An absolute baller, Swiss Army knife, hybrid: Eagles top pick Jihaad Campbell has a knack for fitting in

When Jihaad Campbell dashed his way to the draft stage after hearing his name called by the Eagles on Thursday night, Kyle Brey was transported back five years ago to IMG Academy.

Brey, the director of football at the elite sports performance school in Bradenton, Fla., saw that same sense of eagerness that Campbell exuded on the way to practice every day as a senior at the school. Campbell and Tyler Booker, his former IMG Academy teammate who was selected by the Dallas Cowboys with the No. 12 overall pick, would run ahead of the pack on their daily walk to the practice field.

That exuberance translated on the football field. Need the linebacker to suit up at receiver? He’ll score a couple of touchdowns.

Need Campbell, who was listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds at the time, to drop into coverage and stick with a smaller receiver? He can run in their hip pocket.

“He was willing to do anything, and that’s how you know he really loves football,” Brey said on Friday.

Campbell, now listed at 230, has cultivated his diverse defensive skill set along his football journey, from Timber Creek High School to IMG Academy to Alabama. But his passion for the game, according to Brey, is innate.

His continued willingness to wear multiple hats on the football field will define the next stop in his career with the Eagles. Campbell, who described himself as “Mr. Can-Do-It-All” and a “Swiss Army knife” at the combine, has refused to put a label on the precise role he envisions for himself in Vic Fangio’s defense.

He can line up on the edge. He can line up in the box. Just don’t put the 21-year-old Campbell in a box.

“I like being a football player,” Campbell said. “I like being an absolute baller, a dude that can do everything, that can learn and grow and just maximize each and every opportunity I have to play this game.”

A native of Erial, N.J., Campbell transferred to IMG Academy from Timber Creek for his senior season, looking to sharpen his skill set against top competition and prepare for the next step in his football career.

That meant leaving behind his hometown and his family, a decision he didn’t take lightly.

“Just throughout my whole life really just accepting challenge,” Campbell said. “Having my support system with me and understanding just different aspects of life and different life situations and really how to go through it. It is a big sequence of my life, and I think that was the best thing that happened to me. Just persevering and overcoming every adversity that came my way.”

From the beginning, Brey said that Campbell “embraced the newness” of his situation, stepping out of his comfort zone as he got to know his new support system at the school.

His personality off the field was just as memorable as his play on it. The sight of Campbell in the hallway was enough to elicit a smile from Brey, knowing that the linebacker would soon make a beeline right up to him for a conversation.

“It was amazing to watch him interact with the new people in his life, whether they be student-athletes or IMG Academy staff that [were] now going to help him in his journey,” Brey said. “He was excited to have people that wanted what he wanted so bad for him.”

Whenever new athletes arrive at IMG Academy, Brey encourages them to keep an open mind about their position. Brey views it as his responsibility to prepare players for the position that they will likely play in college, not necessarily the position that will help the team win games.

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As soon as Campbell walked in the door, Brey pegged him for an edge player. His length and ranginess made him “born to be on the edge,” Brey said, but he also possessed the athleticism to match offensive skill players in space.

“It’s really hard to find that genetic combination, along with the fact that he has enough football IQ to be able to be that type of player, because that’s almost like a two-way player,” Brey said.

So, depending on the team that IMG was preparing for that week, Campbell suited up as an edge rusher or as an off-ball linebacker. When it played against teams that utilized heavy sets, Campbell lined up on the edge. Against spread offenses, he was detached and played in space.

That versatility paid dividends at Alabama, where Campbell began his collegiate career as an edge rusher and ultimately converted to an inside linebacker in 2024. Soon enough, that versatility will benefit him in Philadelphia, too, according to Brey.

“Open-minded is something that will be a very familiar and simple thing for everyone to experience with him in terms of, positionally, what he’s asked to do,” Brey said. “He is used to being the hybrid, and for him, that allows him to be able to be open-minded to where a coach sees him and what type of scheme he needs to be used to be able to be the most effective.

“I think him doing that with us in high school gave him the stamina to be able to do it at Alabama, and I would imagine it’s going to be the same for the Philadelphia Eagles.”

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Campbell landed at Philadelphia International Airport on Friday, ready to embrace the newness of his latest football destination once more.

Instead, he was overcome with nostalgia, surrounded by the familiar sights of South Philly surrounding the tarmac.

“When I was on the plane, I was looking, like, ‘Dang. I’m really back home,’” Campbell said with a laugh. “That’s when it hit me. I was like, ‘OK. All right.’”

Long before the Eagles became the team that selected him No. 31 overall, they were the squad beloved by his family, especially his grandfather, Mark. Campbell recalled going to his grandparents’ house and admiring his grandfather’s trove of Eagles cards as a child.

“I’d seen all the card selection that he had, I was like, ‘I know it,’” Campbell said. “‘I could definitely play for them boys.’”

Campbell adopted his love for the Eagles. He listed Brian Dawkins, LeSean McCoy, Darren Sproles, Brandon Graham, Michael Vick, Jeremy Maclin, and DeSean Jackson as some of his favorites to watch. Over the past year, he’s pored over plays made by Zack Baun, who thrived in a versatile off-ball linebacker role in his first season with the Eagles.

When Mark found out that his grandson was set to become the newest member of the family’s favorite franchise, Campbell said he was floored.

“I thought he was about to faint,” Campbell said. “But he was definitely lit though, man. I was super happy and excited that he got to watch that moment, that I got to cherish that moment with him.”

The fit, even beyond the hometown ties, made plenty of sense to Brey.

“He couldn’t get into a better situation,” Brey said. “And for us, when we turn to each other, we’re all looking at the staff. I go, ‘This guy might win a Super Bowl in his first year in the NFL.’ I go, ‘How lucky is he to be able to be in the locker room with Super Bowl champions? To be able to get the tutelage and the mentorship from a group of guys that just went the distance?’

“It’s very similar to when he chose Alabama, right? Walking in the door with people that just won national titles. It feels like he made another amazing decision, which wasn’t even his.”

But Campbell’s tenure at Alabama didn’t end with a ring like the Eagles’ season did, a shortcoming that has only made the linebacker more passionate in his continued pursuit of football greatness.

“All it did was add more fuel to the fire for my journey,” he said.