Morton freshman Jahari Arnold doesn’t feel the weight of expectations.
His older brother Jalen Arnold and their cousin Martece Smith both starred for the Governors and play Division I football for Chicago State and UConn, respectively. Now the 5-foot-7, 165-pound Jahari Arnold has succeeded his brother at linebacker.
“Same jersey number (22), same jersey — just a little bigger on this guy,” Morton coach Mac Mishler said. “There’s some pedigree there. He’s doing a really great job for us.”
But Jalen Arnold and Smith want Jahari Arnold to surpass them.
“When you have a brother and a cousin that are both playing Division I football and they’re saying that you need to be better than us, it’s like, ‘OK, well, all right, so that makes it playing in the Big Ten now?’” Mishler said. “That’s the next thing.
“It’s been an exciting ride. It’s been fun to watch him grow. He’s a quiet kid, but he’s a worker. He works in the weight room. He works in the classroom.”
Jahari Arnold is getting the job done on the field too. He had 23 tackles for the Governors (3-4) before their nonconference game against Hobart on Friday. His two sacks were tied for the team lead.
“When I started off at first, I was a little nervous,” he said. “But playing in more games made me more confident.
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“It’s a big change from the early days in youth football. Under the lights, you’re going up against grown men. But I always had hopes. I always thought I’d be able to play on Fridays.”
Jalen Arnold and Smith paved the way for him.
“Big brother helped me out a lot, especially playing the same position as him, and my big cousin always helped me out to get better too,” Jahari Arnold said. “So both of them played a big factor.”
So, too, did Jahari Arnold’s father, Frederick, who was fatally shot on April 5, 2024.
“We were really close,” Jahari Arnold said. “We talked every day, talked about football every day. Big role model. He always wanted me to be great.”
Jahari Arnold continues to be inspired by the memory of his father.
“Dad was a big piece of their motivation, them wanting to be good at football, having those goals because it was dad’s goals too,” Mishler said. “It’s hard for anybody to lose a parent, but it’s that much tougher when dad is that guy for them. This is what those two boys do. Jalen didn’t play any other sports. Hari doesn’t play any other sports. This is their thing.
“So to see them persevere through that and handle it with as much grace as they did, you knew it happened and the boys took what time they needed to take, but they didn’t allow it to impact what they were trying to do. That says a lot about, one, how they were raised, and, two, just the character of those boys. It’s been great to see the first phase of Jalen and Tece getting to where they’re trying to go, and now we’re going to see in a few years if Hari can do the same or, like I said, if not better. We’re excited about it.”
Jahari Arnold was very much a part of that first phase.
“Hari’s obviously new to high school, but he was our ball boy for at least the prior three years while Jalen was going through high school,” Mishler said. “So Hari’s always been around us. He went to team camp with us every year. Like, he was always around. It’s not like he was new to how we do things or what our environment is like.
“Honestly, that was one of the weirdest adjustments this year in Week 1 when we were over at Portage. The ref said, ‘Do you have a ball boy?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, shoot, no, we don’t.’ … It just slipped my mind because Hari was doing it for the last few years, and you just took it for granted.”
In years past, Jahari Arnold, Jalen Arnold and Smith were virtually inseparable.
“Any time those two were together, he was the third with them,” Mishler said. “I’m not joking when I say those two would take him around everywhere. I’m sure sometimes that was mom-driven, like, ‘You’re going to take him.’ Then he finally got to that point with his brothers — he looks at Tece as a brother too — where he was one of the group.
“The family’s just good people. Mom’s great. Mom communicates with us a ton in regards to all the boys, keeping tabs on all of them.”
Once a fixture on the sideline, Jahari Arnold has become a fixture on the field for the Governors. He said football is “my life — that’s all I do.”
“He’s really bought into what we’re trying to do, especially between Jalen and Tece coaching him up over the last few years, really good role models,” Mishler said. “He’s had a really good freshman season. I told Jalen, ‘Hari’s going to break all of your records for tackles because he’s a year ahead of you,’ and Jalen was like, ‘I want that for him.’
“Hari’s still a freshman, and he’s going to make mistakes. But he’s going to make plays too.”
Jahari Arnold has made an impact on sophomore linebacker DJ Henderson. Mishler said Jahari Arnold has aided in Henderson’s development since last season.
“He brings a lot of young energy, giving us a boost on the defensive side of the ball,” Henderson said. “He’s very physical, by the way. He’s mature, so it helps him out on the field. His skill level, you wouldn’t think he’s a freshman, for real, if you didn’t know his grade.
“He really is a team player. He’s more of a leader, a captain, before anything. He’s the type to help you out instead of saying you’re doing wrong.”
Jahari Arnold is following in the footsteps of Jalen Arnold and Smith.
“To see those three kids persevere through all of it and really be the support system for each other, it’s really great,” Mishler said. “Those two boys are doing big things, and I’m sure he’ll be the third one. It’s just going to be a matter of getting through the next 3 1/2 seasons, and we’ll see where he lands.
“So we’re excited about Hari. He’s going to be a good one, for sure.”