Jahmyr Gibbs

Early life

Gibbs was born on March 20, 2002 and grew up in Dalton, Georgia. After departing from his biological parents at a young age, he was raised by his grandmother, Angela Willis. Gibbs grew up in poverty, living at shelters alongside his grandmother for a portion of his childhood. Opportunities would begin to open up for Gibbs when he began attending Dalton High School. At the age of fifteen, Gibbs would be adopted by Dusty and Greg Ross, parents of Dalton teammate John Ross. Around this time, he began to emerge as a football player. Gibbs rushed for 897 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore, and 1,431 yards and 20 touchdowns in his junior season. As a senior, Gibbs led the state with 2,554 rushing yards and 40 touchdowns and was named first team all-state, the Georgia 6-A 2020 Offensive Player of the Year and a first team All-American by Sports Illustrated. He was also invited to play in the 2020 All-American Bowl. Gibbs finished his high school career with 4,882 rushing yards and 70 touchdowns.

Gibbs was initially rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at the end of his junior year over offers from Michigan, Texas A&M, and North Carolina. Gibbs was re-rated as a four-star prospect during his senior year and was further recruited by Florida, Georgia and Alabama, but ultimately decided to maintain his commitment to Georgia Tech.

Georgia Tech

After missing the Yellow Jackets' season opener, Gibbs made his collegiate debut the following week against the UCF Knights and returned the opening kickoff 75 yards. He finished the game with 219 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Freshman of the Week. Gibbs scored five total touchdowns in his first three collegiate games, with one receiving touchdown made in each game. He finished his freshman season with 89 carries for 460 yards and four rushing touchdowns, 24 receptions for 303 yards and three receiving touchdowns, and eight kickoff returns for 205 yards. Gibbs was named honorable mention All-ACC as a return specialist and a second-team Freshman All-American.

In his 2021 sophomore year, Gibbs returned to appear in 12 games with the Yellow Jackets to record 143 total carries for 746 yards rushing and four touchdowns, 36 receptions for 470 receiving yards and four touchdowns, and 23 kickoff returns for 589 yards and one return touchdown. He averaged 5.2 yards a carry, 13.1 yards per catch, and 25.6 yards per kick return; this was good for 1,805 all-purpose yards total, second-best by a Yellow Jacket all-time. For his year, Gibbs was named a second-team All-American and an all-purpose first-team All-ACC recipient.

Alabama

In 2022, Gibbs transferred to the University of Alabama to play for the Crimson Tide. On October 1, in a victory over #20 Arkansas, he had 18 carries for 206 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. In the following game, Gibbs had 21 carries for 154 rushing yards in a victory over Texas A&M. In the team's seventh game, a 49–52 loss to #6 Tennessee on the road, he had 24 carries for 103 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Gibbs finished the 2022 season with 151 carries for 926 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground, as well as 44 receptions for 444 receiving yards and three touchdowns through the air. For his year, Gibbs earned third-team All-American honors from the Associated Press as well as being named second-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC).