On a fateful day this past December, redshirt junior linebacker M.J. Salahuddin suffered a knee injury for the second time in three years while preparing for the Belk Bowl.
His first injury, an ACL tear in his left knee, occurred during fall camp of 2014. And just as he was beginning to play like he did in his prime, he injured his right knee in a similar fashion.
However, this time was different, in part because the injury was much more serious than its predecessor. This time around, Salahuddin tore all four major ligaments, his ACL, PCL, LCL and MCL, as well as his posterolateral corner.
“The doctors told me that it would be at least a 12-month recovery,” Salahuddin said. “They said that it was one of the worst injuries that they’d ever seen.”
Salahuddin explained that the severity of his injury made him really put things into perspective and contemplate his future and what is most important to him in life. After much thought and deliberation, he decided not to medically redshirt for the second time and end his football playing career.
A huge factor in Salahuddin’s decision to hang up his cleats is his son.
“It’s a lot of pressure, just having that in that back of your head, like wow if I get hurt again I might not be able to walk the same,” Salahuddin said.
Salahuddin is originally from Fayetteville and is a self-proclaimed “army brat.” His father recently retired from the Army, but he still has two siblings who are active duty officers, and he has a lot of extended family serving in the armed forces as well. He said he is sort of the oddball in his family for choosing to play sports over a career in the military. Despite this, his family has fully supported his choices throughout his life.
“I’m really family-oriented,” Salahuddin said. “They really leaned on me heavily to be successful so that I wouldn’t have to convert to the military.”
The importance of family in his life is why he chose to stop playing football. He wants to be a part of his son’s life, and he didn’t want to risk injuring himself in any way that could jeopardize his ability to be involved with his family.
“I want to be a family man,” Salahuddin said. “I want to be able to take my son to the park on the weekends and be able to play basketball or football with him or whatever need be.”
So, now that his playing days are over, what does he plan to do? Well, luckily for him, as one door closes, another door opens. Immediately following his injury, head football coach Dave Doeren asked him what he wanted to do with his life. His answer was that he wanted to begin coaching. Doeren granted him his wish and gave him the opportunity to help coach the team’s linebackers, a position that he obviously had a lot of knowledge about already.
The first step in the process of transitioning from being a player to being a coach is to learn the game from a different perspective. The coaching staff allowed Salahuddin to sit in on meetings, and they had him spend as much time as possible around other coaches to help put him in the right mindset. As his recovery progressed, he spent more time on the field as well, and he helped coach the linebackers and nickelbacks throughout spring training.
Going from being someone’s peer to being his or her leader is not always easy, but Salahuddin said that thanks to the coaching staff and his former teammates, the transition has been very smooth for him. He also explained that his mentality as a player made the switch feel more natural because he didn’t have to earn anyone’s respect — he already had it.
“I wasn’t a hypocrite as a player,” Salahuddin said. “I always worked hard and came in with the same mentality, and that was to get better.”
He went on to say that his job on a day-to-day basis hasn’t changed that much. His job as a player was to be a leader on and off the field and to implement the standards and goals that the team holds itself to. As a coach, his goal remains the same even though his position has changed.
If Salahuddin wishes to stay with the team as a graduate assistant in the fall, he will have to enroll in a master’s program. He has already been admitted into the Masters in Arts and Liberal Studies program. If he chooses to pursue this path, he hopes to focus on leadership and youth development, which ties into his passion for coaching and community building.
Unfortunately, Salahuddin will have to do some more soul searching before making this decision because he would only have one more year on scholarship to earn his degree before having to pay for it out of pocket. For this reason, he has also looked at a few other job opportunities, and he is currently weighing his options.
Whatever he decides to do will be in the best interest of himself and his family, but with his work ethic and determination, he is sure to be successful in life regardless of the path he chooses.
