Whether it was his official visit to Tempe or even interactions with now-former ASU players, the general vibe that University of Florida quarterback transfer Emory Jones received about the Sun Devils resonated more and more. Just hours after he made his commitment to the program public, he discussed his decision with Devils Digest and the factors that were involved.
“ASU didn’t contact me until a while after I got in the portal,” Jones said, “but I understood their reasons. They wanted to give all the guys in their quarterback room throughout the spring a chance. So they actually hit me up after spring (practice). And I already had a feeling that it was a place that I had in mind, and when I got up there for a visit, I felt like it was the place for me.
“My visit was kind of different than the usual recruiting visit. I wasn't really interested in doing any interviews or mini-tours or anything like that. I just went out to talk ball with most of the offensive coaches and sit and watch film for a while. I wanted to get a feel of how they coached and all the different things that they did on offense. And we watched some of my film, and they told me things they like, and we kind of just talked through things. That's all I was looking for, to get a feel for the offense, and I like what I saw.”
Despite growing up and playing his entire football career a couple of thousand miles away from the ASU campus, Jones was already somewhat familiar with the program through some of its players he had met in recent years. Ironically, one of these players was the Sun Devils’ starting quarterback Jayden Daniels, who Jones is now poised to replace in Tempe.
“Me and Jayden are kind of close, and we spoke a few times,” Jones stated. “I was actually with him in L.A. right before the season started at the Steve Clarkson camp. I talked to (ASU WR) Chad Johnson Jr., too, and they were talking about their season, what they had going on, and they said they had a pretty good team. I also talked to Jayden after he left, and the main thing I took from him that was most important for me and my decision was that he had nothing bad to say about the program or any of the coaches that were there. That stood out to me.
“He said he and coach Edwards were still really close, and he still contacts him to this day. That was very important for me because that's all I'm looking for out of a program, is having a coach that is very supportive of me.”
The former starting signal-caller for the Gators passed for 2,734 yards posting 19 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions in 2021. Jones, who started 12 of Florida’s 13 games in 2021, was an extremely accurate passer with an impressive 64.73 completion clip and showcased his dual-threat capabilities by pacing his team with 758 rushing yards scoring four rushing touchdowns.
The offensive scheme he will be asked to execute with his new team isn’t only drastically different from the style he played under in Gainesville but truly a rarity in today’s college football. Needless to say that when presented with the new offensive philosophy in Tempe, under first-year offensive coordinator Glenn Thomas, Jones feels comfortable with his level adaptably.
“The main thing coach Thomas mentioned was my poise,” Jones described, “my poise and everything I've been through and just how I always stay confident in myself…being poised in the pocket even when things aren't going my way. I'm always next up, ready to keep on going and keep fighting. I never quit. And that's the main thing. He said that I could bring a lot of different things to the table, and he’s excited for all the different things I can do as a quarterback. My skill set is rangy. I'm able to do a lot of things; I can make every throw on the field. I also can take off, run and score. You never really know what you will get out of me, but every play is really surprising.”
“It's kind of unusual in this day and age of college football to run a huddle offense. It’s kind of a slow-paced offense, but for me, it's more pro-style and more NFL-based. Those are my goals and my aspirations to get to the next level. Coming there and conducting the offense, it will prepare me for the next level.”
Florida insider and 1standTenFlorida Publisher Jason Higdon said that the 6-2 201 Jones would certainly remind ASU fans of Daniels not only in his frame but general skill set.
“He’s clearly a dual-threat and a great runner,” Higdon remarked.” He's actually deceptively quick. When he played Alabama, Georgia, all these big monster defensive teams, he didn’t take a lot of big shots because of his quickness, and he’ll run a lot right up the middle of the field. He's got good arm strength, but for whatever reason, he hasn't been able to put it all together. But, if he's playing in a wide open offense, I think he’ll do well. He’s improved in his reads and progression. When he first got to Florida he'd look for his first read, and if it wasn't there, he was running. Last season he was going more through his reads.”
The fact that ASU head coach Herm Edwards coached in the NFL for nearly ten years was undoubted another factor that was attractive to Jones when it came to his confidence in the Arizona State staff and their ability to prepare him for the next stage of his career. Yet, there were other aspects of Edwards that greatly appealed to Arizona State's newest addition.
“Something he said that stood out to me the most was during the visit,” Jones recalled, “is that he and his star quarterback will walk together down the tunnel right before the game, and he’ll give you a hug and tell you, ‘Now let's go have fun and play your game.’ Having that trust and the confidence from your coach makes you want to go out there and play your best game. And that's all I really need right now at this point.
“And that’s the thing that surprised me the most during the visit, the people in the building. They are all genuine guys, and you can tell that the players and the coaches love to be around each other. The vibe that I got was that they were really were looking for a leader offensively. That was really motivating for me on the visit because I could see what they needed, and I'm that guy.”
ASU marked the only recruiting visit Jones took, and he commented that Oklahoma, Liberty, and Missouri were the other schools that pursued him in earnest. The quarterback admitted that he was fully planning to visit multiple schools and communicated to Arizona State as much; even though leaving Tempe, he was confident that he was going to return to that city as part of the team.
“It definitely was a hard decision to make because I want this to be my last stop, Jones explained. “And I have just two years left. So I wanted to make sure I had all of my questions answered and made sure that I had everything I needed there to be successful.
Jones enters an ASU quarterback room that, perhaps until his announcement, was unsettled in terms of its pecking order following spring practice as the presumptive starter for the Sun Devils. The departure of a three-year starter in Daniels, who transferred to LSU prior to spring practice, saw a battle for starting duties between the most experienced returning quarterback on the team, sophomore Trenton Bourguet, who was no. 2 on the depth chart last year last season, sophomore Paul Tyson an Alabama transfer, and redshirt freshmen Daylin Mclemore who was the biggest surprise in camp. With Jones’ arrival, ASU right now has six scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, which also includes redshirt freshman Finn Collins and true freshman Bennett Meredith.
Jones, who is expected to arrive at ASU in June in time for the team’s summer workouts and ahead of August’s fall camp, comes here as a player who unquestionably faced a lot of challenges during his career at the University of Florida, an experience he claims has and will aid him in the transfer to a new school.
“I've been through it all,” Jones said. “I sat behind a Heisman finalist (Kyle Trask). I sat behind a guy that the fan base honestly didn’t like and trashed in Feleipe (Franks). I've seen it all. I've been through some of my best performances, breaking three records in a game. And then I also played in games where they were booing me. I sat on the bench for three years, and I played pretty good in those three years. When I got in (as a starter), I had really high expectations this past year, and I had to deal with all the struggles and had to go out there and play in front of 90,000 fans every Saturday. That’s why I feel that I'm very poised and confident in myself in any situation.
“I always stayed strong and confident in my team and our ability to win. So I feel like my poise as a person is good, and just know that if nothing goes our way in the game, I'm still there, coming back and fighting as hard as I can and getting my guys to the same point that I am. My approach coming into Arizona State is to be myself and be the best leader that I can be. To make sure I win over the team, make sure they see the work that I put in and make sure they know that I have their back every single day and every single Saturday.”
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