Perhaps no Alabama defensive player turned potential into production more last season than did linebacker Jihaad Campbell.

After being a solid SEC linebacker in 2024, Campbell became a second-team All-American and first-team all-conference selection in 2025. He totaled a team-best 117 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and five sacks in the first season playing under defensive coordinator Kane Wommack.

Wommack was in Mobile Tuesday night for the annual First Light Community Football Preview Dinner and Mobile Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet. He called Campbell’s development into one of the best players in the SEC a “great story.”

“Here’s a guy that came in as an outside linebacker, moved to the inside linebacker position really the year before we got there, played, had a role in the defense,” Wommack said. “But it was very evident when we got here, here’s a young man with all the attributes physically, he’s the hardest worker on the field, there’s nobody that outworks him day-in and day-out, he plays with the highest motor.

“And he was able to play multiple positions in our defense because of the way the work structures schematically, and from a system standpoint. He maximized opportunities.”

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NFL teams certainly took notice of Campbell, and the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles selected him at No. 31 overall in the first round. Wommack said he believes even that might have been too low.

“I mean, he doubled his production in every area, some ways he tripled it,” Wommack said. “So it was fun to be a part of that, and it’s really rewarding when a guy that does everything the right way and plays the hardest on game day gets rewarded in the NFL draft. I’m excited. I think what the Eagles got at the 31st pick, that’s an absolute steal.”

First Light Community of Mobile (formerly known as L’Arche), states as its mission that men and women with and without intellectual disabilities share life. The organization operates six homes and an activity center in the Mobile area. For more information, visit FirstLightCommunity.org.

Alabama opens the 2025 season at Florida State on Aug. 30.