FRISCO, Texas–Relentless. That’s the impression Colorado State’s Mo Kamara gives, both on and off the field. He takes that approach in his play. In his preparation. And in his drive to succeed.
Despite that intensity, he’s funny and engaging. When sitting down with Steelers Depot in Frisco, Texas, at the East-West Shrine Bowl, his response when asked if he could be recorded: “Can I say hello to the Steelers fans?”
He has been listed as a defensive lineman, an EDGE, and a linebacker. How his position is defined doesn’t matter to him. He just wants to get to the opposing team’s quarterback. He’ll play anywhere that gives him a chance.
“I’ve had three coaches at Colorado State,” Kamara said. “So I played in the 4-3, I played in 3-4, so it really didn’t matter. I played outside linebacker, inside linebacker. I played Sam, I played defensive end.”
As far as any preference where he lines up in the NFL, Kamara said his priority is getting the job done and rushing the quarterback, something that is really fun to him. And he will do whatever it takes:
“I can play edge and I can play outside linebacker. So it really depends on the team that wants to pick me up and teach me,” he said. “All I need them to do is to give me the key to the facility and I’m going to do whatever I can to make the best of it. Just give me the key to the film room and I’m gonna watch film. Give me my playbook and I’m gonna read my playbook. I’m gonna adapt.”
Growing up in New Jersey, Kamara wanted to play football. But with his family hailing from West Africa, his parents’ preferred sport was soccer. It was Mo’s older brother who paved the way to playing football, something his mother didn’t like but accepted. At Colorado State, he got his degree in human development and stayed on for a fifth year as a graduate student in sports management. In his final season, he served as a team captain and racked up awards, including the one for Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.
As a captain, he took pride in creating the right culture for his teammates. But instead of taking credit, he chooses to describe it through his coach, Freddie Banks, using his words but speaking with passion: “Attack, attack, attack. That’s what we do. And that’s how we go about it every Saturday when we play our opponent. We want to make the quarterback feel us.”
Kamara explains the Rams’ approach to disguising their coverages with contagious energy. “Let’s say the quarterback has his eyes down or his eyes up, then he put his eyes down, we put in another look, going from Cover 2 to Cover 3, you know?” he said. “It don’t look like we’re bringing the house, but we’re bringing the house. And when we look like we’re bringing that house, we’re dropping in coverage. So things of that nature, we’re just always attacking, making it really hard for the quarterback.”
Kamara has only been playing this role on the defense for two years. He doesn’t have a signature move but if he has a favorite approach, he would describe it as “running, bending, and not getting touched because I’m that fast.” It’s obviously working. He finished last season with 56 total tackles (29 solo), two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and 38 QB hurries. With 30.5 career sacks, he is second in school history only to former Colorado State and Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans, who holds the record with 33 sacks.
For the school’s single-season sack record, Kamara’s 13.5 sacks put him third immediately behind another familiar name…former Steelers outside linebacker Joey Porter, who was credited with 14 in his final year at Colorado State. Before Porter was drafted by Pittsburgh in 1999, he played in the East-West Shrine Game as well as the Senior Bowl. Kamara now prepares for the Shrine Bowl and hopes for similar success beyond that.
When asked which NFL players he likes to model his game after, Kamara names Von Miller, Haason Reddick, and another Colorado State alum, Shaquil Barrett. He likes to look at players with his stature, speed and length who “bring the same thing to the table”.
Wherever he lands after the draft, Kamara just wants to help his team win, whether that means sacking the quarterback, creating pressure, stopping the run, or creating turnovers. He acknowledged that Colorado State won a few games because of his play. When asked if there is anything more satisfying than closing out a game with the defense, he replied, “I can start the game or finish the game. It’s always fun, you know what I mean? I love football.” He referenced a win against San Diego State when he was the first player to put points on the board with a safety.
Although his team fell to Washington State in the 2023 season opener, Kamara had a forced fumble that exemplifies his philosophy. Playing against talented quarterback in Cameron Ward, he chose to go for the ball instead of the sack when trying to get a stop on fourth down and forced a fumble. As he described it, “[Ward] was running with the ball loose. And my coach always told me the ball is more important than the sack. That’s still a fact too. You know, I love hitting quarterbacks. That’s what I love to do. But to win the game, you gotta get turnovers.”
That isn’t to say he doesn’t enjoy winning the game with a sack, as he did against Middle Tennessee last September. Better than his touchdown off a fumble recovery were his two sacks on the final drive as the Blue Raiders tried to orchestrate a game-tying drive. Instead, the game ended with Kamara’s strip-sack.
Kamara met with Steelers Director of Player Scouting Mark Sadowski and said they had a fantastic conversation. He was pleased to learn that his tough, hard-nosed playing style matched the Steeler way. “Like thinking about it,” Kamara said, “yeah, I do play a certain way of being aggressive and getting the job done and knowing what I gotta do and being someone who’s relentless.”
Kamara has been invited to the NFL Combine but right now he is focused on maximizing his Shrine Bowl experience. Kamara is excited to face talented adversaries from bigger schools. His biggest complaint? He won’t have enough time to study up on and prepare for them.
“I’m not really looking to win every rep. I’m also not looking to lose every rep, you know what I mean? Kamara said. “But me personally, I prepare all year for 12 games and you know, I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for everybody and to look at tendencies.”
His weigh in at the Shrine Bowl listed him at 6013 and 252 with a hand size of 838, arm length of 3248 and a wingspan of 78. At practice, he showed that determination to get past the offensive lineman (wearing #58):
While Kamara is here in Frisco, he will be studying film every night because that is how he prepares and that is how he wins. And that drive to succeed could take him far.
