LOREN MEADOWS: Mentor, Counselor, Running Back Coach. To Jabbar Juluke, It’s About Relationships.

A little further dive into the shrimp and gumbo of his philosophy: “The best thing we are gonna do as a running back room is cheer for one another, play extremely hard, and play the guys that are most consistent.”

Jabbar Juluke (center) brings a lot more than coaching running backs. (Loren Meaows photo)

By LOREN MEADOWS

GatorBait Football Analyst

When you meet Jabbar Juluke, you’ll find that the opportunity to coach at the University of Florida is not something he takes lightly.

“I’m excited for this opportunity to be at the University of Florida,” was one of his most resounding initial statements during a recent media availability. What became clear was it is not the opportunity to simply coach some of the premier athletes in the SEC, but the opportunity to mold men. And make more relationships.

Juluke has a positive spirit that is clear from the minute you hear him speak. He is quick to give first-year head coach Billy Napier credit for his development as a football coach over the past four years. He states that its Napier’s “attention to detail, organization, and regiment that makes me excited to work for him and give him my best.”

When looking at the coaching philosophy of Juluke, you find that it is rooted in hard work, responsibility and dedication. “We want competition every day. No one is going to be handed anything, we want to go out and work for it on a daily basis.”

A little further dive into the shrimp and gumbo of his philosophy: “The best thing we are gonna do as a running back room is cheer for one another, play extremely hard, and play the guys that are most consistent.” Juluke stresses that he wants his backs to be “the best group of young men that you see both on and off the football field, in the community, and the locker room.”

It is those traits that Juluke learned as a high school athlete under Coach Burton Burns at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. Burns, who recently finished a stint as the running back coach of the New York Giants, is the coach Juluke points to as his mentor in life and the coaching profession.

Burns, who tutored a gifted group of backs at Alabama including Derrick Henry, was regarded as one of the top recruiters in the country known for his ability to develop relationships with high school players and coaches alike.

“I try to emulate the things that he’s (Burns) done and the impact that he’s made in my life, and I try to pay it forward to the young men I’m working with,” he said.

From Burns’ influence, it is apparent that Juluke has his finger on the pulse when it comes to dealing with his players. He is willing to offer a shoulder to lean on if necessary, but also does not hesitate to throw some tough love in their direction as well.

He speaks of current Florida Gator Nayquan Wright’s willingness to accept a leadership role as the elder statesman in the running back room. He has encouraged Wright to remain dialed in mentally while dealing with the emotional grind of rehabbing a leg injury suffered last season. He says that as a coach you want to “make their weaknesses their strengths, and their strengths their weaknesses.”

All in an effort to “not mess them up.” Referring to former protégé and physical freak Leonard Fournette with whom he has a lifelong bond. Or certain former running backs he has occasionally cautioned about the need for proper rest and nutrition and not the outside activities that college students like to indulge in.

Juluke doesn't want to "mess them up." (Loren Meadows Photo)

Certainly, this type of love was refined in the nine years that Juluke spent as a successful head coach at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans. He compiled an 80-39 record at Edna Karr capped by a perfect 14-0 mark and a Class 4A state title in 2012. Juluke guided Edna Karr to seven district titles and two state runner-up finishes during his tenure. During this time Juluke helped over 70 of his players earn college football scholarships as well.

Regarded as one of the top high school coaches in Louisiana, Coach Juluke would begin his coaching career at Louisiana Tech where he was part of consecutive 9-win seasons and back-to back bowl victories for the first time in school history.

While in Ruston, Juluke coached one of the NCAA’s most dominant rushers Kenneth Dixon. He would also gain a reputation as a tireless recruiter gaining the commitments of future NFL draft picks Carlos Henderson, Trent Taylor (wide receiver), and safety Xavier Woods.

After a year at Texas Tech, Juluke arrived at LSU to coach a group of some of the school’s most decorated runners. As gifted as Fournette, Darius Guice and Darrell Williams were as a group, it was the bond he created with them that provided the lasting relationships.

For Fournette it was “how to handle success, how to being a phenom. For Guice, it was “take your time” and allow the game to come to him. For Williams there was the constant encouragement of patience while the future Super Bowl champion waited his turn behind supremely gifted future first round picks.

Juluke referred to himself as a “counselor” during his final years in Louisiana. The trio of Elijah Mitchell, Trey Ragas, and Raymond Calais were a close-knit group of roommates that dealt with the challenges of fatherhood during their collegiate careers. “I was marriage/girlfriend counselor” he said, while stating “he couldn’t say enough” about his former All-Sun Belt performers.

Juluke said that he intends to bolster his relationships while in Gainesville. Even going as far as promising to have Leonard Fournette come speak to his player and don the Blue and Orange while visiting the Gators.

“Recruiting is temporary, relationships are permanent,” he said. “I don’t worry about the ones I lose because they can beat me one time. “I worry about the ones I get because they can beat me every day.”

It is relationships, even with those that may choose to go elsewhere the Juluke holds dear. Meanwhile, Juluke has over 4,500 contacts in his phone, all representing relationships, not wins and losses, not accolades, or disappointments. During his time in Gainesville that number no doubt is and going to grow.