Michigan football: Eyabi Okie fueled by a desire to change his own narrative

Michigan football made waves 13 days before the season began by adding former five-star pass rusher Eyabi Okie to its roster for the 2022 season. The opportunity to play at Michigan was more than just a second chance for the EDGE defender.

It is likely his final chance at the collegiate level to prove he is not only capable of being a productive pass rusher, but a productive man off the field, too.

Okie, who spent time at Alabama, Houston, and UT Martin, entered the transfer portal on Aug. 15. Michigan was involved in his recruiting during the 2018 cycle and he played for Associate Head Coach Biff Poggi at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland. Michigan fans will recognize that as the school that produced junior running back Blake Corum and junior linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green and freshman EDGE Derrick Moore, among others.

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Okie was the No. 3 overall player in the 2018 class and an On3 Consensus Five-Star Plus recruit, meaning he was listed as five-star on each of the major recruiting services. After receiving little playing time at Alabama, he was dismissed for a violation of team rules and academic issues.

Okie transferred to Houston in 2019 but was also dismissed from the program. He transferred to UT Martin and sat out in 2020 due to NCAA rules. Last season, he was an All-Ohio Valley Conference pick and on the OVC All-Newcomer team, notching 36 tackles (9.5 for loss) and six sacks on the year playing the JACK position. He entered the transfer portal for a third time on Aug. 15 before enrolling at Michigan.

Okie credits his late grandmother for getting him on the straight and narrow and emphasizing getting a college degree. A former UT Martin teammate also emphasized that Okie was meant for more than playing FCS ball.

“I had one player there that is currently still right there, Rob Hicks,” Okie said. “He and I played in the All-American game together. When Rob transferred over, Rob was just like, ‘bro, listen, we don’t need to be here.’ Rob was the first person to throw that in my ear, like, hey bro, you’re way better than this. He just kept being strong on me and real positive influence in my ear.

“Coach Jason Simpson held us to a different standard. He didn’t let me practice a certain way, he didn’t let me play down to my competition. Emphasizing, hey bro, you’ve got to get that degree. You’ve got to get that degree. The biggest thing, honestly, is my grandma. I consider my grandma my mom. No one wants to see their son go through their ups and downs. My grandma never turned her back on me. Really helped me kind of stay grounded. It gets me emotional because she’s not here. She’s literally the reason why I made a whole (180). When you sit right there and you see a woman that’s like, hey, you can do anything, do it for me. You’re really bought in at that point.

The process from there was simple. Find an opportunity in the Power Five and ac chance to put a stamp on his college career.

“At the end of the spring ball at [UT Martin], I looked at my credits, how many credits I had left and I talked to my grandmother,” Okie said. “My grandmother was just like, ‘You need to graduate as soon as possible.’ Ever since Alabama, with me transferring, I’ve tried to listen to whatever my grandma says. All I’m trying to worry about is graduating. I graduated at the end of July, I had a couple of schools reach out to me. Some Power Five schools.

“I was still being patient, waiting around, and then looking to see the right fit. Hoping that some of the old schools that offered me would offer back. Then they started coming in towards the end. Michigan had reached out. I just said, oh yeah, I’m coming home. Definitely [feels like] coming home. Just a perfect fit.”

Okie’s path to maturity

Okie was transparent about the volatility in the early stages of his career. His biggest lesson from the process has been the maturity it takes to operate at this level.

“I’m going to be real,” Okie said. “It was just a hard time adjusting to not being able to play immediately. Certain things were said that didn’t go immediately. You live and you learn. Everything happens for a reason. It happened and I grew from it. I’m here today.”

He continued: “I’m a very dedicated person. I was given everything very quickly. I started football very late in my career and became a five-star real late. A lot of the little maturity things that some of the people, some of the five-stars that were—they already knew how to take on. I didn’t know how to do it. It was just me by myself and I’ve always been raising myself. Handling my own thing. I just want people to know that you live and you learn. I’m one of those people that, yeah, I burnt my hand on the stove but I learned from it. Every loss wasn’t a loss. It was a lesson.

“I’ve learned from all my mistakes. You can ask my teammates, you can ask every single teammate in every single organization I’ve been a part of about how I am as a. person. That’s the biggest thing. How do people view me? How do my teammates view me? I’m that guy, in the middle of the night and anything is going on, you can call me. If you’re having a bad day, you can call me. I’m just a real team-oriented type of guy and I’ve always been that kind of person. That’s the one thing I’m real big on. My character. I really care about my character. The physical aspects, you’re going to hear some different opinions but how the other man views you, I really care about that.”

Reconnecting with the Wolverines

Okie was a major target of the Michigan coaching staff during the 2018 recruiting cycle. Some in the know believe that they were the runners-up to Alabama during the process. He does not regret going to Alabama, though, and leans on some of his former teammates for guidance.

“[My recruitment] was really close,” Okie said. “Honestly, at the time, when I chose Bama over Michigan, I was really young in my career. It was really just ‘Roll Tide. “Had some guys from the DMV up there. Latrell Lewis, he’s now in the NFL, he was a big part of my recruitment. Trevon Diggs. Those were my hosts and I knew them previously from the DMV. We kind of clicked immediately when I went on visits and stuff like that. It kind of made me feel comfortable.

“Since I left there, I still keep in contact with them. They’re one of the people, after I made this move, that said, ‘Hey, bro, that was a good move. That was a real smart move.’ They still call me, mentor me and tell me when I’m doing things right or doing things wrong. Things I gotta improve on, stuff like that.”

Okie’s growth could lead to bigger role at Michigan

Okie played a season-high 26 snaps in the 27-14 win at Iowa. He is 3rd on the team in quarterback pressures with 8 and has 1.5 sacks on the season. Head coach Jim Harbaugh and other members of the Michigan staff have said that when he gets the playbook down, they expect him to be a bigger factor.

Okie is just focused on staying trustworthy and reliable. After receiving a degree in Interpersonal Studies from UT Martin, he is working on a graduate degree at U-M’s School of Social Work.

His time on the field will come soon enough.

“I feel like I just have to keep on earning the coach’s trust,” Okie said. “I trust Coach [Jesse] Minter, trust Coach [Steve Clinkscale], trust Coach [Dylan Roney]. They’re going to put the best players on the field at the right time. You earn snaps during practice. If I do what I need to do during practice, all three days are consistent day then of course, I should have more snaps. Any consistency in those days, it’ll be the same reason why I don’t get as many snaps. I can respect it.

“You earn your time in practice. You show over time that you can be trusted in practice and in the games they will throw you out there. It’s up to me to perform.”