Chris Jones has ties to KU program, talks about visit

Chris Jones has a strong offer list that includes Power Five schools from three different conferences. Last weekend the highly-recruited defensive end from Florida made an unofficial visit to Kansas.

Jones went through the Jayhawks camp on Friday night and stayed for a recruiting barbecue on Saturday.

“Overall it was a great visit and the town is amazing,” he said. “The people are great and the atmosphere here is different from anything I've seen. Everyone here is so nice.”

Spending two days on campus he got a tour of the facilities and the academic side of the program. Jones, who wants to major in Engineering, liked what he saw from the tour and being around the Kansas coaches.

“The new Engineering program, buildings and the atmosphere stood out to me most,” he said. “The new facilities were also really impressive, and they really caught my eye as well as how the coaches carried themselves and what they were about.”

Jones worked with Kwahn Drake going through the defensive line drills at camp. Kansas defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot is the one recruiting his area. Throughout the weekend he spent time with a lot of different coaches and had the chance to speak with Les Miles.

“All of the coaches were around me and getting to know them was a different feeling,” Jones said. “They were all about family and the players instead of their own agendas which was really good.

“Meeting with Coach Miles he showed me his credentials for being a great coach and he gave me a background on himself, as well as his system, and how it works. He told me why they wanted me and why I would fit. He talked to me about their academics. He impressed me because that gives a feel that many other coaches don’t give.”

Jones, from Coconut Creek, has an interesting connection to Kansas. His uncle Thad Rawls played football for the Jayhawks in the mid to late 90’s. He signed under Glen Mason where he was a standout at Coconut Creek.

Rawls told Jones he should take the visit and see what the Kansas program has to offer.

“He told me how everyone up here was going to be very different and how the coaching staff has a real chance of turning everything around,” Jones said.

Jones said Florida State, Minnesota, and Central Florida were recruiting him the hardest. He also holds offers from Penn State, Indiana, Nebraska, North Carolina State, West Virginia and many others.

One important factor for Jones will be looking at the academics for each school.

“The most important thing is what do they have to offer me academically,” he said. “Then it's how I fit in their system and community, as well as what the coaches see in the future and being about family rather than selfish needs.”