May 01, 2025
© Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK/Imagn Images
Eagles first-round pick Jihaad Campbell played at Timber Creek High School in Erial, N.J., a South Jersey powerhouse,
When he took the head football coach job in 2020 at Timber Creek High School in Erial, N.J., Brian Wright knew about Timber Creek’s reputation as a South Jersey powerhouse, but not much else about his roster.
Thanks to Covid, practices were scaled back, team events were scarce, and his ability to truly gauge talent was handcuffed by a pandemic that had him feeling “like a Pop Warner coach.”
Fortunately, his predecessor, longtime Chargers coach Rob Hinson, had advised Wright to keep an eye on one particular athlete who hadn’t yet played a snap of varsity.
“He was like, Coach, the Campbell kid is someone to keep an eye on – he’s about to explode,” Wright recalled of his conversation about Timber Creek junior Jihaad Campbell. “Coach Hinson didn’t lie.”
It didn’t take many practices – even modified ones – for Wright to understand exactly what Hinson meant.
Wright can still remember his initial thoughts when the 6-foot-3, 210-pound man-child Campbell arrived at the first practice.
“Thank God he’s on my team, and I don’t have to game plan for him,” he recalled. “He just kind of … he looked different. And, you know, I had a tough time in my mind figuring out how a high school offensive lineman was going to block this kid.”
Timber Creek soon found out that very few, if any, could.
They couldn’t block him at Timber Creek, or at Florida football factory IMG Academy, where he transferred to for his senior season.
They couldn’t block him at Alabama, either, which is why Campbell landed back in the Delaware Valley last week as a first-round pick in the NFL Draft of the Eagles, 31st overall.
Wright, in an Inside The Birds podcast interview with me, reflected on his one season coaching the Eagles’ newest hybrid linebacker, who’ll also be used as an edge rusher.
In Campbell’s first varsity game, the Chargers played nearby Williamstown High, another team with a 2025 NFL draft pick on its roster.
Williamstown featured pass rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku, who was taken last week by the Cowboys 13 picks after Campbell (44th overall), and Keon Sabb, who’s currently playing safety at powerhouse Alabama.
“There was talent all over the field,” Wright said.
After the game, Wright recalled Williamstown’s coach gushing over Campbell’s talent.
“He was like, ‘Coach Wright, that Campbell kid is insane. Like, we had no answers,’” Wright said “Even with all the talent out on the field that game, he stood out.”
Eagles rookies will be at the NovaCare Complex this weekend to participate in the team’s rookie Organized Team Activities (OTA), but Campbell recently underwent shoulder surgery to repair a labrum and isn’t expected to participate.
When healthy, Campbell will be asked to compete at inside linebacker and edge rusher as the Eagles figure out where he fits best. At Timber Creek, he played linebacker. At Alabama, he started his career on the edge before moving off the ball.
At the NFL Scouting Combine in February, Campbell put his elite athleticism on display and registered a 9.85 Relative Athletic Score (9.85) out of 10, even on a bum shoulder. The Eagles figure they’ll ultimately come to the same conclusion about Campbell’s impact that Wright did after just a few games of his one season with Campbell.
“I mean, he was just … he was better than your best kid,” Wright said, “regardless of what position that kid played.”
Follow Geoff on X: @geoffpmosher
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
