Football: Worth the wait – Molbert’s ascent to starting job took some winding turns

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, August 15, 2012

It was the first day of football for the seventh- and eighth-graders at St. Michael Catholic School in Crowley.

Oklahoma drill — full-contact practice at its heartiest — was the order of the moment.

Jake Molbert — undersized preemie at birth, 6-foot-1, 225-pound starting inside linebacker for UL now — was itching to play.

"He was a scrawny little kid," Paul Molbert said, thinking back. "Maybe weighed about 120 pounds. If that.

"Lo and behold, the coach says, ‘I need a guy right here to block. He (young Jake) has his mouthpiece ready. He jumps in. But an eighth-grader says, ‘Nah, I got this.’

"Jake’s like, ‘No, I got this.’ The guy just kind of shoved on him. And Jacob proceeded to tear (the other kid’s rear end). Jumped on him, locked him up, whipped him."

Jake might not have been blessed with extraordinary natural ability, his father suggests. But, right then, papa Molbert knew he had a football player on his hands.

"He made a statement," Paul Molbert said. "Nobody ever messed with him after that."

Still, there would be more lessons in preparedness.

"I told him, ‘Son, always keep your chin strap on, your mouthpiece ready, your hat on. An opportunity is gonna present. It might be your senior year, it might be your freshman year, it might sometime in between. But take advantage of it, and be ready,’ " said Paul Molbert, an executive-level administrator at Lafayette General Medical Center.

As it turned out, Molbert played all four seasons at Notre Dame High — and helped lead the Pioneers to a 2009 Class 3A state title with his 118 total tackles and eight sacks as a senior.

But before playing his first game for the Ragin’ Cajuns, before making his first start too, Molbert had to do his fair share of waiting.

Coming out of high school, Molbert — originally signed by the Cajuns as part of their 2010 recruiting class — learned he was a class shy of meeting NCAA academic eligibility requirements.

There would no football for him that year, a decision he took hard.

"He missed it so doggone bad," Paul Molbert said.

 

"Humbling," Jake added. "Very humbling."

Come fall of 2010, those closest to Jake — his father, his mother Michelle, his two brothers and his sister — understood it was best to keep their distance on the weekends.

"They knew not to talk to me," he said.

"I was miserable. All football season. I didn’t do (anything). I couldn’t even come (to Cajun Field). It would have made me sick. "» I’d get away from the TV when football was on. I just couldn’t watch it. Not even the pros."

Post-practice sweat drips from Molbert as he recalled those dark days.

Jake wasn’t sure what to do, but he knew one thing: Tossing in the towel would never be considered.

"I wasn’t gonna give up that easy," he said. "My ultimate dream was always to play college football, so I had to get it done one way or another."

Father and son had another heart-to-heart.

Paul said he told "his responsibility was to take care of himself physically and mentally, to make sure he was prepared for it when the time came."

Jake remembers his father saying, " ‘If you want to do what you want to do, get it done, and that’s it.’ "

So the greyshirted Jake, not allowed to practice or even work out with the Cajuns, lifted on his own.

He ran.

He took on a part-time job in Crowley.

And he took an online class that — along with plenty of assistance from the UL compliance department — helped him get eligible in time to join the Cajuns early in 2011, right around the same time new head coach Mark Hudspeth and his assistants were stepping in for the fired Rickey Bustle’s staff.

"My family was behind me the whole way — my dad, especially," Molbert said. "They pushed me and made sure I got it done.

"I was kind of caught off-guard by the situation I was in. But we had to get it fixed, so I got it fixed and came back as soon as I could."

As it turns out, sitting out that 3-9 debacle of 2010 might have been the best thing to happen for Molbert’s college career.

"Physically, after four years of high school, that opportunity to take a year off actually helped him. "» It made him hungrier," Paul Molbert said. "It also gave him an opportunity to understand the importance of an education — being a student-athlete.

"We had some long discussions with (Notre Dame High) Coach (Lewis) Cook, and (he) really helped him understand that sitting out that year actually gave him an advantage."

Molbert would report for the 2011 fall season as a true freshman — but with a spring full of practice experience in Hudspeth’s program behind him.

"It helped drive him to want to stay in tip-top physical shape, and mentally prepare for the commitment he was making," Paul Molbert said.

"The bottom line is it all worked out, and he is a better person for it. "» So it actually did work to his advantage, and he got to mature a little bit."

A lot, actually.

"He came in a more mature freshman than he would have been. And more physical too," Hudspeth said.

When Hudspeth was hired in December of 2010 and his staff was built early in 2011, the new coaches knew little about Molbert.

At least early on, they were somewhat skeptical.

"When we first started doing our winter workouts, you could tell he hadn’t done nothing in a while — because he wasn’t moving like he does now," defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Greg Stewart said. "So we weren’t as fired up about him. "» But the more he (did), and the more he was with us, the better he got."

Molbert’s competitive nature had something to do with that.

So too, perhaps, did a certain chat with his dad way back when.

"I was just ready for the opportunity, and opportunity came my way. I took it and ran with it," Molbert said. "I was very confident and ready to get the job done, so I stepped up and we got it done."

Even getting to start, though, took some time.

At Notre Dame High, Molbert made his name as a pass-rushing defensive end. So making the move to linebacker required adjustment on his part.

"I was used to the contact every down," Molbert said. "I mean, you’re right there. You’re breathing (an offensive lineman’s) breath.

"Other than that, it was just getting stuff (like reads) down."

It also took trust, developed as the season wore along, on the part of Cajun coaches.

 

But having not personally recruited him, Stewart — truth be told — didn’t even know Molbert had a d-line background until late last season.

Once he found out, certain things started making a whole lot of sense.

"You could tell sometimes," Stewart said. "When he’s playing linebacker, he’ll scoot up to the line.

"We knew early he was very athletic," the Cajuns coordinator added. "His big thing was just learning the defense. And once he (did that), and knew where to go, it was just easy for him then."

Molbert’s big break came with the fifth game of last season, against Florida Atlantic, when he was named to start ahead of Trae Johnson.

He responded with 10 total tackles, including three solo stops, and wound up sixth on the team with 65 tackles, 30 of them solo.

He capped the season with four tackles in a New Orleans Bowl win over San Diego State.

It was that night, after UL had won its first bowl ever and first postseason appearance since 1970, that the reality of what he and the Cajuns had accomplished hit like much like Molbert does.

With a thump, that is.

"It was unbelievable, to say the least," said Molbert, one of just three Cajuns, named by beat writers to the Sun Belt Conference All-Freshman team.

"I wouldn’t have made that (bowl) call if you had asked me at the beginning of the season. But it felt pretty awesome. Just to be a part of it was crazy. It was indescribable. Especially for this community — it was big-time."

Now, with 2011 leading tackler and fellow starting inside linebacker Lance Kelley having graduated, Molbert appears destined to start again, while Johnson is battling to start at the other inside spot.

"He (Molbert) is a very instinctive player. Plays very hard. You can just tell," Hudspeth said. "He puts himself in position to make plays, and he’s very physical. "» We need him to be more of a leader, but he’s really coming along and being tough."

"He is very physical. And he can run," Stewart added. "He’s a hard tackler. A lot of people tackle, but he’s a hard tackler. When he hits you, he puts something behind it."

Just ask that St. Michael eighth-grader.