Paula Henry was in Champaign last week for a visit with her son, but their time together didn’t include the mornings.
Each day when she woke up, Gabe Jacas already had left home, disappearing into the Illinois football facilities before dawn to prepare for what could be a life-changing year.
The routine — in his fourth season at Illinois — goes like this:
At 5:15 a.m., Jacas grabs his notebook and heads to the outside linebackers room for film study. That’s followed by stretching in the weight room at 6 as he works on his mobility and makes sure he’s ready for practice.
After breakfast come team meetings at 7, then walk-through and practice. Side work with skill development coordinator Joe Kim, a pass-rush specialist who joined the Illinois program this season from the New England Patriots. Time in the cold tub. And then more film study.
The early arrivals are “not a one-time, once-a-week thing — like, he does it every day,” Illini outside linebackers coach Trent Harris said.
By the time Jacas wrapped up his football and studies last week, he returned home and could talk for an hour or two with his mom — but then it was off to an early bedtime. None of it is much of a surprise to Henry, who said Jacas was the same way in high school, thanks in large part to the influence of his older brother Khaliq Jacas.
“He’s disciplined, focused and determined,” Henry said. “It hasn’t changed from season to season. Always been the same.”
Illinois coach Bret Bielema recently called the 6-foot-3, 270-pound Jacas “extremely motivated” after he decided last winter to give Champaign one more year.
His determination comes from wanting to be as impactful as possible for a 3-0 Illini team that’s ranked No. 9 heading into Saturday’s big game at No. 19 Indiana (6:30 p.m., NBC-5). And the prize at the end of all the work is a possible NFL career starting this spring.
“I try not to think too much in the future because I’ve still got to worry about right now, in the present. And that’s the team right now,” Jacas said. “Being the best me will help me in the future, and I know that.
“I try to be selfless. We have a pretty special team and we can do big things, and it’s going to take everybody.”
Mom’s motivation
Jacas sat in the Illinois team meeting room, staring at his phone with an anticipatory smile as he waited for the video call to connect.
“C’mon, Mom, don’t disappoint,” he murmured.
When Henry answered, he delivered the news: For the first time since high school, he had been elected captain of his football team.
“Oh, my Gooooood!” Henry yelled. “I’m so proud of you!”
Khaliq’s reaction on the next call was equally enthusiastic. “Let’s goooo!” he yelled as the video bounced around with his excitement.
When Jacas talks about the origins of becoming a player that ESPN ranked No. 22 in all of college football, he points to his mother and brother.
Henry, who is originally from Jamaica, raised four kids on a cul-de-sac in Port St. Lucie, Fla., trying to emphasize structure within the home and respect inside and out of it. Whenever a storm approached during hurricane season, she had her children go check on their neighbors to make sure their shutters were up.
So when she heard Harris’ account of her son always smiling, always knowing everyone’s names within the football facility, she wasn’t surprised.
“It’s a way of life for them,” she said. “Being respectful, learning to say good morning, good evening, knowing your neighbors.”
Jacas said he learned his work ethic from Henry, a registered nurse at a psychiatric correctional facility in Florida. She works weekends but tries to make it to at least a couple of Illinois games every season, with her other children attending those she can’t.
“The stories that she tells me, I could just tell she’s a different type of woman just to endure the stuff that she goes through on a day-to-day basis,” Jacas said. “People do crazy stuff. So I could tell she’s a strong woman.
“And that makes me go even harder because life can throw different things at you, but the fact that she doesn’t really complain, that she always works hard and does what’s best for her children, it motivates me. I want to be able to take care of her one day.”
When Jacas was young, Henry used her nursing skills to help him during a scary accident and difficult recovery. He played pee wee football as a child, but when he was 7, his sports career was derailed for a while.
Jacas was playing outside when he lost his balance and his right hand went through a bedroom window, Henry said. Khaliq was inside watching TV when he heard a boom and rushed out to see the injury. He didn’t understand the seriousness at the time but now realizes how Henry worked to save his brother’s life as she tried to stop the blood loss.
The injury, which Jacas said caused nerve damage in his hand, required a three-hour surgery. He went through months of physical therapy, his mother driving him three hours a couple of times a week to a hospital that specializes in such recoveries, Henry said.
“She didn’t let him put his foot on the brakes,” Khaliq said. “She didn’t want to make him feel like he was less-than in the physical aspect of things, so she made sure he was still able to do anything he wanted to do. It was a process.”
The limitations were enough that Jacas switched to writing with his left hand, but he said he eventually regained full feeling in and use of his hand.
“That also tells you his determination because watching him play, you would never realize he had an injury that impeded him for a while,” Henry said.
Eventually Jacas got back into sports. He was a two-time state champion wrestler at Fort Pierce Central, and he also joined the football team, playing on the offensive line as a freshman and sophomore.
That changed when Khaliq came home after his playing career at Florida International.
Mentor at home
Jacas believes he wouldn’t be here — at Illinois, on the verge of a possible NFL career — without Khaliq, who is 7 years older than him.
“I think of the things that he poured into me,” Jacas said. “He doesn’t even know how grateful and how blessed I was that he was in my life at the time in high school.
“The things that he taught me, I felt like I was so ahead of everybody else and I was a lot more mature than a lot of the kids that came out of high school. And it was awesome having your brother as your coach.”
Henry said her oldest son, who has been a father figure to his siblings, had the same skills and hard-working mentality as Jacas, but football didn’t work out for him during two seasons at ASA College and three at FIU as a defensive lineman.
When Khaliq arrived home from college in the summer after Jacas’ sophomore year of high school, he decided to help his younger brother get to where he didn’t. His first suggestion was to switch to defensive end because Jacas had slimmed down, which Jacas loved because he wanted to be like his brother anyway.
The fit, Jacas said, was natural.
“Him teaching me that whole summer, like, it just translated so much easier than playing offensive line,” Jacas said.
Jacas’ affinity for all of the extra work started with Khaliq. They would disappear early in the morning to train at Jacas’ school — where Khaliq joined the football coaching staff — and would head to a training center in the afternoon. They didn’t miss a day, Henry said.
Khaliq told his brother he would give him everything he could to help him succeed. He truly believed his brother could become “a monster” on the field with the right direction.
“That’s what he wanted. He just wanted that guidance from somebody that’s been there somewhat,” Khaliq said. “That’s my little brother, first and foremost.
“And I know how hard it is when you don’t have anybody to help guide you. … Not just me being his brother. Seeing a kid who puts in work, wants to be great, it was an automatic thing for me to try to help elevate him.”
Tears often come to Henry’s eyes when she thinks about the dynamic between her sons.
“(Jacas) saw his brother train, and he wanted to do as well as his brother did, in terms of his performance, the work ethic his brother had,” Henry said. “That will he has came from the mindset: My brother didn’t get to go (to the NFL), and even though he didn’t get to go, I’m going to make him proud.
“There wouldn’t be a Gabriel without Khaliq. I’m proud of both of them.”
After all of that preparation, Jacas burst onto the scene at Illinois, named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America after totaling four sacks and five tackles for a loss in 2022.
Jacas said Khaliq’s preparation for being a college athlete — on and off the field — was a huge benefit.
“A lot of kids don’t know what to expect,” Jacas said. “He told me what he went through being a college athlete and what it comes with. What is a distraction compared to what can help you and benefit you in college. I feel like I was ahead of the game because I know what to do and what not to do.”
Now in his fourth season, he has 148 career tackles, 26 tackles for a loss, 19½ sacks and six forced fumbles — and he’s looking for more in the last stretch of his Illini career.
Final opportunity
The play came on a second effort.
As Jacas tried to get around Duke left tackle Bruno Fina during a blazing-hot Week 2 game in North Carolina, Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah sidestepped to get in front of the pair. Keeping in mind his team’s direction to create “mayhem,” Jacas spun around and darted toward Mensah, wrapping one arm around him and swatting at the football with the other.
The ball came loose, and when Matthew Bailey recovered it, the Illini had their first of five takeaways in an affirming 45-19 victory.
It was Jacas’ second strip-sack in two games after also recording one in the opener against Western Illinois.
“He’s a relentless pass rusher and he understands the depth of quarterbacks,” Harris said. “He understood he got too high. He tried to hit a speed move, didn’t get there. He retraced perfectly and attacked the football. And that’s something that he’s done a lot better, just having awareness of where the ball is.”
It wasn’t a given that Jacas, whom Bielema called “a freak of nature,” would be wearing orange and blue this season after he totaled 74 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, eight sacks, 10 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in 2024.
Jacas, who can play both outside linebacker and defensive end, could have departed for the NFL or for one of the college programs that Bielema said called with offers, despite his never entering the transfer portal. Henry said the family went through a “thought-out process” before Jacas decided the financial and developmental benefits of staying at Illinois were best for him.
Jacas’ goals for his return were taking the next step as a leader and “being one of the best guys I can be in the country” for his team. He also believes the Illinois staff can help him better prepare for being a pro — from off-the-field work such as watching tape, taking care of his body and what to eat, to on-field goals such as being more violent and improving his hands.
Bielema and Harris are pleased with that hunger to improve.
“His self-motivation is something I’ve never seen,” said Harris, a former NFL edge rusher who is in his second season on the Illini coaching staff. “Everyone pushes him, but he is self-driven and if he has any weaknesses, he wants to attack those on his own and get it right. He is always asking: ‘What can I do better? What should I focus on today?’”
Harris said Jacas has developed as a leader. He always has set a high standard with his example, but this year Harris sees him pulling his teammates along with him to mobility or film sessions. On the field, he believes Jacas’ awareness and quickness are two areas he has improved this season.
Through the first three games, Jacas has eight tackles, four tackles for a loss, 3½ sacks, two quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and a pass defended.
“It just gives the defense confidence to know he’s out there,” Harris said. “He brings juice. He’s a physical player, and you can trust that when he’s in, he’s going to do his job.”
Jacas’ family tries to get to as many games as they can from Florida. And when Khaliq isn’t present, he’ll call his younger brother to talk through game film, offering critiques or asking questions. Jacas is a pro at the corrections by now, often seeing issues before Khaliq can bring them up.
Henry and Khaliq have watched with excitement as Jacas has started to gain more attention in his last season. Khaliq said he always believed that with the foundation they set, Jacas could accomplish his goals at the right school, in the right scheme.
“That’s what it started with was a belief,” Khaliq said. “Me believing I can get him where he wants to be. Him believing he can be where he wants to be. To see it all happen, it’s surreal.”