SAN ANTONIO - Narrowing his list to three schools, Caden Jones had a difficult decision ahead of him.
Florida, Houston and Texas A&M all provided intriguing situations for the high three-star offensive lineman from New Orleans (La.) De La Salle but Jones could only pick one school.
On Saturday at the All-American Bowl, he chose the Gators.
His relationship with position coach Brandon Jones at Houston played a significant factor in his recruitment and it was a main reason why the Cougars stayed around so long in his recruitment.
Playing for position coach Steve Addazio at Texas A&M was a huge draw. Over his career, Addazio has coached numerous pros as Jones cited the Pouncey Bros. as one example and the idea of playing in that Aggies’ offense definitely appealed to the De La Salle standout.
But Florida kept coming back as the school where Jones felt most comfortable and one of the biggest reasons why is that many of the Gators’ coaches also recruited him when they were at Louisiana.
From offensive line coaches Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton to the head man Billy Napier, Jones had a long-standing bond with the Florida coaches and that won out in the end.
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IN HIS WORDS: “That’s an amazing impact. I’ve known a lot of that staff from Louisiana. They were recruiting me at ULL so that feels like family. The transition from high school to college is always a challenge so just to have someone like coach Sale would be great to have someone to talk to.”
WHAT THIS MEANS: Napier and his staff have done a great job recruiting back in the familiar territory of Louisiana and the surrounding areas and this is another big win for them this time along the offensive line.
Jones has struggled at times this week during the one-on-one sessions at the All-American Bowl but he has tremendous size and upside once the Gators get him on campus and start working with him.
There are few offensive linemen in the country with his size and potential and while he is not a finished product yet, getting to Florida and getting in that college system could do wonders for him as he has the chance to be really special in Gainesville down the road.
