had this conversation," he continues. "I would love to go back home, but I feel I have to do my own thing. I want to get out and see new things, try new things. I really like the Mobile area so I would love to stay here, this is where I want to be."
When individuals discuss the virtues of collegiate athletics, one area they will point to is the development of student-athletes who move on to become productive contributors to society regardless of whether or not sport is involved. Some arrive on campus with those expectations and can meet the responsibility with ease, for other it's too much.
And for some, it's a process that takes years, time during which that person may be lost in the shadows.
Just ask Jeffery Whatley. He's emerged not just as a playmaker but as a person, and he's not afraid to show you.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give
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