Jake Ganus' New Beginning
April 09, 2015 | Football
By Anne Noland
No football player thinks about the day his career will end.
It's an impending reality, approaching like a train roaring down a track. It arrives sooner for some than others. Sometimes it's brought by injury, sometimes age, sometimes an unusual sequence of events. But no matter the reason, that ending is unimaginable to any boy from the moment he puts on shoulder pads for the first time.
Jake Ganus' football career ended, albeit briefly, on Nov. 30, 2014.
Ganus, a junior linebacker for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, had helped his team to a 45-24 win over Southern Mississippi the day before, giving UAB its sixth win of the season to become bowl eligible for the first time in 10 years.
"I just remember that feeling," he says. "It was the best feeling in the world."
Twenty-four hours later, Ganus was told that his time as a UAB football player was over. No bowl game. No senior season. Football was over.
UAB announced that it was eliminating its football program for financial reasons.
"From there, it was just chaos," Ganus says, recounting the sheer number of calls and texts he began receiving from other coaches. "It was this huge recruitment that was packed into one week, but it felt like 10 weeks."
Less than two weeks later, Ganus was offered a second chance. His new beginning would be found in red and black with a G painted across his helmet. It was an easy "yes" for Ganus.
"I only have one year, so Georgia was definitely going to give me the best chance to have the best one year of my life," he says. "As soon as I came here, just meeting the coaches and the players, and the city of Athens -- I knew right away that this was the place for me."
The opportunity to play for the Bulldogs is not only a second chance for Ganus, it's also the realization of a dream he buried many years ago. In high school, Ganus played quarterback and here-and-there at linebacker and safety, but not enough to even muster a defensive highlight reel.
"As a kid, you like to dream big," he says. "But once high school came, after my sophomore year when I found out kind of how the recruiting process works, I came to the realization of the fact that I wasn't going to play for a Georgia or an Alabama or a big school like that."
He was recruited to play safety by UAB, only 30 minutes from his hometown of Chelsea, Alabama. Although Ganus says UAB "took a chance on him," he quickly earned his keep in the mid-major program at the linebacker position. By the end of his sophomore campaign, Ganus was the team's leading tackler.
Although he could not have predicted the outcome, his accomplishments at UAB opened the door for him to play in the Southeastern Conference. For a player largely un-recruited out of high school, having a second chance at a program like Georgia is better than Ganus could have imagined.
"I want everyone to know how grateful I am for this opportunity and that I don't take it lightly," he says.
When Ganus arrived on campus in January, he was eager to prove that he belonged as a Bulldog. But it didn't take long for him to earn the respect and admiration of his teammates. He was Georgia's leading tackler in both scrimmages held this spring.
"I think many of the guys heard about me and didn't know if I could really play or what I was even doing here," he says. "But I've had a lot of players compliment me throughout the whole spring. They have been so supportive and positive."
Jordan Jenkins is a senior linebacker who practices alongside Ganus each day. He echoes the sentiments of the team.
"It doesn't matter that he's the new guy," Jenkins says. "He commits to everything 100 percent. He is not afraid to back down and everybody respects that about him."
Now Ganus is excited to show his commitment in helping Georgia be successful.
"If it's extra film, extra work in the weight room, whatever I have to do to put myself in a position to play," he says. "I only have one year, so I need to make the most of it... I want to show everyone that I can play and I'm here to help the team win."
On Saturday, Ganus will take the field in Sanford Stadium for his first game as a Bulldog. It is the annual G-Day game. Although he will be facing off against his own teammates, Ganus is excited for what the day represents. He is a Bulldog now, and Georgia is his home. This is his new beginning.
"Ever since I've gotten here, I've taken such pride in the G, in Georgia. There is such tradition," he says. "To have that G on my helmet, to have that G on my chest -- every day when I wake up, I'm thankful for that. That's one of the first things I thank God for, is that opportunity. It means a lot. I can't wait to wear it with pride and do everything I can to help this team."
Anne Noland is a senior from Marietta, Ga., who is majoring in public relations. She is in her fourth year as a student assistant with the UGA Sports Communications office. She will graduate in May and recently accepted a position with the media relations staff of the Denver Broncos for the 2015 season.
"Coming Attractions" is a weekly feature published on georgiadogs.com spotlighting a UGA student-athlete who will be competing in a key home event during the upcoming weekend. Previous stories include:
August 28 - David Andrews (football vs. Clemson)
September 4 - Carly Hamilton (cross country in Bulldog Invitational)
September 11 - Tirah Leau (volleyball in Benson Hospitality Invitational)
September 18 - Mariel Gutierrez (soccer vs. Vanderbilt)
September 25 - Toby Johnson (football vs. Tennessee)
October 2 - Emma Sonnett (soccer vs. Tennessee)
October 9 - Jared Markham (swimming & diving vs. Alabama)
October 16 - Gaby Smiley (volleyball vs. Kentucky and Tennessee)
October 23 - Bella Hartley (soccer vs. Kentucky)
October 30 - Olivia Ball & Ian Forlini (swimming & diving vs. Florida)
November 6 - Megan Spencer (volleyball vs. Arkansas)
November 13 - Kolton Houston (football vs. Auburn)
November 20 - Yante Maten (men's basketball vs. Troy & FAU)
November 27 - Damian Swann (football vs. Georgia Tech)
December 4 - Marjorie Butler (women's basketball vs. Michigan State)
December 18 - Tiaria Griffin (women's basketball vs. Furman)
December 25 - International Bulldogs (men's basketball vs. Mercer)
January 7 - Maddie Locus (women's swimming & diving vs. Texas)
January 14 - Shacobia Barbee (women's basketball vs. Vanderbilt)
January 21 - Caroline Brinson (women's tennis in ITA Kickoff Weekend)
January 28 - Nathan Pasha (men's tennis vs. UCLA and Southern Cal)
February 4 - Sara Parr (equestrian vs. South Carolina)
February 11 - Cortni Emanuel (softball in Bulldog Invitational)
February 18 - Chelsea Davis (gymnastics vs. Alabama)
February 25 - Hannah King (women's tennis vs. LSU & Texas A&M)
March 4 - Wayne Montgomery (men's tennis vs. Texas A&M & LSU)
March 11 - Mary Beth Box (gymnastics vs. Utah)
March 18 - Kendell Williams and Quintunya Chapman (track & field in Georgia Relays)
March 25 - Sammi Lee (women's golf in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic)
April 2 - Brandon Stephens (baseball vs. Vanderbilt)
