Jay Graham's abrupt exit from Alabama football came with warning signs

This story explores mental health issues. If you or someone you know is struggling, Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they dial 741741.

On March 23, 2021, Alabama assistant football coach Jay Graham abruptly resigned to “seek professional help immediately (and) gain a better understanding of mental health,” he posted on Twitter.

And now Graham tells his story in a candid wide-ranging interview with Knox News about what brought him to that tipping point.

Before his resignation, Graham went through an episode at the Alabama complex that scared him and confused coach Nick Saban.

“I ran to my office," Graham said. "My breathing is jacked up. I’m crying at work. Saban ain’t going to like this.”

But there were warning signs scattered throughout Graham's coaching career, like the time at South Carolina he walked out on an ESPN interview when Erin Andrews asked him about his "feelings."

[ READ THE FULL STORY: Jay Graham tells all about his mental health: 'The feeling was ... like I was dying' ]

Then there was a Florida State player who scratched the surface of Graham's issues with a class project about mental health.

His mother’s death, an NCAA investigation at Tennessee, the pressure to recruit elite players, insults from fans on social media, resentment of coaches who don’t work as hard and moving 10 times in 16 years all weave together in Graham’s account.

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Graham feared he was suffering the onset of the degenerative brain disease CTE from years of absorbing hits to the head. When tests came back negative, his search for answers intensified.

He was hospitalized, started medication for anxiety, went through an intensive therapy program, joined a faith-based men’s group to talk through his problems and left college coaching while trying to find out what was wrong.

“When something happens with your brain, it’s scary,” Graham said.

Graham, a former Tennessee running back, coached at 10 schools, most notably Tennessee (2005, 2012, 2020), South Carolina (2009-11), Florida State (2013-17), Texas A&M (2018-19) and Alabama (2021).

Will he coach in college again? That's complicated.

For now, Graham, a former Tennessee running back, enjoys the fulfilling simplicity of coaching middle school football at Concord Christian School in Knoxville.

“I was scared for him, and you always think about the range of consequences,” former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said. “We are a family at Tennessee. And when one of our kids has an issue, we rally to them.”

Reach Adam Sparks at adam.sparks@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Jay Graham's abrupt exit from Alabama football came with warning signs