Not many kids growing up in the state of Virginia dream of playing for the Florida Gators. But 2019 quarterback commit Jalon Jones (6-3, 205, Richmond, VA. Henrico) is far from ordinary.
He remembers picking the Gators as his team in NCAA video games as a kid and credits Florida with helping him find his love for football.
The 2009 SEC Championship Game between Florida and Alabama is the first game he recollects actually sitting down and watching all the way through. While the Gators ended up losing that game, it didn’t make a difference to the 8-year-old boy. He just knew he loved the orange and blue.
Jones brought that dream to fruition when he committed to the Gators back in April.
Many believed he would not workout at Friday Night Lights as he did not have much to gain from it, but Jones never misses an opportunity to work on his game, especially under the lights in The Swamp.
“Any chance I get to go out there and throw, I’m gonna take it,” he said. “It could be on some pavement. I’m gonna get that chance to get better. Especially being in this atmosphere for the first time and throwing on the field, it’s a big dream of mine come true. I’ve been dreaming about playing at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium since I was 8.”
Not only did Jones get to show off his abilities in front of his future coaching staff and hundreds of spectators at the event, he used it as an opportunity to start building some early chemistry with other top recruits.
“I got acclimated with some of the guys today that they wanted me to throw to, that I’m gonna recruit,” Jones said. “So, I was just talking to them and getting a feel for what they like to run and seeing how we mesh and connect for throwing and stuff like that. We’re getting that timing down already.”
He also got a chance to spend more quality time working with Florida quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson. The two already have an outstanding relationship and want to continue to improve on it before he enrolls and the real work begins.
After all, Jones said he plans to essentially be with his position coach 24/7 once he gets to Florida.
“We’ve had great conversations,” Jones said. “He’s somebody I really look up to and I’m just really excited to have him as a coach. Being an African American quarterback and being as successful as he has been, he can just pour so much information into my game and into my life overall. I’m just really excited to be here and just be under his wing.”
Jones proved to be a real leader of his class on Friday while also living out a lifelong dream. There should be plenty more coaching from Johnson and passes on that field to come in his future.