'12 NY DT Jarron Jones (Notre Dame Signed LOI)

[NDFANnSouthWest]

ZING!!!

What great news....proceed with phase two of operation "Jones-Z."

 

[Rocket89]

This news pleases me.

 

[NDinL.A.]

I will not make that phone call to a certain Penn State fan just yet. This will give me GREAT pleasure.

Two things:

1. He still wants to visit Va Tech and as well as Penn State one more time. He also said he'll commit before his senior season probably, but also says he wants to go to Va Tech for a game. So yeah, hold off on that phone call LOL.

2, Isn't it funny how we welcome this kid, who committed to another school and then backed out, with open arms, and yet we flip the fu*k out when a ND verbal even mentions visiting other schools (and if he decommits, the kid is a back-stabbing villain with parents who never taught him the meaning of commitment.). Just saying, when one of our guys decommits (and don't even trip, it's coming), think about how you feel about this young man before you besmirch a former ND commit's character...

 

[BeauBenken]

HAHAHA! I called this

 

[BleedBlue&Gold]

Two things:

1. He still wants to visit Va Tech and as well as Penn State one more time. He also said he'll commit before his senior season probably, but also says he wants to go to Va Tech for a game. So yeah, hold off on that phone call LOL.

2, Isn't it funny how we welcome this kid, who committed to another school and then backed out, with open arms, and yet we flip the fu*k out when a ND verbal even mentions visiting other schools (and if he decommits, the kid is a back-stabbing villain with parents who never taught him the meaning of commitment.). Just saying, when one of our guys decommits (and don't even trip, it's coming), think about how you feel about this young man before you besmirch a former ND commit's character...

Hey, it's recruiting you win some, you lose some. most of us expect decommits.

 

[Chicago Irish Fan]

Excellent news, this would be a HUGE pickup.

 

[IrishLax]

Blacksburg is a total **** hole. And VT is a pretty big school. I really doubt they break into his top 2.

Also, I'd like to point out there is a subtle yet important difference between kids who come out upfront and say they plan on taking visits and OVs or are a "soft" commit like Jarron and those that don't. When a kid says they're "solid" one day to a reporter and then the next day flips to another school it tends to sting the fan base a lot more (which, in turn, elicits most of the nasty reactions).

 

[BleedBlue&Gold]

take that da*n sh*t for a school from next to his name, I'm sick of seeing it.

 

[woolybug25]

Blacksburg is a total **** hole. And VT is a pretty big school. I really doubt they break into his top 2.

Also, I'd like to point out there is a subtle yet important difference between kids who come out upfront and say they plan on taking visits and OVs or are a "soft" commit like Jarron and those that don't. When a kid says they're "solid" one day to a reporter and then the next day flips to another school it tends to sting the fan base a lot more (which, in turn, elicits most of the nasty reactions).

X2

There is a big, big difference.

 

[NDinL.A.]

Blacksburg is a total **** hole. And VT is a pretty big school. I really doubt they break into his top 2.

Also, I'd like to point out there is a subtle yet important difference between kids who come out upfront and say they plan on taking visits and OVs or are a "soft" commit like Jarron and those that don't. When a kid says they're "solid" one day to a reporter and then the next day flips to another school it tends to sting the fan base a lot more (which, in turn, elicits most of the nasty reactions).

I've been on this board for like 4 years, and any time a ND verbal decommits, there are plenty of people who talk sh!t on that recruit, no matter when he does it. And as a mod, I've deleted a lot of messages before it even gets to that point. Jordan Prestwood said he was as solid as possible, saying that he wouldn't even take coaches' calls (and Chris Martin said the same thing too). Then he started getting 2nd thoughts and decommitted. Some people were cool with it, and some were really pissed and posted some nasty stuff on many Irish sites. Now he's coming back and he's a great kid again. You don't see the hypocrisy in that? You want to see the hypocrisy in ND fans, just go visit any long-standing Aaron Lynch thread. Hell, Alice Lynch went from mother of the year to queen b!tch to mother of the year again. What a joke. And believe me, ALL fan bases are the same way.

Jarron Jones 'committed' to PSU, but then again he really didn't. Does that make it OK, because he told PSU that he would take visits? Depends on your POV. To many on this site who will go unnamed, a committment should be your bond. But apparently, only if it is a ND commitment LOL. Let's be honest, Jones may have been up front, but other current ND players told their schools that they were as solid as a rock, and ended up committing to ND. But we're good with them, right? They're 'Notre Dame kids', right? We all welcomed the Nick Martin commitment; how do you think he's viewed at Kentucky, where he was solid to them almost all the way until NSD? How about Brian Smith, who switched from Iowa ON NSD???

And I know that they game is played this way, so I'm not ripping Jones. Just saying, when a player like Ronald Darby or Tee Shepard or whoever decides to take visits or decommit, hopefully posters will think twice before ripping the kid...

 

[IrishLax]

I've been on this board for like 4 years, and any time a ND verbal decommits, there are plenty of people who talk sh!t on that recruit, no matter when he does it. And as a mod, I've deleted a lot of messages before it even gets to that point. Jordan Prestwood said he was as solid as possible, saying that he wouldn't even take coaches' calls (and Chris Martin said the same thing too). Then he started getting 2nd thoughts and decommitted. Some people were cool with it, and some were really pissed and posted some nasty stuff on many Irish sites. Now he's coming back and he's a great kid again. You don't see the hypocrisy in that? You want to see the hypocrisy in ND fans, just go visit any long-standing Aaron Lynch thread. Hell, Alice Lynch went from mother of the year to queen b!tch to mother of the year again. What a joke. And believe me, ALL fan bases are the same way.

Jarron Jones 'committed' to PSU, but then again he really didn't. Does that make it OK, because he told PSU that he would take visits? Depends on your POV. To many on this site who will go unnamed, a committment should be your bond. But apparently, only if it is a ND commitment LOL. Let's be honest, Jones may have been up front, but other current ND players told their schools that they were as solid as a rock, and ended up committing to ND. But we're good with them, right? They're 'Notre Dame kids', right? We all welcomed the Nick Martin commitment; how do you think he's viewed at Kentucky, where he was solid to them almost all the way until NSD? How about Brian Smith, who switched from Iowa ON NSD???

And I know that they game is played this way, so I'm not ripping Jones. Just saying, when a player like Ronald Darby or Tee Shepard or whoever decides to take visits or decommit, hopefully posters will think twice before ripping the kid...

We're largely saying the same thing... I'm just pointing out that you don't see PSU message boards ablaze to the degree of Aaron Lynch because there is a difference is subtle but important difference in the situations. There will always be some people that flip out no matter what... but I think Aaron Lynch is case and point what I'm talking about. That was a **** storm precisely because we had Alice on here tell us he was solid and then BAM he's gone. That kind of "betrayal" (I put it in quotes because it isn't betrayal in the least but to some it certainly feels that way) definitely elicits stronger reactions, more reactions and more name calling towards the player.

If Aaron had instead said from the beginning "I'm a soft commit and I plan on taking visits to see if anyone can beat Notre Dame" like Jones did with PSU... instead of spreading his grandfather's ashes and us all getting personally involved with Alice and everyone getting so personally attached... you would still have had some people blow a gasket for sure. But the reaction would've have certainly been more tempered.

Great example: Bennett Okotcha made it known up front he wanted an Oklahoma offer. When he got the offer, he said it was 60/40 and would be a tough decision. Then he split for OU and people said "darn" and "that sucks" but you didn't see people jumping off bridges or cursing him like you did with other players. Being "straight forward" does have a large impact on the reaction of the majority fans.

Personally I think the best analogy is getting dumped by a girlfriend. If you're not set that she's "the one" but she agrees to go on a date with you and then it just doesn't really work... yeah, you might be upset and sad but you'll get over it. On the other hand, if she tells you ever day how much she loves you and you get engaged and the night before the wedding she tells you she's been screwing your best friend and dumps you... you're going to have a much worse reaction. Now, some psychos might get super pissed off at either scenario... but the average man is going to react differently to different types of break ups.

Just my $0.02.

 

[Buster Bluth]

Is it time to do the annual "snagged a recruit from Penn State" dance?

 

[jason_h537]

I have felt Jones would be Irish for some time.

As to NDinLA's point. He is absolutely right. If any of our high profile recruits de-committed tomorrow he would be bashed relentlessly.

 

[Domina Nostra]

The problem is the disconnect between the normal meaning of the word "commitment" and the technical definition that the NCAA has given it. The kids are using the latter, we are using the former. It would be one thing if this were the pros and the term was only being used by lawyers, agents, and general managers, but for an association of colleges to undermine such a morally significant word with the group of kids they are supposed to be protecting is pretty pathetic.

I still think the NCAA should give a verbal commitment some teeth. They should cut other schools off from contacting a committed recruit. If he calls you or visit your campus, that's fine, but no more pursuing "committed" kids.

As it is, go get em.

 

[alohagoirish]

I think its time we all " wake up and smell the coffee" when it comes to commits in this era, and especially the new paradime that we have with Coach Kelly. Under the last staff the whole commitment thing became some personal test of integrity, it was the weakest element of charlie's recruiting and many of us got sucked into the emotional side of commitment.

Last season we had 6 big decommits---thats 6 fella's, in addition we poached a few players ourselves and poached back a couple of our own commits. Coach Kelly does not whine when we get a decommit unlike our previous coach, he simply goes out and keeps recruiting.

We will have decommits ( lots of smoke surrounds Darby, i think thats a good bet for a decommit) in any case i guarantee we will get decommits and likely more then one. I also expect we will poach more then MR JONES before its done.

Its a new Dynamic. We can hope our favorite stays till the end , whomever that might be, but we should fully expect recruiting to be fluid under Kelly as long as the rules are what they are.

There will be drama its almost certain, so best we all just dump those emotions that were nurtured under the previous staff. And go more with the Kelly mantra " there's alot of great players out there."

 

[Dr. Lou]

They are kids....plane and simple. They are making a very important decision in their life and who are we to say where and what college they should attend. It is almost scary that grown men would get so angry over a kids decision... And we wander why this country has some of the issues it has. These kids probably change clothes 5 times before leaving the house and you want them to stand firm on one of their most life changing decisions. It doesn't make sense to me. It's fine to get all caught up in the moment but if it doesn't go our way, there is know need to badger these kids and their family's.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I try to never say anything on a recruitment thread which could prejudice NDs chances of winning the battle for that athlete's services; small as the chances that any remark I make has influence are, it's still not team play to do so. But I have to make one little remark: Blacksburg, VA is not a sh!thole, nor is the university there. It is my brother's university and I have visited there with him; he plans on retiring there and I can see why. The university itself is not a sh!thole. One of my best friends was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences there.

Jarron Jones should go to Notre Dame, there is no question about that. Our school is unique in ways which place it as an invaluable experience and asset for anyone's lifelong development. Some other schools might be sh!tholes [I'd have to look at that on a case-by-case basis] but I bet that few should be described in such terms. Virginia Tech and Blacksburg don't deserve the appellation.

 

[BGIF]

I try to never say anything on a recruitment thread which could prejudice NDs chances of winning the battle for that athlete's services; small as the chances that any remark I make has influence are, it's still not team play to do so. But I have to make one little remark: Blacksburg, VA is not a sh!thole, nor is the university there. It is my brother's university and I have visited there with him; he plans on retiring there and I can see why. The university itself is not a sh!thole. One of my best friends was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences there.

Jarron Jones should go to Notre Dame, there is no question about that. Our school is unique in ways which place it as an invaluable experience and asset for anyone's lifelong development. Some other schools might be sh!tholes [I'd have to look at that on a case-by-case basis] but I bet that few should be described in such terms. Virginia Tech and Blacksburg don't deserve the appellation.

^

 

[IrishLax]

With all due respect (and I mean that sincerely, not tongue in cheek) I never said anything bad about VT. I had many kids from my HS go to there, UVa and all of the other VA state schools.

It's totally cool to have a different opinion and disagree with me. But I just want you to recognize that I did not say anything negative about VT as an institution. I only said that it is a big school and for that very reason I don't think they crack his top 2. It's not very dissimilar from PSU in terms of "feel." You have to believe Jones, if he really is interested in a smaller school as the quote suggests, is going to be a very hard pull for the Hokies.

PS. OMM I'm sending you a PM with an explanation of where I'm coming from on Blacksburg because I don't want to derail a recruit thread.

 

[beryirish]

I think its time we all " wake up and smell the coffee" when it comes to commits in this era, and especially the new paradime that we have with Coach Kelly. Under the last staff the whole commitment thing became some personal test of integrity, it was the weakest element of charlie's recruiting and many of us got sucked into the emotional side of commitment.

Last season we had 6 big decommits---thats 6 fella's, in addition we poached a few players ourselves and poached back a couple of our own commits. Coach Kelly does not whine when we get a decommit unlike our previous coach, he simply goes out and keeps recruiting.

We will have decommits ( lots of smoke surrounds Darby, i think thats a good bet for a decommit) in any case i guarantee we will get decommits and likely more then one. I also expect we will poach more then MR JONES before its done.

Its a new Dynamic. We can hope our favorite stays till the end , whomever that might be, but we should fully expect recruiting to be fluid under Kelly as long as the rules are what they are.

There will be drama its almost certain, so best we all just dump those emotions that were nurtured under the previous staff. And go more with the Kelly mantra " there's alot of great players out there."

Weis had the old fashion "commitment" theory. If a player committed and then decommitted Weis would be "we didn't want you anyway" and look at someone else.
Kelly has a different approach. He knows these kids are young and are getting pulled in every direction and poison is being leaked into their ears. If one of his kids decommits he doesn't turn and move away from it, he keeps going at it. Case in point is Lynch. Weis would have said whatever and left. Kelly...and Alford stuck with him to the end and guess what we got our #1 recruit back.

Personally, Darby stays.

 

[aubeirish]

If we learned anything from last year, it's that you can't get too attach to anyone until the papers are sign...

 

[NYIrish14]

We're largely saying the same thing... I'm just pointing out that you don't see PSU message boards ablaze to the degree of Aaron Lynch because there is a difference is subtle but important difference in the situations. There will always be some people that flip out no matter what... but I think Aaron Lynch is case and point what I'm talking about. That was a **** storm precisely because we had Alice on here tell us he was solid and then BAM he's gone. That kind of "betrayal" (I put it in quotes because it isn't betrayal in the least but to some it certainly feels that way) definitely elicits stronger reactions, more reactions and more name calling towards the player.

If Aaron had instead said from the beginning "I'm a soft commit and I plan on taking visits to see if anyone can beat Notre Dame" like Jones did with PSU... instead of spreading his grandfather's ashes and us all getting personally involved with Alice and everyone getting so personally attached... you would still have had some people blow a gasket for sure. But the reaction would've have certainly been more tempered.

Great example: Bennett Okotcha made it known up front he wanted an Oklahoma offer. When he got the offer, he said it was 60/40 and would be a tough decision. Then he split for OU and people said "darn" and "that sucks" but you didn't see people jumping off bridges or cursing him like you did with other players. Being "straight forward" does have a large impact on the reaction of the majority fans.

Personally I think the best analogy is getting dumped by a girlfriend. If you're not set that she's "the one" but she agrees to go on a date with you and then it just doesn't really work... yeah, you might be upset and sad but you'll get over it. On the other hand, if she tells you ever day how much she loves you and you get engaged and the night before the wedding she tells you she's been screwing your best friend and dumps you... you're going to have a much worse reaction. Now, some psychos might get super pissed off at either scenario... but the average man is going to react differently to different types of break ups.

Just my $0.02.

Hit the nail on the head

 

[hrc08]

Well atleast PSU fans don't see to care............

Jarron Jones' list of priorities early on are likely still his priorities. Penn State might be a large school, but each individual college within the university is rather small, and the class sizes in the junior and senior years is amazingly small. I'm sure Notre Dame recruiters have painted PSU has an impersonal, large and insensitive university. I wouldn't doubt that Notre Dame has also tried to convince Jones that LJ is some kind of shady character, claiming that his(LJ's) only purpose to to force football down his throat. How wrong they are. Not only has Larry Johnson has already sent more 1st round draft choices to the NFL than the entire Notre Dame coaching staff put together in their collective coaching careers, Larry Johnson develops solid lifetime relationships with all his players. He's a mentor extraordinaire. Jarron will find that out.

Notre Dame has used underhanded tactics before in the recruitment of players. There's no reason to think that they'd do otherwise in this instance. Afterall, the stakes are large. The Notre Dame recruiting staff was so desparate in the Williams case, that they literally camped outside the Williams house into the wee hours in the morning, insisting that Williams not take an official visit to Penn State.

Notre Dame *fears" Larry Johnson, but more than that Notre Dame fears the character and class that Penn State has.

I think class is what will win here. Penn State has it. Penn State has always had it. Notre Dame doesn't. At least not in today's world. You have a head coach and recruiting staff willing to twist arms, lie about opponents and routinely do things that the Penn State staff would never do.

I guess that if I, as a head coach, were so egotistical that I ordered my quarterback to risk throwing and interception(and lose a game) just to show everyone how smart I was, and then later be so arrogant not to acknowledge that he made a mistake, I'd be willing to risk anything or anybody to further my agenda.

And I do mean Kelly is willing to RISK ANYTHING OR ANYBODY including risking someone's life to fulfill his agenda. Tragic death doesn't even cause him to rethink his diabolical egotistical agenda. Whose blood will be the next sacrificial lamb to fall victim to Brian Kelly's obscessions?

As Gibbs(Mark Harmon) would say, "The guy's a dirtbag." Brian Kelly has the sensitivity level of Casey Anthony when it comes to fullfilling a self indulgent agenda.

On the other hand, Jarron Jones and his family are decent, upstanding folks. Those kind of people occasionally get snookered by sleazebags, but in the end, character and class usally win out.
This post was edited on 7/6 9:15 AM by JoeHomsey

 

[Rocket89]

^ Ha, that's funny.

Classic example of projecting all of PSU's insecurities.

 

[NYIrish14]

Well atleast PSU fans don't see to care............

Jarron Jones' list of priorities early on are likely still his priorities. Penn State might be a large school, but each individual college within the university is rather small, and the class sizes in the junior and senior years is amazingly small. I'm sure Notre Dame recruiters have painted PSU has an impersonal, large and insensitive university. I wouldn't doubt that Notre Dame has also tried to convince Jones that LJ is some kind of shady character, claiming that his(LJ's) only purpose to to force football down his throat. How wrong they are. Not only has Larry Johnson has already sent more 1st round draft choices to the NFL than the entire Notre Dame coaching staff put together in their collective coaching careers, Larry Johnson develops solid lifetime relationships with all his players. He's a mentor extraordinaire. Jarron will find that out.

Notre Dame has used underhanded tactics before in the recruitment of players. There's no reason to think that they'd do otherwise in this instance. Afterall, the stakes are large. The Notre Dame recruiting staff was so desparate in the Williams case, that they literally camped outside the Williams house into the wee hours in the morning, insisting that Williams not take an official visit to Penn State.

Notre Dame *fears" Larry Johnson, but more than that Notre Dame fears the character and class that Penn State has.

I think class is what will win here. Penn State has it. Penn State has always had it. Notre Dame doesn't. At least not in today's world. You have a head coach and recruiting staff willing to twist arms, lie about opponents and routinely do things that the Penn State staff would never do.

I guess that if I, as a head coach, were so egotistical that I ordered my quarterback to risk throwing and interception(and lose a game) just to show everyone how smart I was, and then later be so arrogant not to acknowledge that he made a mistake, I'd be willing to risk anything or anybody to further my agenda.

And I do mean Kelly is willing to RISK ANYTHING OR ANYBODY including risking someone's life to fulfill his agenda. Tragic death doesn't even cause him to rethink his diabolical egotistical agenda. Whose blood will be the next sacrificial lamb to fall victim to Brian Kelly's obscessions?

As Gibbs(Mark Harmon) would say, "The guy's a dirtbag." Brian Kelly has the sensitivity level of Casey Anthony when it comes to fullfilling a self indulgent agenda.

On the other hand, Jarron Jones and his family are decent, upstanding folks. Those kind of people occasionally get snookered by sleazebags, but in the end, character and class usally win out.
This post was edited on 7/6 9:15 AM by JoeHomsey

This is friken hilarious. He talks about how the staff are nothing but dirtbags by the way they recruit, yet he has no actual info to back any of this up. Underhand tactics?? name one buddy? Just because Diaco visits a recruit at 4 in the morning means that he wants the kid... BADLY and prob much more than LJ does. How does ND not have class? He acts like theyve been bad mouthing Penn State like crazy but I garauntee if you went on the recruiting trip with Jarron all you would hear the coaches talk about his how great the academics are and how much better of a man he will be when he leaves ND. They wouldnt even waist their time on talking about PSU.Pleaseeeee.

 

[Riddickulous]

Wow. That's laughable.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

They wouldnt even waist their time on talking about PSU

This is exactly right. I don't have the article, but I remember reading a quote from BK that this staff's main tactic is to talk ND up, not talk other universities down. There's no need for it. They talk about what ND offers them and what the recruit can offer ND. They let the campus/academics/networking/tradition/etc do the talking for them. BK said that this staff will not use negative recruiting tactics. There's no reason to believe that Jarron's decommitment was the result of Coach Kelly talking **** about PSU.

As for the Ishaq case...last I knew recruiting wasn't a gentleman's game? You want a player, go get him. It's not for the weak or timid. With that said, I feel that showing a kid your level of interest by being at his house at 4am is not an act lacking in class. If he showed up with a check payable to the Williams' family, then yes (but I do not recall that being a detail in this story).

 

[BeauBenken]

I think I remember reading an article where a recruit said one of the things he enjoyed most about the ND staff is that they didn't talk crap about other universities...

 

[Riddickulous]

I found the board this was posted on and am about to smack this guy in the mouth...with words.

 

[jason_h537]

I find it funny that we laugh at other schools fans for being upset at this when this board has said far worse things when in the same situation.