'Just another game': Bethune-Cookman QB Jalon Jones prepares to face former team Jackson State

No, Jalon Jones doesn’t view Saturday as a revenge game.

“Of course not,” he said.

But when the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats take the field against Jackson State, their quarterback will see more than a few familiar faces on the opposing sideline.

Jones played for the Tigers as a freshman and sophomore in 2019 and the 2021 spring season. He served as their first starting quarterback under current head coach Deion Sanders, who was hired in 2020, before he was benched and ultimately transferred — first to Mississippi Delta Community College and then to Bethune-Cookman.

This is his first season in Daytona Beach.

“It’s just another game,” Jones said about this week. “It’s just another opportunity. I’m thankful that God brought me to another Saturday so I can put on the talent that he gave me to play and bring in the glory. It’s just a plus that I know some of the guys over there.”

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As a four-star recruit in Richmond, Virginia, Jones originally committed to Florida out of high school but left Gainesville for Jackson State after one semester.

He suited up for 11 games as a freshman and tossed nine touchdowns. His first college appearance came against Bethune-Cookman in the 2019 MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

The following year was a year of change. COVID-19 hit and pushed the SWAC’s fall season back a few months to the spring of 2021. Jones was preparing to be the Tigers’ starting quarterback.

And Jackson State signed Sanders, an NFL Hall of Famer, to spearhead the program.

“It was interesting knowing it was going to bring a spotlight to Jackson State and also a spotlight to the players we already had there,” said Jones, who grew up rooting for one of Sanders’ former teams, the Dallas Cowboys.

“The thought with coach Sanders coming in was it’s a great opportunity to learn from one of the best … He’s a high-energy guy. You know what he was bringing to practice — an NFL environment and the business side of things. You have to be your best self every day.”

Jones led the Tigers in passing attempts, yards and touchdowns once his delayed sophomore campaign arrived. He played in the first five games, winning the first three before dropping two straight. Quincy Casey, now at Alabama A&M, replaced him for the final contest of the season.

Sanders made one thing clear to his quarterbacks early on in his tenure. There would be no competition before the 2021 fall season. His son and highly-touted recruit Shedeur Sanders would be the starting signal-caller.

“I appreciated him being upfront,” Jones said. “Somebody could’ve waited all the way until fall camp and said, ‘There’s no competition. I’m starting my son.’ I would’ve been out in the rain without having anywhere to go.

“But he gave me plenty of time to say, ‘Alright, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to decide to transfer away and do what’s best for my football career.’ ”

Jones headed to Mississippi Delta Community College in Moorhead, Mississippi.

He played in eight games there during the 2021 season, throwing for 1,267 yards and seven touchdowns while scrambling for three more. Several programs from Conference USA, the Sun Belt and the SWAC, including the Wildcats, reached out to him.

Bethune-Cookman head coach Terry Sims had remembered Jones from their matchup against each other in 2019.

“It was a natural feeling,” Sims said. “It was a situation where we needed a quarterback and he needed a home, and it all just gelled and meshed together.”

The feeling struck Jones right before his final game at Mississippi Delta. He had talked with Bethune-Cookman coaches on the phone multiple times, and they had already given him an offer.

For this game, though, assistant Darrin Hayes went to see Jones in Moorhead. They chatted before the game.

As Jones was going through pregame warmups, he made up his mind and ran back over to Hayes, who was standing on the sideline. Jones asked him to call Sims. Sims picked up, and Jones told him he was coming to Bethune-Cookman.

He moved to Daytona Beach and enrolled last winter.

Now a junior, Jones won a preseason quarterback battle over sophomores Tyrone Franklin Jr. and Walter Simmons. He has started all five of the Wildcats’ games so far, racking up six total touchdowns and more than 1,200 combined yards.

At 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, he still has all the tools that made him a sought-after player in high school and the college transfer portal.

His next step:

“Just for him to cut loose and go,” Sims said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. He has a lot of talent, but Jalon is a perfect-play guy. He wants everything to be right. And a lot of times, we’re telling him, ‘Hey, you just have to play. It’s going to happen.’”

Halfway through the season, Jones is growing comfortable at his fourth collegiate stop in four years. Saturday will be the first time he’s played one of his old teams. Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m. at Jacksonville’s TIAA Bank Field.

Just another game.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: College football: B-CU QB Jalon Jones faces former team Jackson State