Febechi Nwaiwu always believed in himself.
It just took awhile for others to buy into what he's capable of.
It was that personal resolve that led to others seeing the same. And in the end, Nwaiwu's on the verge of achieving a longtime goal: Hearing his name called in the NFL Draft.
"I've obviously been dreaming about this, but I didn't think it was going to be this way," Nwaiwu said. "I've been dreaming about this since I was a kid, but I really wouldn't change anything. I wouldn't change my story, God put me on this path for a reason, and I'm forever grateful for it all."
It wasn't too long ago Nwaiwu was winding down his prep career at Coppell (Texas) High, expecting to reach the highest levels of college football. But the calls he planned on receiving never came.
Nwaiwu would leave the high school ranks preparing to walk on at the Group of Five level. Early adversity that began building Nwaiwu's frame of mind.
"Mentally, it was really hard," Nwaiwu said. "Because, honestly, my whole high school career nobody told me I was going to be a walk on. Everybody had high expectations for me, my coaches were telling me I was going to be a Power Five type of guy at the time. And I almost had that expectation not just for myself, but for my family. I wanted to, and felt like I was going to, make my family proud. To not get any offers out of high school, it kind of messed with me a little bit."
"It was a hard time in my life," Nwaiwu added. "But I think God puts challenges in your life for a reason. Going through that challenge, it really changed me as a person. It made me the person I am today."
Nwaiwu eventually secured a walk on spot at North Texas. And once his opportunity arrived, Nwaiwu never wavered.
"Being a walk on, I keep the walk on mentality my whole career," Nwaiwu said. "And being able to get to the level I'm at, having been that walk on, it's an extreme blessing by God."
After redshirting in 2021, Nwaiwu burst onto the scene in 2022. He was named a second-team freshman All-American by The Athletic and a third-team freshman All-American by College Football News. Nwaiwu was also named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team by the league's coaches, and he earned third-team All-C-USA honors from PFF and Phil Steele Magazine.
After playing in 10 more games in 2023 with seven starts, Nwaiwu took a leap of faith and entered the transfer portal. He was hopeful going in, then Oklahoma called.