Christian Jones mulling three options ahead of Signing Day

Sometimes the excitement that comes with being a suddenly very popular football recruit can be exhausting and a guy just needs a nap.

That’s Christian Jones’ life these days - especially now that Texas has made him a top priority following his de-commitment from SMU. Actually, Jones might say that Chad Morris is the one doing the sleeping, as he didn’t even hear from the new Arkansas head coach after he took the job.

Longhorns coaches didn’t waste any time getting a hold of the two-way lineman. New co-offensive coordinator Herb Hand and tight ends coach Corby Meekins met with Jones for nearly two hours last week, and later, he woke up to some big news after one of his regular siestas.

“We were just chopping it up, getting to know each other,” Jones said. “The next day after that I took a nap, I woke up to something like 11 missed calls from different coaches. I called Coach Hand back and he said ‘you better pinch yourself, because you’re not going to believe what I’m going to say,’ and then I got offered.”

Jones is an intriguing defensive line prospect that’s athletic as he is big, but the Texas staff envisions him as an offensive line prospect. That’s not actually as big of a stretch as it may seem - there are conflicting opinions in Jones’ own home as to what he’s actually better at.

“Honestly, that’s a debate in the house that we have every single day,” he said. “Mom thinks I should play O-Line, Dad thinks that I should play D-Line. Honestly, I would prefer D-Line; for me it’s more fun getting to hit the star quarterback instead of blocking for him, that’s been my experience in high school.”

In Jones’ own words, Texas is ‘up there’ but so is Cal and Vanderbilt. He had originally planned to take an official to Vandy this weekend, but may choose to make the switch to Texas - which would effectively signal who his top two schools are. Education is a top priority to his parents, however, and a trip to Vanderbilt could be a visit they insist that he take.

On Cal, where he took his official visit earlier this month

“Cal was amazing, to say the least,” he said. “It was like something that I’ve never seen before. That was my first time in Cali, but being a Texas boy - I live in the burbs, everything is kind of the same - so seeing the different scenery, it was an amazing experience. The coaches were awesome, the players I ran into are really cool and they’re a lot like me; they care a bunch about school but they’re athletes on the the field as well.

“I feel like eventually they’ll pull the right strings and get the right people in to eventually compete for a national championship.”

On what Vanderbilt needs to show him on a potential OV to win his commitment

“To me, I’ve definitely got to like where I’m living,” he said. “What I’ve learned from a lot of these visits is that almost every D1 program is kind of the same but with their own little culture tied into it. Everyone is going to have academic advisors, everyone is going to have competition, a good conference, good players, but I definitely have to like where I’m living. It’s down to the little things that I am going to see on a visit.”

“It’s big-time football - it’s SEC,” he said. “It’s a lot of kids dream to play in SEC, going against the best of the best every single Saturday. There’s kids out there going for big job interviews, this isn’t just free school for them.”

Jones is planning to make his announcement and sign on National Signing Day in a ceremony at his school, and as of Monday, estimated that he’s about 75-percent sure of who he’ll choose. That still offers some wiggle room, and he said that more in-home visits are to come between now and then - including another from Texas today. He’s one a handful of available prospects in the state that has become a hot name because of his athletic potential, and will give whichever position coach he ends up playing for an exciting foundation to work with.