A Visit with Ole Miss DL Jared Ivey’s Mom: Tracey Ivey-Muhammad Reflects on Her Son’s Journey
OFORD, Miss. — When fans think of the powerful 2024 Ole Miss defense, edge rusher Jared Ivey automatically comes to mind. The Suwanee, Georgia, native was the 2023 Peach Bowl Defensive MVP and was named to the 2023 All-SEC First Team by the College Football Network. He is absolutely dominating on the field this season, sharing the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week award two weeks ago with teammate Princely Umanmielen after helping lead a strong Ole Miss defensive effort in the Rebels’ historic 28-10 win over Georgia.
For his efforts against the Bulldogs, Jared was also named Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week.
Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week 🦈@jared_ivey1595 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/NYOuIH8KLT
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) November 12, 2024
So, what else is there to learn about the senior player who has impacted Ole Miss football both on and off the field? We spoke with Jared’s mother, Tracey Ivey-Muhammad, about Jared’s younger years and their relationship as mother and son.
GA game photo dump! It was a big decision he made three years ago and it was the BEST decision he could have made for himself. I’ll always be his #1 fan! Fins Up! 🦈🦈🦈 pic.twitter.com/AWe0ywaPHU
— ivey66388 (@Traceyiv) November 15, 2024
Jared Ivey’s mom, Tracey, is always at his games, her son’s number one fan — on and off the field. (Photo courtesy Tracey Ivey-Muhammad)
According to his mom, Jared liked to talk a great deal as a youngster. “Jared talked a lot,” Tracey explains. “He asked a lot of questions, and we had a three-car-maximum question limit that he could ask while we were in the car. So, when he got to the second question before he got to the third, I would say, ‘You’ve got to think about your last question because your questions don’t start over until we get out and come back in the car.’ I kind of made Jared think about the questions he was asking because he would just ask random questions about any and everything all the time. I was used to it, and after we started listening to Harry Potter in the car, that tamped down some of the questions because he was too busy listening to the book. I would have to promise not to start the book until we got back in the car. Even if we were home, it was something that we would listen to. He is a total lover of Harry Potter. I think he’s rereading the books right now.”
An athlete at heart
Jared has always been an athlete at heart. However, when he was younger, baseball was his game of choice.
Jared Ivey loved baseball the most as a very young athlete. (Photo courtesy of the Ivey family.)
Jared (center) is all smiles after a baseball game.
Of course, that eventually changed, and football became the game he loved. “When he was little, Jared only wanted to play baseball,” Tracey tells us. “So, that’s what he started playing was baseball, and because he’s always been tall, anytime we were at baseball practice, or he was at my older son’s football practice, all the coaches used to come up and ask my husband, ‘Does Jared want to play football?’ Jared was like, ‘nope, nope, nope.’ He just wanted to play baseball. He would be in the outfield playing with the grass with his glove, and I’d yell at him, ‘Baseball ready, Jared Ivey, baseball ready,’ and my husband’s laughing. I’m like, what is wrong with your kid? Jared would cry if he didn’t get on base. He would cry if he struck out. He was so competitive.”
Tracey’s husband and Jared’s dad, Gary Ivey, passed away when Jared was seven-and-a-half years old. After the death of his father, Jared decided to play football.
Jared Ivey’s father, Gary, passed away when Jared was just seven-and-a-half years old. (Photo courtesy of the Ivey family.)
“After my husband passed away, that’s when Jared actually decided he wanted to start playing football because my husband was the offensive coach for my older son’s team. Jared said, ‘I want to play football.’ I agreed, and I think he started playing football right around third grade. Then, he threw basketball in there. He stopped playing baseball and concentrated on basketball and football. So, those are the two sports he played. Jared played travel basketball as well. So, our seasons went year-round.”
Tracey Ivey-Muhammad on when Jared chose football
Priorities aligned with expectations
Even though Jared loved football, Tracey made sure his priorities were aligned with her high expectations. This meant there was a time when Jared actually had to sit out of football for a year.
“The only year I did not let him play football was his eighth-grade year,” Tracey begins.
“I had been telling him the second half of seventh grade, ‘If you don’t get your attitude together, I’m not gonna let you play.’ He thought I was just talking and being a mom. He didn’t get it together, and I did not let him play his eighth-grade year. Jared didn’t play rec football, and that’s the year they won the championship—some days, he still kind of needles me about that. But I had to. If I said something, I had to stick to it. I couldn’t waffle when it came to stuff like that; if I said it, I needed to follow up. I couldn’t go back and forth on stuff. He knew when I said I was going to take something away or I was not going to let him do something, I meant it. I would remind him about football season. So, that was a good snapback for him.”
Tracey Ivey-Muhammad on upholding expectations for Jared
COVID and the Transfer Portal
Jared saw his senior year of high school end in a strange way, just as so many students across the country did in the spring of 2020—no graduation, prom, or other senior festivities that mark the culmination of high school. COVID changed everything, including what Jared’s freshman year at Georgia Tech looked like—no fans in the stands except for family and a few friends.
Jared Ivey excelled in his two seasons at Georgia Tech.
While playing for the Yellow Jackets, Jared appeared in 20 games over two seasons, with 13 starts on the defensive line. He tallied 32 total tackles, including 20 solo stops, as a sophomore in 2021 and registered six tackles for loss in 2021.
At the conclusion of the 2021 football season, Jared knew it was time for him to change course, and he entered the transfer portal.
Tracey recalled the process: “Jared went into the portal maybe that Friday or Monday, but it didn’t go through until probably Wednesday and didn’t go live until like Wednesday night. Then that’s when the phone started ringing. Oregon and all the schools were calling again. Ole Miss was the first one to get us on a plane to come there. We had a really good friend, Emery, helping Jared decide. Emery has passed away since then, and we really miss Emery, but Emery was really helpful in helping Jared decide to come to Ole Miss. They got us on a plane to Ole Miss that Friday. Once we hit campus, they told Jared to go ahead and register for classes just in case. I was okay with it because when he said he wanted to go into the portal, I told Jared, ‘Whatever you do, you’re doing it for yourself. It doesn’t matter where you go; I’ll figure out how to get there.’ We went to Ole Miss and had a great time. Jared decided after talking to Coach (Lane) Kiffin, Coach (Randall) Joyner, and Coach Chris (Kiffin), Coach Lane’s brother, to go to Ole Miss. He said, ‘Okay, mom, I’m going to go here.’ I said okay. Our flight back to Atlanta was canceled due to weather, so they put us in a car and had us driven back to Atlanta straight to his dorm. I called my twin sister and told her to meet me at his dorm. We packed him up with everything we could fit in his three suitcases, and the next day, he got on the plane and went to Ole Miss.”
Jared Ivey with his mother, Tracey (left) and his aunt (and his mom’s twin sister) Stacy Robinson. (Photo courtesy of Tracey Ivey-Muhammad)
When reflecting on that time in their lives, Tracey has no doubt it was the right choice for Jared to transfer to Ole Miss.
“It was probably the best decision he could make. I just really wanted him to find his people and find some coaches that were going to really coach him up. Jared made the decision late in his sophomore year that he wanted to go to the next level…He told me that and was like, ‘I need to play in the SEC. I need to get coached up.’ So, I said, okay, and he’s been in Oxford ever since. When he decided that he was going to go back for his COVID year, I immediately said, ‘Great, you can finish your degree. His degree is in general business, and he wants to go into commercial real estate. God willing, he’ll be done in December, and then after the season, he’ll start working out for the combine. Then, we’ll head on into the draft.”
Tracey Ivey-Muhammad on Jared choosing Ole Miss
Even though Jared’s dad doesn’t get to witness his son’s success, Gary lives on through the work ethic he instilled in Jared. Tracey recounted Gary’s mantra of hard work paying off. “Gary was big on work now, play later. Put in the effort and work now so you get to enjoy it later,” she shares.
The life lesson Jared learned from Gary, accompanied by Jared’s desire to excel, has proven to be effective for the Rebel player in achieving his goals.
“Jared is self-motivated. He likes the challenge, and he’s always going to show up.”
Tracey Ivey-Muhammad on her son, Jared
The change from Georgia Tech to Ole Miss meant Jared was farther away from home, but Tracey didn’t let that factor into Jared’s decision and encouraged him to choose where he thought he would benefit most and be happiest. It wasn’t long after Jared moved to Oxford that Tracey realized everything was going to work out. “I guess probably about two months after he was there, I just got a peace that came over me,” Tracey tells us. “I was working, and something said to me, ‘he’s good, Tracey.’ I was like, you know what, he is good. I talked to him a day or two later, and he said, ‘Hey Mom, I’m good.’”
Parents’ role in guiding children through recruitment process
Parents are essential supporters, and guiding their children through the recruitment process can be a daunting task. Knowing what she knows now, we asked Tracey what advice she would give parents of players entering the recruitment process or the transfer portal. “You have to be very involved,” Tracey said. “They have to ask the academic questions. When you’re in the transfer portal, you have to be mindful that when you transfer, some of the credits don’t transfer over. You have to take that into account and stay on top of grades and classes. Even though you know they are grown, and they’re like, ‘Mom, I’ll handle it,’ you still have to ask the question.”
In this new age of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), it’s even more important to understand exactly what is happening.
“When it comes to NIL, you have to stay involved and make sure you’ve got a good lawyer reading contracts,” Tracey says.
“If Jared signs something and he’s obligated to do something, he’s going to do it. He’s not going to sign a deal and halfway do something because that’s not how our family does stuff. Stay on top of paying taxes because a lot of these kids are under the impression that if it’s under a certain amount, you don’t have to pay taxes…By the grace of God, Jared’s been able to get scholarships where he’s going to graduate with no debt. Why would I put him in debt for NIL? Staying on top of taxes is a must, and parents have to educate themselves. You can’t leave it up to the kids because these are 17, 18, and 19-year-old kids. They don’t know all the stuff that we know about taxes and reading contracts.”
Tracey Ivey-Muhammand on the importance of understanding all aspects of NIL
Jared’s interests outside of football
Football is only a part of Jared Ivey’s life. One of his outside interests is his podcast, Ivey League. Here is Tracey on a Mother’s Day episode with Jared.
🚨🎙️ ‘You’re my hero’: ‘Ivey League’ celebrates Mother’s Day with Tracey Ivey-Muhammad 🫶↙️
📺 https://t.co/AO54E07mKe
💻 https://t.co/6qzQoQVWlI
📻 https://t.co/yypLiIXFAH@jared_ivey1595 @Traceyiv @OMSpiritOn3 @RiverlandRoofs #OleMiss pic.twitter.com/lwB21JXsnS— Ben Garrett (@SpiritBen) May 9, 2024
We asked Tracey to give us an idea of what else Jared likes to do outside of football. “Jared loves science fiction and reading,” Tracey began. “He likes experiences and trying different types of food from different cultures. Jared loves NASCAR, and he loves intricate Lego stuff; anytime I go to Oxford, he’s put together a new Lego set. I’m like, ‘how long did it take to do that?’ He’s like, ‘I break it up in stages.’ Jared plays video games. I love when he plays when I’m there, and he’s playing video games with his teammates. They have the headphones on, and I have to go out there and say, ‘Can you lower your voice just a little bit? You don’t have to talk that loud.’ One thing I do like about the podcast is they get to learn about their teammates, stuff they don’t know,” she added.
Jared Ivey has become a formidable member of the Ole Miss defense, and his contributions have not gone unnoticed. Jared’s self-motivation and commitment will undoubtedly carry him far in life, and fans will long remember him for his dedication to making Ole Miss football a more potent force in college football.
Jared Ivey is one of the most underrated prospects in this years draft
The 6’6 285 Edge is quietly having a monster year:
31 Tackles
8 Sacks
2 FF🤷♂️
pic.twitter.com/IawRDh5vPz— WA🅾️Ⓜ️ (@WAOM_) November 15, 2024
Jared and his Ole Miss football teammates travel to Gainesville for a matchup this Saturday with Florida at 11:00 a.m. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
Donna Sprabery
Donna Sprabery is a former teacher, graduation coach, and academic coach for boys basketball. She graduated from the University of West Alabama with a major in business education and from Arkansas State University with a MA in Educational Leadership. A native of Meridian, MS, Donna enjoys traveling, gardening, writing, volunteer work, and cheering on the Rebels.
