Mulbah becoming centerpiece for WVU DL after decade-long journey in US

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — With the Ebola virus spreading through Liberia by the hundreds in the 2010s, there was less than a one-percent chance the Mulbahs would be able to leave their home country in West Africa for the United States.

The United States Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) lottery is a program that issues 50,000 visas every year to immigrants and their families from countries that have low rates of immigration to the U.S. A decade ago, Stephen Mulbah Sr., a member of the Liberian coast guard, entered his name in the lottery with the hopes of bringing his family to safety amid the worst Ebola outbreak in history.

There were 208,786 Liberians that applied for the DV lottery in 2013 and 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs. In total, over 17.3 million others across the world registered themselves and/or their families in the lottery in those two years where a total of 100,000 visas were issued by the United States.

One day, a letter came in the mail against all odds. The Mulbahs won the lottery, literally, thanks to Stephen Sr.

“He took the step forward to get our family up here,” West Virginia defensive lineman Fatorma Mulbah said. “So, I appreciate him for that.”

These days, Fatorma Mulbah is a decade into his American residency and thriving as the starting defensive tackle for the West Virginia Mountaineers. The position does not come with much love on the stat sheet, as defensive tackles in Jordan Lesley’s defense at WVU have a tendency to take on blockers, freeing gaps for linebackers or other defensive lineman.

Still, he has recorded seven total tackles this season, which is his second at WVU and first as a starter, and WVU head coach Neal Brown said last week that Mulbah’s four-tackle performance against Kansas was his “best game as a Mountaineer.”

His first season as a starter is an accomplishment 10 years in the making, and it all started on the plane ride from Liberia to the United States when his family made the move.

What followed after they received their letter was a whirlwind for the Mulbahs, who consisted of Stephen Sr., his wife Konah and three sons, including 12-year-old Fatorma, who spoke “broken English” at the time.

“I remember on the plane, just looking out the plane, seeing all the lights,” he said. “We landed at JFK airport, seeing all the lights in New York, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’”

They went from New York to Fatorma’s uncle’s place in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for a short stint before ultimately ending up 15 miles down the road in Harrisburg. He speaks fondly of his early days in the U.S., citing the opportunities available for people of all backgrounds. His father is now a truck driver, and his a mother is a nurse.

But the best opportunity of them all was yet to come.

“I didn’t even know what the sport of football was [back then],” he said.

One day, while attending Susquehanna Township High School in Harrisburg, a group of coaches and classmates finally baptized him in American sport culture by getting him to join the football team. It was a life-changing fork in the road for Mulbah, who gives credit to his high school coach Joe Headen for convincing him.

“He was like, ‘Yeah, you’re playing football,'” Mulbah said.

There were some early bumps, as expected, in the early days of his high school career. He remembers not being able to get into a stance in his first practice, but that would ultimately be a blip and a funny anecdote more than anything. There would not be many more funny moments, especially for opponents, on the line of scrimmage alongside Mulbah.

Eventually, he dominated, and few were laughing.

He became a two-time all-conference selection as an upperclassman, and he was awarded team MVP as a senior. That season, he logged 12 sacks and nine tackles, but he also had a particular knack for creating turnovers, and he forced four fumbles in the process.

By the end of his senior season, ESPN ranked him as the No. 3 recruit in the state of Pennsylvania for his high school class.

Of course, the in-state powerhouse of Penn State came calling eventually, and he became a Nittany Lion soon enough.

At the time, Andrew Jackson, now the WVU defensive line coach, coached defensive tackles at James Madison. Jackson had noticed Mulbah at a young age in Harrisburg and fruitlessly tried to sway him to JMU.

It was no surprise that JMU lost to Penn State on a three-star recruit, but something did not sit right with Jackson regarding the pairing of Mulbah and Penn State.

“[Penn State] was more of a four-down, movement scheme, which is not necessarily beneficial for his skillset,” Jackson said. “I thought he was more of a straight-line guy.”

Simply put, Mulbah never broke through into the main defensive line rotations at Penn State in three seasons in University Park. He did not play in the 2020 season, then made six appearances as freshman in 2021 and was primarily a special teams player as a sophomore in 2022.

For whatever reason, life in Happy Valley was not so happy, and Mulbah hit the transfer portal.

Luckily, in that time, Jackson had moved up the ranks to West Virginia’s defensive line coach, and yes, he was still very interested.

“Having that relationship already was huge,” Mulbah said.

Morgantown made sense, too. Mulbah, a self-proclaimed family man, wanted to stay within driving distance of Harrisburg. The trek from Harrisburg to Milan Puskar Stadium is about twice as long as it is to Beaver Stadium, but it’s close enough for the Mulbahs.

“That was a huge part of my decision,” he said.

His trajectory as a Mountaineer has played out in quite a different manner than it did at Penn State. Last year, which was his first at WVU, he made appearances on the defensive line in all 13 games, and he was awarded the Blue Collar Award for his performance against Pitt in the 2023 Backyard Brawl.

He also made his first collegiate start in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl when he logged three tackles and a half tackle-for-loss.

With Mike Lockhart transferring to SMU in the offseason, Mulbah was next up after spending the back half of the 2023 season as the No. 2 defensive tackle. He was in a good position to take the starting spot simply by his 2023 production, but he locked it up with strong performances in fall camp, and he has started every game since.

“I’m very excited with what he’s going to bring to the table in a more consistent role,” Jackson said.

Serendipity, hard work and a little bit of luck have helped propel Fatorma Mulbah through his football career.

But in the grand scheme of things, the Mulbahs are already a success story, no matter how far Fatorma’s career goes.

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