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Jonah Gambill cautiously folds his immense 6-foot, 3-inch frame into a small conference room chair, before cracking a huge smile.
The sophomore offensive lineman’s size is only surpassed by his huge personality, especially when he breaks into his favorite impression of his position coach, Jim Bridge.
“We're trained seals, men, (we run) straight down the line, like a seal,” Gambill says in his Coach Bridge voice, followed by several seal barks.
But when the conversation shifts to his expectations for the Tiger’s 2022 season, all the jokes stop.
“I just want to go out there and people hate us,” Gambill says. “I just want to have a mindset that nobody can beat us. “You come to our field — we go to your field — it doesn't matter. We're going to beat the crap out of you wherever we go. And I just want people to hate Memphis because of how much we talk, how much we back it up and how much we hit you in the mouth, every play.”
“I just want to go out there and people hate us,” Gambill says. “I just want to have a mindset that nobody can beat us.
“You come to our field — we go to your field — it doesn't matter. We're going to beat the crap out of you wherever we go.
And I just want people to hate Memphis because of how much we talk, how much we back it up and how much we hit you in the mouth, every play.”
"I knew that I would blend in well with the (Memphis) offensive linemen on the team....But I came to Memphis to play and play early.”
Gambill grew up northwest of Atlanta in Barrow County, where he made his presence known at Cartersville High School’s football program in 8th grade. He would go on to block for No. 1 overall draft pick and current Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, helping Cartersville to a state title his freshman year.
“I really wish we could have gotten one more (state title) while I was there,” Gambill says, recalling his senior year when his team went undefeated before being upset in Georgia’s Class AAAA state quarterfinals. “We had probably the worst game Carterville's ever had in a playoff game. I'm talking touchdowns called back for bull crap calls, dropped passes in the open field for touchdowns, dropped touchdowns…It was just everything that could have went wrong, went wrong.”
Despite the loss, Gambill was named to the Georgia All-State Team and received a three-star rating by most recruiting services. His athleticism and experience in big-time high school football games drew several offers, but it was former Memphis offensive line coach, now head coach Ryan Silverfield that stood out most.
“(Silverfield) texted me and called me every single day,” Gambill says. “And I knew that I would blend in well with the offensive linemen on the team. But I came to Memphis to play and play early.”
“When I got that call, I just thought I ruined my whole season,” he says. “I was in my head after that, but I learned to just let things go. You got to keep playing. And that’s why this year especially, I’ve taken on a bigger role of trying to be a leader for the O line.”
Gambill enrolled early at Memphis, starting school during the fall of 2020 and aimed to be a steady contributor to the team as a true freshman. But injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic provided plenty of setbacks.
“I came in a semester early, and I was here for about two months then COVID hit,” Gambill says. “I was out basically the whole season, but then last year, my red-shirt freshman year, I ended up starting to left tackle.”
It was 2021 when Gambill’s plan to become a regular contributor on the offensive line started to pay off.
Gambill was a steady rotation player through the Tigers first three games, helping Memphis to an early 3-0 record following the upset of Mississippi State. But it would be the following game against the University of Texas at San Antonio when Gambill started to experience some of the on-field adversity that comes with college football.
Memphis looked to continue its undefeated year after jumping on UTSA early with a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. The Roadrunners would strike back in a major way, outscoring the Tigers 28-7, tying the game late in the fourth quarter. In the last five minutes of the game, Memphis appeared to regain control after a fourth-down stand from the Tiger defense, setting up a potential game-winning drive.
Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan seized the opportunity, finding Gabriel Rogers down the sideline for a 41-yard reception, placing the Tigers inside UTSA’s two-yard line with minutes remains. But what appeared to be a game-winning play was called back, following a questionable holding penalty on Gambill. The drive would go on to stall and UTSA would take advantage, kicking a game-winning field goal to upset the Tigers.
“We get down to like the one, two-yard line., and I look up and I just see them throw a flag right at me,” Gambill says. “And I was like, there's no way that's on me. I thought the team was going to kill me, but they ended up just, you know, motivating me and telling me ‘You’re fine’.”
The setback was only a brief one. Gambill says he took his teammates support to heart, helping him go on to start every game for the Tiger’s in 2021.
“When I got that call, I just thought I ruined my whole season,” he says. “I was in my head after that, but I learned to just let things go. You got to keep playing. And that’s why this year especially, I’ve taken on a bigger role of trying to be a leader for the O line.”
With the Tigers opening their 2022 season with a Mississippi State rematch, Gambill says there is plenty for Memphis fans to be excited about.
“(The Mississippi State game) can get your whole season going,” he says. “I want nothing more than to go there and beat 'em again.
“I really hope that we can come out with the dub again. And if we do, I think that'll just set our season off just tremendously.”
This season will also feature a new offensive coordinator after Memphis hired Tim Cramsey to replace Kevin Johns who left for Duke.
Cramsey comes to Memphis following a successful 2021 season with Marshall, where he helped develop Thundering Herd quarterback Grant Wells and freshman running back Rasheed Ali.
Wells finished the year with more than 3,500 yards passing and 16 touchdowns and Ali was named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America. It’s Cramsey’s approach to the running game that Gambill says will be a huge boost for the Tigers this season.
“(Cramsey) has nasty mindset about him…like we're going to run it down their throat, and there's be nothing they can do about it,” Gambill says. “I think a really big focus on the team is the running game this year because we got some crazy talented backs and all of them can run and cut. “We have unlimited talent in the backfield, so we're really trying to get them an opportunity to break out to the next level and that starts with the offensive line.”
“(Cramsey) has nasty mindset about him…like we're going to run it down their throat, and there's be nothing they can do about it,” Gambill says. “I think a really big focus on the team is the running game this year because we got some crazy talented backs and all of them can run and cut.
“We have unlimited talent in the backfield, so we're really trying to get them an opportunity to break out to the next level and that starts with the offensive line.”