An elite edge rusher from the West Coast, Marco Jones is down to three schools in his recruitment: Michigan football, Texas and Texas A&M.
Jones has been to Ann Arbor several times, having visited the Wolverines most recently for the spring game and in May. Before the month is out, he plans to come back and get another look, indicating the seriousness of his consideration of the maize and blue. This time around, he’ll be visiting officially.
“I was just recently out there and we had a pretty jam-packed schedule,” Jones told WolverinesWire. “So we had a great time, me and my family, so we got to learn a lot on that trip. I feel like I have a really good relationship with the coaching staff and just getting to know them a lot more as well. And maybe just learn more about some of the players, as well, and kind of see their outlook on it.”
One thing he’s excited about is how defensive line coach Lou Esposito sees him fitting in to the defense. He sees him as something of a chess piece he can move around the defensive line, but who could also back off into coverage. That’s a factor of the Wink Martindale defense, of which, the Wolverines have run some version of the past three years.
Given Martindale’s NFL pedigree, he’s enticed by the idea of being coached by a longtime NFL defensive coordinator, and they’re starting to establish a solid relationship, to boot.
“Yeah, it’s definitely very appealing. I mean, it’s hard to to turn that down,” Jones said. “The best of the best there. When it comes to the coaching staff and the program as well, and the development and all aspects, they’re leading all aspects and I believe that they have the ability to take any player and make them a really good player. And also, make them a really good human as well . So Michigan’s in a great spot and I think coach Wink is doing a fantastic job obviously has done a fantastic job.
“And, we were up there for the spring game. And, getting to see him coach in action is really that was a really cool experience.”
In general, Jones is increasingly enticed by the Michigan coaching staff. Like their predecessors, despite them living and breathing football, they’re not solely about football. When interacting with Jones, they’ve made that apparent, that life is bigger than the sport and they’re there to be mentors beyond just the gridiron.
“I believe that they’re a really elite coaching staff and also they have different characteristics as coaches where you could talk to them as like regular people — it’s not always just about football,” Jones said. “So that’s a big thing for me I feel like and I think that that definitely is a big plus because I’m relationship-type of guy so I really like when we can just talk about anything. Sometimes football — football doesn’t need to be talked about 24/7. So it’s definitely a good thing that that they have.”
Jones will visit Michigan on May 31, Texas A&M on June 6, and Texas on June 21. With his senior season approaching two months after, he plans to have his choice made before then and will commit sometime in the mid-to-late summer once he’s concluded his visits.
One thing he’s looking for at the next level is somewhere he can also play baseball — something other schools are pitching. He’s spoken the the Wolverines brass about it but he’s yet to meet anyone on the baseball staff as of yet.
But what else is he looking for at the next level? A place where he can jibe with the coaching staff as well as a campus where he feels comfortable. He’s unsure of what he wants to study in college, but he’s leaning towards business at this juncture.
“I definitely think the relationship with the coaching staff, the academic factor, and also would I’d be interested in attending that school if I didn’t play sports, right?” Jones said. “It’s an easy way to look at it. I feel like when if you if you don’t really love somewhere if you didn’t play sports, and it might not just be the place for you. So I think that’s a big factor in my recruitment.”
Jones hails from Danville (California) San Ramon Valley and is a four-star, rated the No. 122 player in the country per 247Sports. He’s also the 14th-best edge rusher and No. 11 player in the state of California.
While the aforementioned covers the Michigan aspect, where do his other contenders stand? What does he see in them?
Texas
“Obviously, Texas, as well, a really successful program. And pretty much all the schools are all pretty similar in the same aspects — their coaching staff is really good, they have really good development at my position, specifically. But also, coach Nanseen, coach P.K., coach Sark are three pretty historical coaches. So that’s big time for me as well.”
Texas A&M
“Coach Minter and coach Tony Jerod-Eddie, those two guys are like scientists. They really know their stuff. They’ve been recruiting me really hard and I feel like I have a really good relationship with them as well. And I feel like it’s easy to talk to them – football and baseball, everything like that. They also have a really good baseball program as well.”