When Jamarr Jones was being recruited by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, he said he "saw a lot of how my family raised me" in UTC football coach Rusty Wright, prompting him to choose the Southern Conference program over schools that included Power Five members Georgia Tech and West Virginia.
You see, family is important to the 6-foot, 242-pound freshman defensive tackle from Hendersonville. The former Pope John Paul II Prep standout will tell you that his family — always present at UTC games and very active on social media supporting Jones — has given him the confidence to be his best.
"Family is my number one thing, behind God, of course," Jones said. "They've been the best support system since day one. They built me to who I am today, and good or bad, they're going to be behind my back no matter what, and they prove it."
So if Jones feels like UTC is family, it stands to reason that the Mocs, like the Joneses, will bring the best out of him.
And that's been the case so far this fall, with Jones fourth on the team in sacks with 2.5 despite limited playing time for the Mocs (6-2, 5-1), who continue moving up in the Football Championship Subdivision polls during this stretch run of the regular season. They're ranked 15th by coaches (a bump of five spots from last week) and 17th by media (up four places) as they prepare to visit Virginia Military Institute (3-4, 2-2) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Jones playing even this much this season wasn't in the plans initially; after all, the Mocs did return the majority of their defensive line from last year. At some point, though, position coach Anthony Shakir realized it was going to be hard to not find a role for Jones, which has turned out to be third-down menace to opposing offenses.
"I knew there would be games I would want him to play in, situations I wanted to get him in to see what he could provide, if anything, through the entirety of the season or if it was just a four-game deal," Shakir said, alluding to the possibility of Jones redshirting.
"He held his own early and progressed nicely through camp and then the first four games, and then he just kept going, so I kept rolling, but I didn't anticipate it early on. He took anything and everything that we gave him and handled that well, and he's earned more and more reps throughout the season."
Jones has taken advantage of the opportunity to learn under veteran teammates such as edge rushers Ben Brewton and Jay Person — two of six players in UTC history to record 20 career sacks — and fellow defensive lineman Quay Wiggles, another talented player who has thrived in Chattanooga.
That group has helped get the Mocs on the cusp of a spot in the FCS playoffs, which would be the program's fifth all-time appearance and first since 2016.
"Those guys are great mentors and like big brothers to me," Jones said. "It's always fun with them. We're just trying to get these wins so we can solidify a playoff spot. I know we didn't make it last year, so it'd be really big for us to make the playoffs. For me, I just want to solidify my spot as a good defensive lineman for the team so they can then trust me next year."
And it's going to be next year, when the Mocs must replace four seniors off that front, that the coaching staff is going to start asking more of Jones. Wright, whose fifth season as head coach alma mater has UTC still in the SoCon title race with two league games remaining for the Mocs, believes Jones has the potential to deliver.
"Kid's just jumped in here," Wright said. "Shak (Shakir) has done a really good job with him — a really good job with him. He's got a great motor, and it's hard to keep somebody like that off the field. He's kind of found his role and he's kind of excelling in that role, and if he'll continue to do that, he'll have a pretty good career here. His role will change as he gets going; still got to get stronger, bigger, all that stuff, and I think he will.
"He's pretty strong now for a freshman, but he plays hard and keeps getting better."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.