Seizing the day: Iweh makes the most of opportunity with falcons

By Duane Cochran for FightingFalcons.com

Jerry Iweh ambled out of Fairmont State University's football locker room Wednesday evening wearing a maroon school hoodie with the phrase carpe diem on the front of it.
 
The Latin phrase meaning to "seize the day" couldn't have been more fitting displayed on the chiseled chest of anyone but Iweh – a guy who epitomizes it and has pretty much every single day since he and his twin brother Jeff first arrived in Fairmont from Baltimore, Md. in the summer of 2014.
 
"My time here at Fairmont State has been a life-changing experience for me," Iweh said with a smile. "I came here not really knowing anyone or anything about West Virginia, Fairmont or Fairmont State. I redshirted that first fall and now here I am a fifth-year senior and I'm like where did that time go? Just yesterday it seemed like it was last season and a week ago felt like I was going into my sophomore year. Time moves fast. You've got to cherish every moment and every experience you have with your teammates.
 
"It's kind of ironic because just today we were talking about seizing the moment and winning the day. You have to do that daily because time flies. I'm a senior. Sometimes I have to remind myself of that. It went by quickly. I still have some time and games left and you can bet I'm going to make the most of every minute I've got playing this game and with my teammates."
 
No one could ever accuse Iweh of not doing that. Iweh came to Fairmont State to play safety, but during his redshirt season in 2014 he made the move to Falcon or outside linebacker. The following fall he earned a starting spot there as a redshirt freshman and has been an intricate part of the Falcons' defense ever since putting up better numbers every single year.
 
Thus, it's no surprise that in the past few months scouts from nearly every National Football League team have made their way to Fairmont, West Virginia to give Iweh a first-hand look. In fact, eight NFL scouts were in attendance at Fairmont's last home game with the University of Charleston to see Iweh and a pair of talented defensive ends for the Golden Eagles play a game.
 
"A lot of pro scouts have been coming through to make evaluations on him," veteran Fairmont State defensive coordinator and linebacker coach Ron Rankin said. "The ones who sit down with me will ask me how is he on the field and off of the field and my comment to them is this – if there were more Jerry Iweh's in the world there would be a lot less problems in the world," "He's been a very fun player to coach and it's been very enjoyable for me to watch his maturation the last four years. He's really stepped it up this season as a leader for us. We're not quite halfway through the season and I expect nothing but bigger and better things from him here in the next several weeks moving forward."
 
Fairmont State head coach Jason Woodman, who recruited the Iweh twins out of Perry Hall High School (Jerry's brother Jeff is a receiver for the Falcons who is sitting this fall out), agrees.
 
"Both of those guys are outstanding young men who have been instrumental in us turning this program around and changing the culture of our team," Woodman said. "They come from a great family and were raised with very good values. They do things the right way and always have since the first day they arrived here.
 
"Jerry has always been a solid player for us, but this past off season he really did a lot of work on his own. Right now he's about 6-4 and 226 pounds and he's the reason the pro scouts are coming here. They all want to get a look at him and hopefully in the future he'll get a chance to live out a dream and get a shot at the next level. For now, though, he just wants to win. He's always been a guy who puts the team first and is willing to do whatever it takes for us as a team to have success. I love that about him."
 
Iweh admits having NFL scouts flocking to Fairmont to see him is flattering, but quickly shifts the conversation to his top priority which is helping his teammates and team be successful.
 
"It's nice to know that people might be interested in you or want to see you, but make no mistake that's not my focus or my priority right now," he said. "At the end of the day football is a team sport. It takes 11 guys doing their jobs either on defense, offense or special teams for the team to be successful and I know each and every time I go out there I've got a job to do.
 
"I certainly don't see myself as any kind of superstar or anything like that on this team. I go to battle every week with a lot of other great guys and I want them to have the superstar mentality. If you can get everyone having that and focused on the main goal, which is to win, then you have the potential to be good.
 
"My future will take care of itself. That's something I can concern myself with next semester. Right now I'm only focused on my goal for this team or like coach Rankin says the task at hand and the task at hand is our season, winning games and trying to win a championship. I'm 100 percent committed to that."
 
Iweh's backup at Falcon, redshirt sophomore Danny Anige, can attest to that.
 
"Jerry's someone who doesn't get caught up in outside distractions," Anige said. "From a football standpoint he's focused on us winning and helping me get better and really all of his teammates get better. He's a guy who genuinely cares about his teammates. He's always asking people how their days have gone and are they getting enough to eat and are they going to class and doing the right things both on and off of the field. It's funny there's times I want to ask him how he's doing and if everything is okay with him. I want him to know we care as much about him as he does about us.
 
"There's some upperclassmen who may not take the time to answer the questions of the younger guys. Not Jerry. He's willing to always help anyone anytime. He'll always answer your questions because he sees the big picture. He's proud of how this program has turned around since he's been here and he wants it to continue and get even better in the future.
 
"Here's a guy who has a number of NFL scouts coming to see him and honestly he really never talks about that very much. He's much more focused on who we're playing that week and what we need to do as a team, as a defense or on special teams to be successful and win. He's a very level-headed guy and I have a ton of respect for him as a player and a person. In fact, I watch film of him and try to mimic him in what he does on the field. He's very good and the biggest complement I can pay him is to say I want to play like him when my time to do that on this team comes."
 
In fall camp on a daily basis Iweh would field questions from Fairmont State's young players on defense, usually during water breaks. He patiently and meticulously answered every one.
 
"I'm a firm believer that you're only as strong as your weakest link," Iweh said. "Even if that weakest link isn't the most athletically gifted player on the field he still has the potential to provide the team with something – even if it's just emotional support. I remember in high school we had a guy who wasn't the best athlete, but he always gave 110 percent and I respected that.
 
"Knowledge is power. Knowledge is a key and if everyone knows what their assignment is and knows what to do then your chance for success greatly increases. That's a formula for success. Athletic ability can only take you so far. If you're a great athlete but you're out there and don't know what you're doing or supposed to be doing then you're really not helping the team.
 
"I had older guys I looked up to who helped me a lot when I was young. Guys like Manny Ivey and Quincy Redmon had a tremendous influence on me. I still talk with them to this day. I want to be the same way to the young guys on our team now. They're the future here and in a short time they're going to be out there playing and I want to see them carry on what we established here during my time, build on that and have even more success. I'll always take the time to help someone who wants to be helped and wants to get better."
 
In three-and-a-half seasons as a starter Iweh has 175 total tackles, including 117 solo stops. He has 14 career tackles for losses, three quarterback sacks, seven interceptions, three fumble recoveries and has forced five fumbles.
 
This fall he leads Fairmont State with 31 tackles, two fumble recoveries and one interception.
 
"Jerry is a special player," Rankin said. "He's athletic. He's long, he's a good tackler and he has good closing speed. I've been very fortunate during my tenure here to have coached some very good linebackers – Marcus Porter, Chinedu (Oparaku), Darius Lee, Zack Hoover and Trevor Malnick. Those guys were a pleasure to coach because you only had to tell things to them one time and it would get done. Jerry is especially that way. You tell him one time and it gets done."
 
Iweh credits Rankin with helping to develop his skills as a linebacker.
 
"I love coach Rankin and have so much respect for him," Iweh said. "I'll be honest when I moved to linebacker I had no idea how to play the position. I didn't know the ins and outs, the small, finite details or the overview of how to play the position. When he came in I could tell he had a lot of knowledge and I just wanted to be a sponge and soak up every bit of information he shared.
 
"His insight and his way of describing and explaining things helped me out a lot. He made it easy. His intensity and determination to be focused helped me focus and really lock in to what I needed to lock into. He's an intense guy. He'll get up in your face, but when you understand he's getting on you to make you better you appreciate that. I owe everything to him. His motto of relentless effort, 4-to-6, A-to-B is the way we play and we've all bought into that 100 percent."
 
Despite playing better every season Iweh wasn't satisfied with himself as a player when the 2017 campaign came to an end and this past off season worked very hard to improve and add good weight to his tall frame. That work has indeed paid dividends for Iweh and Fairmont's football team this fall.
 
"I know it's a cliché but I believe you can never be satisfied with where you are as a player," Iweh said. "There's always room for improvement. I knew that after last year and I was determined to get better. Being an athlete isn't easy. Being a good athlete is even harder. You've got to want it and you've got to be willing to pay the price and do the work to get better.
 
"My dad always told me nothing in this life is going to be easy. You've got to set goals and you've got to go after those goals and achieve them. No one is going to do it for you and it's not going to magically fall out of the sky and just occur. You have to be the one to do the work. I don't want anyone to ever outwork me. That's something that was instilled in me by my parents ( Amaechi and Gloria Iweh) at a young age and I've never forgotten that."
 
In addition to starting at outside linebacker, Iweh also plays a major role on a number of special teams for the Falcons and says he views that job as being an honor.
 
"Special teams is the third aspect of the game and being on special teams means a lot to me," he said. "Honestly, I think it's an honor because so much can be determined in a game on special teams. A lot of people take it lightly or don't view it as being important. That's totally wrong. Special teams quite often determines the outcome of games. I like playing on special teams and having the responsibilities that I do on them."
 
Iweh is majoring in chemistry at Fairmont State with minors in psychology and community health. In the future after his football career comes to a close he'd like to be a pharmacist.
 
"I thank God for giving me the opportunity to come to Fairmont State and play football and get an education," Iweh said. "My experiences here have showed me so much about life and how it works. I came here wanting to make a difference and to be part of a change in culture and looking back now I think I've done that.
 
"Football is a lot like life. It teaches you to be diverse and to deal with adversity. I've left a lot of blood, sweat and tears out there on that field, but I've got so many good memories that I'll look back on here for the rest of my life. Fairmont changed my life. It really did. Looking back now I can't image myself going anywhere else and being able to accomplish the things that I did here. I'm a Falcon – forever."