I’ve always said life imitates sports, and there’s no greater illustration of that sentiment than Tulane running back Tyjae Spears. No better example of persevering through adversity; battling the ugly and finding the beauty at the end of the tunnel.
It’s a mindset that saw the 2022 Green Wave football team accomplish the greatest single-season turnaround in college football history. While the team captains primarily led the charge, the origins of that campaign tie back to the words of the most dynamic back I’ve witnessed from the sideline.
The New Orleans Saints might not have to look far for more help at running back. This is Tyjae Spears’ story:
On paper, Tulane’s 2021 season campaign ended with a 2-10 record. But their final regular season loss in Memphis saw the birth of true greatness. With nothing but pride to play for, Tyjae Spears played like a man possessed. His 264 yards on 30 carries were the fourth-highest single-game rushing output in program history – surpassed only by Matt Forte three times.
“He’s a tough kid,” head coach Willie Fritz said of Spears after the 33-28 loss. “He’s got great balance, speed, everything you look for in a football player.”
The question was whether that player saw everything he sought in this program. The unavoidable short shelf life of running backs meant Spears had one year left to showcase his talent to the NFL. Who wouldn’t ponder the potential of playing behind a Power 5 offensive line? Of a national stage not bestowed on schools like Tulane – at least before last season. Our play-by-play announcer, Corey Gloor, interviewed Spears in the locker room postgame; one could hear a pin drop as our color analyst, Steve Barrios, and I listened in silence.
“I’m trying to come back my first game and be similar to this, if not better,” Spears said. “That’s my mindset for the switch to next year, to help my team win the conference championship. Now we see we can play with every team. But it has to be player-driven. In close games like this, we’ll never win if it’s coach-driven. We have to unite.”
An audible sigh of relief left the broadcast crew’s mouths simultaneously. Spears’ immediate commitment meant the paramount domino would not fall. In my two seasons as a sideline reporter, no position feels more visceral in proximity than running back. No one in the NFL saw Alvin Kamara coming but the New Orleans Saints. On that frigid night in Memphis, I felt a kinship with the scouts who discovered Kamara for the first time.
A local kid out of Ponchatoula, La., Spears didn’t have NFL dreams growing up. He didn’t have anyone around him to look to for inspiration; the first in his family to graduate from college, Spears never saw this pathway for himself. As he does with most of his success, he credits his dad for signing him up to play when he was 9 or 10 years old.
“I was always good at it,” Spears told me growing up playing in his neighborhood. “I stood out like I’m standing out now. It came naturally because I didn’t have anybody guiding me and pushing me to play. It’s something that I got signed up for and was natural to me. My vision, me just playing football. I had older brothers, but nobody taught me how to play football. Once I played running back, it was no question from that day on.”
Spears’ love for football wasn’t immediate – or at least as he understood. Initially, it was something fun for him to do in the neighborhood with the guys he grew up with. A lot of star players are pushed into their craft by outside forces, and it often leads to a loss of love for the game itself. In contrast, Spears credits those in his life for allowing the game to come to him free of pressure and expectations.
“I have a great dad, because, like anything in life, he doesn’t push it on me,” Spears explained. “He let it happen. I feel like if I was pressured to perform at a certain height that someone else put in my life, I wouldn’t have the love I have for it now. I was self-driven, and I gained love and passion for it. When somebody’s pushing it and pushing it, and wanting it more than you, you’ll come to a dead end. The way I learned, the way I gained over the course of the years, I feel like that’s the perfect way.”
Spears further credits his entire family, from his mom and his dad’s wife, to his siblings, cousins, aunties, and uncles. He thought back to a guy he knows that has so much outside noise from the people in his life, things not adding up, and he’s grateful for his support system from the very beginning. Throughout this process, Spears learned you must be self-motivated.
“In my life, I don’t need anybody telling me what I need to do,” Spears told me. “I know what I need to do and where I’m trying to get to. You have to have self-discipline and self-awareness. That’s the only way you can make something out of yourself. We have one shot. One shot at everything we do. If we’re sitting around and waiting on somebody else to correct us, we’re in for a rude awakening. I try to correct mistakes before somebody else can even get to them.”
There are terms for motivation in psychology: extrinsic and intrinsic. The former describes doing something for praise or reinforcement, or to avoid punishment. It holds value in team-based motivators, but it can veer into the territory of pressure to succeed – and fear of failure. Intrinsic motivation comes from an inherent drive; an amalgamation of interest, skill, and conquering a challenge in an activity you love. In essence, it’s a desire to meet outer or inner expectations.
Without that external pressure in Spears’ life, he learned to love football in its purest form. Without outside forces nagging him to succeed, or warning not to fail, Spears turned inward. His relentless drive weathered countless storms: growing up in adversity, rehabbing physically and mentally from two ACL tears, and the last two seasons of Tulane football.
Spears left no questions about his return for a final year before the end of last season’s broadcast. He didn’t need to see the AAC conference championship trophy on a PowerPoint to believe in Tulane’s ability to bounce back. His trust in the program ties back to the paramount quality of a team: head coach Willie Fritz. It’s what solidified his decision to play for his hometown team over Kansas State.
“At the time, it felt like the best choice I could have made,” Spears said of his decision. “The education and the staff here felt like family. I was a young kid. I didn’t want to go away to Kansas State, anyway. It’s probably one of the best decisions I ever made. And it was right around the corner from home. There’d be times I wished I would’ve left, but with how things played out this year, and the years before, I’m glad I stayed.”
Known for its academic accolades and standards, Tulane isn’t an easy school to get into it – football talent aside. Spears took the ACT multiple times and failed to obtain the necessary score. He had his back against the wall. Yet, coach Fritz wanted to sign him anyway. He saw something in Spears when he didn’t believe in himself.
“They took my letter of intent, knowing they could’ve lost a scholarship on me,” Tyjae admitted. “I didn’t make the ACT score. I was grinding and grinding for that. Coach Fritz just told me, ‘Buddy, you’re gonna get it. Just believe you’re gonna get it. And just work. Do whatever you have to do to get it.’”
Unfortunately, what one has to do to “get it” has more to do with socioeconomic status than ability. The SAT and ACT are historically known for rewarding students with the affluence to afford classes or tutoring. It’s nearly impossible to ask families that come from hardship to shell out money for something that may not matter. But Tulane believed in Spears. That translated to his drive to do what it took to obtain that score. Rather than enjoy his Christmas break, Spears didn’t want to waste his scholarship. He found the tutor that changed his life.
“Her name is Lynda Foersterling,” Spears told me. “I drove 30 to 40 minutes from Ponchatoula to Covington every day for three months. My dad and mom gave me gas money. I approached it like it was football. I was grinding every day doing ACT prep, and I’d go home and do more prep, watch videos. It was very stressful. But she stayed with me, and she reassured me that I can make it. I went daily for months straight. That’s unheard of when you’re a guy my age. I was 17 at the time.”
Spears continued, “I couldn’t play, I couldn’t spend time with my friends. I probably missed five days out of the entire session. From early December to up until whenever the test was. I’m glad I did it. Through that process, no matter what, it taught me if you believe in yourself and you put the right people around you, you can achieve anything that you want to achieve. I’m so glad I had to go through that personally, to be honest. I built a special relationship with her. She still comes to games now and checks in from time to time.”
After multiple scores ranging from 14 to 16, Spears accomplished a 19 on his final ACT which awarded him the scholarship from Tulane. When talking about intrinsic motivation, Spears has it in spades – from his effort on the field to his determination to beat adversity in the classroom. There’s just something about the olive and blue that draws you to this program. In a decision that now feels serendipitous, I chose the same dream school. But as I shared with Spears, I too didn’t have the academic marks to get in.
I admittedly screwed up in high school and saw my potential circle the drain alongside my desire to attend college in the city my mom grew up in; I visited family in New Orleans every summer and volunteered in 2005 and 2011 to rebuild the city after Hurricane Katrina. Thanks to a blunt dose of reality from my parents, I shut out the noise and focused on my singular goal. Like Spears, I went to daily SAT tutoring for months and spent every Saturday of junior year at my tutor center for 7 a.m. practice tests. I lost my social life and most of my friends but gained a drive in myself I credit to surmounting my own life adversities.
Like Spears, who almost quit football after his second ACL tear, I almost quit life professionally following trauma in 2017. But I’d incidentally gained something valuable in my time at Tulane that saw more hardships than one expects in the college bubble: mental toughness. I failed to find my calling after two degrees and three career paths. I packed up my life and moved to New Orleans with no job prospects or sense of direction; I just knew I wanted to work in sports. In the summer of 2021, I thought I stumbled on my dream job – until the rug pulled from under me.
One of my mentors is Tulane legend and current NBA play caller, Todd Graffagnini. He believed in me when I lost my way. He called the new voice of the Green Wave, Corey Gloor, and I received a life-changing phone call shortly thereafter. I had no broadcast experience, and the season started in one month. I was bitter about that lost opportunity, and it was probably the most aggressive job interview I’ve had in my life. Corey believed in me. That decision to shut out the noise in 2011 and get into Tulane came full circle when I stepped inside Yulman Stadium days later for training camp.
I didn’t realize at the time that the 2-10 campaign that followed was an illustration of the last five years of my personal life. At least explicitly. The urging of others to find a more rewarding sideline reporting role felt nonsensical to me. I saw the outward leadership of coach Fritz and players like Nick Anderson and quarterback Michael Pratt. But I saw the quiet leadership inside myself in guys like Tyjae Spears. I saw his coaching off to the side of younger backs coming from injury, in-game remarks to his fellow running backs Iverson Celestine and Shaadie Clayton-Johnson. I saw his responsiveness to coaching by his new position coach, Derrick Sherman.
“You have to surround yourself with great people,” Spears told me on seeing greatness in his team. “That starts with the new hires. The biggest thing with the transition was accountability. Derrick Sherman had an effect on everybody he talked to. Just his energy and the things he put out there. It’s accountability, but also something’s got to strike in your mind.”
He added, “I’ve faced so much adversity in my life. From where I come from, being overlooked in high school, ACL after ACL injury. I’m starting to be more optimistic. I’m starting to believe more in myself. The biggest thing I got from coach Sherman is to be myself. Just be you. Nobody’s going to teach me how to work hard because that’s something I always had. But he taught me how to be me. He helped me be a better man off the field. Telling me things he went through. He helped me be more efficient in the film room and in learning different things, but how to control my temper as well. He helped me all around the board. He’s like a big kid, he plays around a lot just like me, but when it’s business, it’s business. At certain points in your life, you need certain people. He was the perfect person for the perfect timing.”
As I said, I saw all the traits Tyjae Spears offers off the field. On the field, I saw generational talent one would be nothing short of crazy to walk away from. I recalled his remarks following the Memphis loss and his mindset switch to start better than that performance next season. But Spears wouldn’t come back and have that electrifying start. The first non-quarterback to win the AAC Offensive Player of the Year since its inception recorded just 91 yards in his first three games in 2022.
“It was mental,” Spears admitted on his slow start. “I feel like things happen for a reason. What helped me was coach Sherman. Him steadily believing in me, steadily pushing me, because they easily could’ve gone to the next back. The support from my dad. But just being free. I was playing too tense in the beginning of the season. I started being free and letting things happen for me, and things started to turn around.”
“It was my personal expectations,” he continued. “You set all these expectations for no reason when I can just go out there and be myself. That’s what I’m learning now. I’ve been losing my whole life. I found the importance of how to win. Every time something good happens, something else happens. With 2-10, I knew we had to get better, but while you use that as motivation that rarely crossed my mind. I was just thinking too much.”
While he referenced the Kansas State victory with that sentiment, Tulane doesn’t win that game without converting 4th and 1 from their own 24-yd line with two minutes left. A quarterback sneak by Michael Pratt that doesn’t get the yardage without a massive push from behind by Tyjae Spears. A call that was all but crazy to those on the outside. When he lost faith in himself, coach Fritz put him out there on the game-winning call. Just as he believed in Spears to get the ACT score.
Just as he trusted Spears with the conference championship on the line in Cincinnati, where he played every snap for the first time with a career-high 35 carries. I caught something on the sideline that game following their opening series featuring two false start penalties and a punt. Coach Fritz pulled Spears aside as he jogged off the field and told him: keep everybody calm.
“I pride myself on being a leader,” Spears remembered of that conversation. “I don’t really lead by too much talking. I’ll talk if I have to, but I’m leading by example. Probably every guy on the team would tell you the same thing.”
Coach Fritz continuously saw Spears’ quieter traits, which coach Sherman steadily cultivated, and saw Spears fight through his early season struggles. Tulane’s win against Kansas State was deafening. Spears had little involvement. His season role grew true legs in the following week’s loss to Southern Miss.
Despite falling 27-24 to the Eagles, Spears’ prowess as a dual threat blossomed. His 22 carries for 114 yards and two touchdowns were complemented by five receptions for 74 yards. Spears was the leading rusher and receiver on a team down both starting tight ends and an injured quarterback. He would lead the team in both metrics through their overtime win in Houston that followed with third-string quarterback Kai Horton.
“I started to get more involved in the passing game,” Spears explained. “I felt like the more I can use my versatility, the better player I can be. As the weeks went on, I started feeling more comfortable with the game plan. Some schemes, everybody’s just struggling. I felt like getting the ball to me in various ways, that truly helped me as a player.”
“It wasn’t about stepping up – you don’t have to step up for a person like Kai,” he continued. “He’s so special. He’s going to handle his business. It’s just something that has to click inside you. Understanding that, throughout all that I’m telling myself, okay, I’m not playing at my best. So, what do I have to do? That’s where I go to soul searching.”
There are plenty of adjectives to describe Tyjae Spears, but what sticks out most is his humility. Likely due to his introduction to the game free of outside pressure, Spears loves to play football for pure enjoyment. Spears admitted the 2022 season hasn’t really sunk in, nor the accolades that include co-MVP of the Cotton Bowl. There’s one play that solidified his legacy nationwide: his 60-yd touchdown in the championship game against UCF.
.@tyjae22 is ridiculous!!! Touchdown Tulane. Spears with a touchdown run from 60-yards out
Tulane 24
UCF 73Q | 12:09 #RollWave pic.twitter.com/rhAxp5XrHv
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) December 3, 2022
My vantage point was right where he proceeded to hurdle Lawrence Keys. Mouth agape, his elusiveness blew me away – but even more, his patience. Spears hadn’t even watched the run back until after the Senior Bowl. The best part? That play wasn’t supposed to happen how it did. They were running counter to the left from an unbalanced tight end set to the right. Spears was supposed to hit his hole slower than he did and lined up a bit too wide.
“I was out of position and really wasn’t supposed to score that play,” Spears laughed. “I just hit the hole. It was a small little hole. But the thing is, I missed that hole so many times this year. Or when I hit it, I would trip and fall. I hit it with confidence and started running hard. I had a lot of balance on that play. I made those guys miss. I got past the second-level defenders, and something just told me – I had a whole bunch of field to the right – cut it to the left.”
“When I get in open field, I try to look for my blockers,” he continued. “I look for open space, but I looked for my blockers and followed them. They made some great blocks down the field. I used to watch myself in high school. I’d be breaking long runs, then a guy would be close to me, and I ran out of bounds. I don’t really run out of bounds anymore. I was getting closer to the sideline thinking, nah, I can’t run out. I looked back and saw Lawrence Keys, but he fell down. I just jumped over him and made a quick, subtle move to freeze the dude and ran past him for a touchdown. I had great assistance. I had great blocks on that play, but I did a lot on my own on that play too, though.”
Spears showcases burst, explosiveness, balance, speed, patience, nearly every terminology describing running backs. But there are different types of runners – Spears certainly isn’t Marshawn Lynch. That UCF touchdown run is the textbook definition of vision and field awareness. Terms often thrown around in scouting reports with no tangible meaning.
“Vision was something I always had,” Tyjae shared. “I’d take the ball from one side of the field to the other side and score. I always had great vision. I always had field awareness. Vision is more of a feel. If you feel it, and you can see with your eyes, I’m telling you it’s not wrong. When I think of vision, I think of seeing it and also feeling it.”
“Field awareness? Vision, you can see it,” he continued. “But field awareness, say if I’m setting up, I say, okay, I’m setting it up and I’m getting the ball running to the right. My vision’s going to tell me I have open space to the right. But I’m not the only person on the field. They have people pursuing. Field awareness is going to help me get away from those people. Whether I have to run around them all, I have to make a cut. Putting your body in the correct space is field awareness. Making the guys miss.”
Spears modeled Reggie Bush growing up. He tried to take what he did and make it his own. There may be no fitting player to look up to than Sean Payton’s first versatile dual-threat weapon as head coach of the New Orleans Saints. There may be no better example of destiny than Tulane’s opponent in the 2023 Goodyear Cotton Bowl – Bush’s alma mater, USC.
“Nobody thought we were going to win that game but us. We were down by 15 points in the last four minutes of the game.”
That statement not only illustrates Tulane’s identity of mental toughness that led to its program-defining comeback, but it easily tells the story of Tyjae Spears’ life. When he didn’t have the ACT scores to get into Tulane, he came back with three months of daily tutoring and aced it. When he tore his ACL for the second time, he contemplated quitting football. He came back with more explosive strength and field awareness to get vertical upfield. When he struggled at the start of the 2022 season, he leaned on his coaches and internal grit to improve his versatility and rush for the highest average yards per carry in Tulane history.
The Cotton Bowl put Tulane on a national stage, and with that came notice of a special running back out of a Group of 5 program down in New Orleans. One reception, where he juked underneath a defender to cut back inside, was replicated to a chorus of audible gasps during reps at the Senior Bowl. His responsiveness to coaching at Tulane was apparent in every moment of the Senior Bowl; I watched him seek out personal coaching daily prior to warmups. Scouts and NFL executives rightly took notice and awarded him Practice Player of the Week. His measurables and performance in drills at the NFL Combine and Tulane’s Pro Day solidified nationwide attention as the running back to watch out of this year’s draft.
To those inside Tulane’s program, each of those events was another day at the office witnessing the greatness we’d seen during his entire tenure. Spears’ 4.47-second 40-yd dash matched the play speed apparent on tape. His 39-inch vertical and 10-foot-5 broad jump certified his obvious explosiveness. But what stood out most at Pro Day was that critical active listening to coaching. Led entirely by Saints running back coach Joel Thomas, Spears excelled in his route-running position drills; his true value showed in between reps. He mirrored Thomas’ movements, asked questions, ran back for additional clarification. Spears made catches I hadn’t previously seen on third-level routes.
Immediately following his position drills, Spears jogged over to Corey and me conducting our live broadcast of the Pro Day on ESPN+ with the biggest smile on his face. He jumped right in and started watching his highlights with the grin of a kid in a candy store, asking us if we could replay runs and giving play-by-play commentary of plays he had yet to rewatch. Tyjae Spears was one of my first friends on the sideline. His demeanor off the field is what initially drew me to him. When I asked if he had anything to add to our interview, he wanted to tell listeners to just live in the moment.
Spears said, “Make sure you live in the moment. Make the most out of every opportunity. Someone’s alone in this world who didn’t get the opportunity that you’re getting. But make sure you smile, because you have so much to be thankful and so much to be blessed about.”
I’d confidently bet my career that the person smiling and feeling thankful and blessed is the GM who picks up the phone first on NFL draft night. Tyjae Spears is an adversity-tested player, one self-motivated with rare awareness at his age, and one who never forgets those around him. You’ll never hear him take credit for a single breakaway run without first mentioning his offensive line, downfield blockers, and quarterback in Michael Pratt. There are two running backs from Tulane who will don No. 22 in the pros. Spears is positioned to be the best NFL player in program history.
