Former Hooper
Khalil Mack was primarily a basketball player until his junior year of high school when he started taking football more seriously.
Then he got hurt – a patella tendon injury that almost ended his entire career.
An assistant coach at Liberty University told Khalil’s dad that if he took football more seriously he would go to college for free.
Let’s just be honest, at 6’1 225 Khalil wasn’t meant for basketball.
The transformation
Did you know Khalil Mack was called “soft” earlier in his life? To remove that label he decided to take up football and basketball.
This mindset is f*cking unstoppable!
He popped off his senior year in football, but most schools already had a full list of recruits at linebacker. USC gave him a look, but said his game was “too raw”. Idiots.
The assistant coach at Liberty got hired at the University of Buffalo and convinced the HC to offer Khalil because of a “gut feeling” he had.
It ended up being his only scholarship offer, he accepted it in the winter after his senior season.
The coach that found him is Robert Wimberly. He recently said that scouts still come up to him and shake his hand for discovering Mack.
A coach that actually has some balls and recruits a kid with no other offers. Respect.
It’s still amazing to me that Khalil got overlooked by everyone, especially being from Florida.
The recruiting process is whack 90% of the time.
ESPN announcers saying Mack was only a 2-star recruit. Actually he was a 0-Star. Buffalo was only D-I school to recruit him. Rivals automatically assigns a 2-Star to any player who signs with a D-1 school. That’s how he became a 2-star
Khalil Mack in College
It didn’t take long for the coaches and players at Buffalo to realize they had one of the best players in the country.
However, EA Sports gave him a 46 overall rating in their college football video game, which is the reason he wore #46.
‘He’s like Superman’ – teammate at UB
By the end of his junior year, Mack had almost every defensive record at Buffalo.
One of Mack’s most impressive performances was at Ohio State when he had 9 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and a pick six on Braxton Miller.
After the game Khalil Mack went up to Urban Meyer and let him know who he is.
In the press conference, Urban Meyer said “#46 can play anywhere in the country”
Some of the stories his teammates and coaches have are pretty cool.
Did you know he use to play a guitar and sing for this teammates?
If you’re interested, you can read more about them in this ESPN article.
NFL
Let’s summarize what Khalil Mack has done so far in his NFL career:
- Drafted 5th overall by the Oakland Raiders
- 6x NFL pro-bowler
- 99 overall rating in Madden
- Highest paid defender in history – 6 years, $140M w/ the Bears
Something cool I found when researching…LeDarius Mack (Khalil’s brother) is on the practice squad for the Bears after playing 2 years at UBuffalo.
End Thoughts
Khalil Mack’s story is awesome. A man that bet on himself and won big.
He used the words/actions of haters as his own fuel for greatness.
No one would call him soft now. No one would give him a 46 overall rating.
The story of Khalil Mack is a great lesson for anyone looking to be successful in life.
And on a side note…think of all the college coaches that saw his potential but never took a chance on a once-in-a-life talent.
That’s why people say…”it only takes 1”.
Keep grinding!
