ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Back in the summer of 2017, Michigan football coaches prioritized the DMV region during the offseason satellite camp tour, making a stop at Bowie State University in Maryland. The premier prospect that camp was Eyabi Okie, nee Anoma.
Okie was considered the top edge rusher in the 2018 recruiting cycle, and the maize and blue were in the thick of his recruitment, hoping to sway him from some of the other top schools in the country. However, he ended up choosing Alabama, where he started his career.
Fast forward several years and several schools later, Okie found himself in the transfer portal for the third time. But this time, it was of his own volition. Set to graduate from UT-Martin, Okie realized he could use for a change of scenery, and realized that perhaps his second choice initially was the right choice for him now.
“At the end of the spring ball at my old school, I looked at my credits, how much credits I had left,” Okie said. “I talked to my grandmother, my grandmother was just like, ‘Oh, you need to try to graduate as soon as possible.’ Ever since my Alabama transfer, and I’ve really tried to, like, you know, listen to whatever my grandma says. (…)
“So I graduated, I want to say, at the end of July. I had a couple schools reach out to me, some Power Five. And then I was just still being patient, waiting around and then just looking to see the right fit, hoping that some of the old schools would offer me, if they were going to offer back. And they started coming in towards the end.
“Michigan had reached out and I was just like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m coming home!’ Definitely gonna come home to the original school I was looking at in my career and have some of my guys here — Blake Corum, Nikhai Green, Derrick. So, it’s just a perfect fit.”
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Considering that Michigan had been pitching him back then, how does it compare now that he’s actually inside the building, wearing a winged helmet and playing in The Big House? How do his previous expectations meet reality?
He says that it’s lived up to the hype, but more importantly, he really appreciates the culture inside Schembechler Hall, and he feels like it’s making him a better player.
“I mean, I feel like they’re pretty equal. This is like a blue-collar team,” Okie said. “What you see is what you get, you work for every snap. Coach Jay Harbaugh said something, I want to say like two weeks ago, about recommitting ourselves, every single week, every single day. And that’s what we have with this team: you have to recommit every single day. It’s football, so no one’s gonna be 100, no one’s going to feel great, but how bad do you want it?
“You’re playing for the man next to you. The man next to you is going 100%. So are you going half-(expletive)?”
Given his early success — Okie’s first snap wearing a winged helmet was a sack — and his continual improvement, fans are eager to see him on the field more. However, he’s biding his time.
Okie recognizes that he still has some work to do before he’s the player he hopes to be, noting several areas of improvement he’s working on. But for him, he feels that it’s more imperative that he readies himself for the bigger games — Penn State, Michigan State, Ohio State, and potentially the College Football Playoff.
Though the other games are important, a big reason he came to Michigan was to be able to play in and showcase his ability in those games.
“I still have to knock a lot a lot of dust off, though. I have to start to get back to truly comfortable,” Okie said. “And that’s why you might not see me have as much snaps as some other guys. They’re just polished, you understand? And I understand that, getting where you fit in and whatever I can do to help the team.
“But it all starts in practice. In practice, I really try to really get first off the ball, give it like a real strong three yards, like three, four yards off the ball, really threaten that tackle upfield so I can have a two-way go. Make his shoulders turn parallel. I’m real good jumping the ball, seeing the first movement and just reacting off of that. But you know, it’s just really about polishing all those movements because later on in the season, like hopefully CFP, you’re gonna go against tackles that can move as fast as that so you want to be able to counter that. What else can you do? Can you like switch it up? Can you basically (convert) power to speed and then dip that corner? Really box them out. That’s what we’re really working on right now.
So, we’re not preparing for the teams — we’re preparing for later on in the schedule, like the harder teams. But, we’re always worried about the next game, too. We’re definitely always worried about the next game.”
Through five weeks, Okie has six tackles, with three for loss, two sacks, and one credited quarterback hurry. While it’s not quite on par with David Ojabo’s trajectory last year, it’s close, as Ojabo had three sacks, 15 tackles, and three QB hurries through five games a year ago. But that’s with much more time on task, considering Okie joined the Wolverines two weeks into fall training camp.
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