Emory Jones being trained by Josh Dobbs’ former QB coach, talks transition to college football
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Dan Mullen made a nice statement early in his tenure in Gainesville as he landed the signature of Georgia quarterback Emory Jones over Florida State and Ohio State during the first ever early signing period. Now that Jones is a member of the Gator program, it’s Mullen’s job to help develop him into a starting quarterback in the nation’s toughest conference.
That’s an ongoing process and one that may take a few years to fully develop but considering the lack of a definitive answer on Florida’s roster at the quarterback position heading into the 2018 season, many may clamor for Jones before he’s really ready to hit the field for the Gators. Jones seems to realize that potential reality better than anyone and he’s gone out of his way to receive extra development now that Florida’s on-field coaches cannot train him during this time of the NCAA’s athletic calendar.
In the absence of one-on-one training time with Mullen, Jones has turned to noted QB coach Quincy Avery.
If you are unaware of Avery, former Tennessee QB Josh Dobbs credits Avery for training him as does recent Miami signee and U.S. Army All-American Jarren Williams. During a recent Instagram video shared with the quarterback trainer, Jones discussed his transition from high school to college.
“The speed of football is different. One thing I think is your maturity level, you’ve got to be kind of mature coming in from high school to college because there’s not a lot of playing around,” Jones said in the video according to Thomas Goldkamp of 247Sports. “It’s serious football. It was just a lot of things mentally that I didn’t know about the game that I wish I would have known before I got here. Defensive wise, coverages, protections, stuff like that.”
The youngest quarterback on Florida’s roster also touched on working with Mullen in the spring. What was it like going thru his first camp with Mullen as his coach?
“During the spring, he’s kind of a quarterback guy, so he was in all the quarterback meetings, handling drills and stuff like that,” Jones said. “He’s a great guy, knows what he’s doing, so he’s helped me out a lot.”
There’s a long way to go before Florida kicks off the season in the Swamp against Charleston on Sept. 1 but it appears Jones is doing everything in his power to be ready to go by that time — including seeking training from coaches outside of his current staff.
Here’s a pic Avery recently shared on Instagram that is sure to excite Gator fans:
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
