Jamal Haynes has spent the past two seasons as Georgia Tech’s engine room, a red-shirt senior whose legs never quite stopped churning—even when the injuries piled up. In 2024, he started all 13 games at RB, grinding through setbacks to post 944 rushing yards and a career-best nine touchdowns on 169 carries. That 5.6-yard average wasn’t just efficiency—it was grit. For the second-straight season, he earned All-ACC honorable mention honors and became the first Yellow Jacket to log back-to-back 900-yard seasons since 2018.

A native of Loganville, Georgia, Haynes’ emergence didn’t come out of nowhere. He was a decorated prep star at Grayson High, where he led his team to a perfect 14–0 season and a Georgia 7A state championship in 2020. Listed as a three-star recruit by all major services, he was ranked the No. 24 athlete nationally by Rivals and the No. 55 overall prospect in Georgia. But it’s his off-field résumé that’s just as impressive. Haynes earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration in May 2025, closing out with a 4.0 GPA in his final semester. Now working toward an MBA in management.

Who are Jamal Haynes’s parents?

Before Jamal Haynes wore No. 11 for the Yellow Jackets, he wore No. 34 in high school—an ode to his mother, Annette Johnson. His father is Reggie Haynes. She wasn’t just a supportive mom in the stands. Johnson laced up the cleats herself and played RB for the Atlanta Xplosion, a full-contact, 11-on-11 women’s semi-pro football team. For two seasons, Haynes and his brothers watched her juggle it all: practices, games, full-time work, school, and motherhood. That kind of workload wasn’t just inspiring—it was transformative.

Annette’s balancing act taught Jamal and his siblings, Malcolm Tyler, Jaylen, and Jamal, what commitment truly looked like. All while working at CNN Center in downtown Atlanta as an area manager for gourmet services and earning a degree in Human Resources. It was the lesson that came from watching a parent live with purpose and precision, every single day.

How did Reggie Haynes and Annette Johnson meet?

Not much is publicly known about how Jamal’s parents met, and details regarding Reggie Haynes remain largely private. But what’s evident is that Jamal grew up surrounded by a strong family unit that kept his foundation solid.

What ethnicity are Haynes’s parents?

While Jamal Haynes and his family identify as African-American and likely practice Christianity, no specific details regarding their faith or ethnicity have been made public.

Inside Jamal Haynes’s relationship with his parents

“Me already being aware of football and how physical it is, her taking on the sport was surreal,” Jamal once said. That sense of wonder turned into admiration. As a young boy, he and his brother Jaylen loved attending their mom’s games. While the touchdowns and tackles were fun, it was the small moments—grabbing snacks from the concession stand and cheering from the bleachers—that stuck with them.

“She’s just a loving person overall. She’ll do anything for anybody on any given day. She’s open-hearted,” Haynes said of his mother. The bond between the two wasn’t just forged on game days. The GT #1 revealed in an interview, Annette trained him in their backyard, molding his footwork and instilling his competitive edge. When he joined his first football team at age six, he walked up to his coaches and told them—without blinking—he’d be playing every position. His mom just laughed. That brash confidence? It was inherited, earned, and built in the shadow of someone who never slowed down. And now, Jamal Haynes will keep flashing that No.11 in white and tech gold, finishing what he started at Georgia Tech.