It was late August, and University of Houston linebacker Jalen Garner was standing in the TDECU Stadium tunnel before the season opener against Stephen F. Austin when this feeling took over.
Garner had waited five years for this moment. Five years to hear his name called as one of the Cougars’ starters.
It was a moment he had undoubtedly thought might never come, but there it was, and so was that feeling.
“Finally felt free, finally felt like I could do what I’ve been knowing I could do,” Garner recalled recently to the Defender. “I could finally express myself the right way, the way I feel.”
Garner did something that really doesn’t happen anymore in college sports. Players don’t sit. They don’t have to be patient. They move on. The NCAA has made it easy for athletes to move around freely via the transfer portal, which allows student-athletes to transfer schools until they find the right fit or exhaust their college eligibility.
But not Garner.
Instead of transferring to another school for more playing time and probably a little more name, image and likeness (NIL) cash, Garner endured waiting his turn, a coaching staff change and those voices in his head that told him there were better opportunities elsewhere.
“It was hard,” he said. “We all have our thoughts, but at the end of the day, I always talked to my coaches, and I felt like Houston was the right place to stay. But it was really hard.”
What made it easier is that UH’s second-year coach Willie Fritz brought aboard Austin Armstrong as his new defensive coordinator this past offseason. It turns out that Armstrong and Garner had previously crossed paths. Armstrong was a young assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette when he unsuccessfully recruited Garner out of Norcross High School in Georgia, during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had effectively shut down in-person recruiting in 2020.
Garner’s name immediately jumped out at Armstrong once he took the job. It wasn’t long after that Garner reached out to reconnect and make Armstrong aware of his desires.
Once offseason conditioning and training got going, Armstrong was impressed with what he saw from the 6-foot-1, 225-pound linebacker. But naturally, he had questions.
“He has size, speed, he can run and he’s got twitch. But he didn’t really play last year, so I was kind of like … almost confused a little bit,” Armstrong observed. “This guy is a really good player. What was the deal? What’s wrong with him? He had been here almost five years, and he hadn’t really played.”
That was all about to change. Not only did Armstrong see the raw talent, but he noticed how hard Garner worked, how smart he is and most critical, how important it was to him.
Armstrong’s belief in Garner has paid off big time this season for the defense and the 6-1 Cougars. As the Cougars’ starting weakside linebacker, Garner has emerged as a leader on the field and in the locker room.
“It’s such a tribute to him, his character to stick with it and continue to improve. The opportunity presented itself. I think the things in life that make you successful are when you get a good opportunity and you seize the moment and he has done that. I can’t explain how proud I am of him.”
Austin Armstrong, UH defensive coordinaot/linebackers coach
Garner is second on the team in tackles with 48 stops on the season, which includes two 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks on the season to go along with one pass breakup, two forced fumbles and five quarterback hurries. He ranks 16th in tackles in the Big 12.
“He has that second step of power. He can strike blockers and get off and make the play. He can run and make the play. He has the ability to finish,” said Armstrong, who also coaches Garner’s inside linebacker position. “And as a pass rusher, he has the ability to finish on the quarterback, which is a really hard thing to do.
“I think the guy is as valuable of guy as there is in this conference, to be quite honest. I don’t know what everybody else has and no disrespect to anyone else, but I think the guy is a really good player. We are really fortunate to have him on our team.”
It’s what Garner has always known he could do. He just needed the opportunity.
“I’ve always been ready to start since my junior year, but sometimes you don’t get the opportunity,” said Garner, who had played a total of 242 defensive snaps as a reserve in the years leading up to this season. “You’ve just got to sit there and be ready. It’s the next man up.”
It’s definitely Garner’s turn now. While it’s hard to understand waiting for so long, Garner says he found growth through prayer and also sitting behind and learning from linebackers like Mike Batton, Jamal Morris and Donavan Mutin during his time.
“Honestly … I pray a lot, so I definitely say God,” Garner said when asked how he was able to stay patient. “If He does one thing, He alerts patience, so I think I’ve been patient with that. And I’ve known, I’ve always been able to play, so I haven’t been really worried about it. I just needed an opportunity.”
Until that opportunity came, Garner said he stuck around because he enjoyed the school, his professors and the friendships and bonds built with his teammates.
“The people have always been nice, not just coaches but the academic center, all of the teachers and all the people I know around the city,” he said. “It’s bigger than myself.”
Armstrong gives Garner much respect for doing something that really doesn’t exist in college sports anymore and that’s having patience.
“That’s a testament to perseverance in our society, in which we have created ways for young people not to have perseverance. Not to their fault, really our fault,” Armstrong said. “He has stuck with it.
“His peers have watched the time, energy and effort he has put into this thing. I can’t speak enough about him as a person, as a player. It’s been awesome watching him as a player. Excited about what he can do going forward.”
In the meantime, Garner is relishing that feeling that he thought might never come.
“I feel free now. So I really feel like I’m having a lot of fun now. I feel like … I feel free, man,” he said. “I can do whatever I want, but also within the scheme that Coach Armstrong wants me to do.”
