Jones High sends football players to college at impressive rate

When a freshman walks on the field his first day of football practice at Jones High each season, he gets a message loud and clear, and it’s a message that will resonate with each player throughout his entire four years in the program.

At Jones, players are not only there to play football, but they are also there to learn, go to class, get good grades, be respectful of others, grow into young adults and go to college.

Elijah Williams has coached at Jones for seven years, and in that time he has sent 111 football players to college to advance not only their playing careers but also their academic futures. And it’s not just the big-time colleges. It’s the big schools, the little schools and the in-between schools. It’s the SEC, the Big Ten, the ACC, the MEAC, the SWAC and many other lesser-known destinations … oh, and yes, even the Ivy League.

The NCAA’s early National Signing Day is Wednesday, and two more players will sign National Letters of Intent with defensive lineman De’antre Robinson headed to Texas and running back Jerrian Parker going to Southern Illinois. Numerous other will sign in February.

This past graduating class saw 21 Jones football players sign National Letters of Intent. The record year was the Class of 2017 when 25 players went on to college.

Jones High college signees since 2017

“That is our first message from the jump, and that is that everything we do is going to be college-based,” Williams said. “We do know there are a lot of guys who won’t go to college, but here at Jones you are going to be prepared to go to college. Everything we do.

“The most important thing is the college courses and making sure they have those 16 core classes they need to take to qualify. That’s why it’s great that we have our administration involved here — from the principal to the guidance…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jones-high-sends-football-players-004400537.html

Author : Orlando Sentinel

Publish date : 2023-12-16 00:44:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.