Mario Lane knew Jaden Jones was special for nearly a decade before the defensive end signed with Florida State as part of the 2023 recruiting class. Lane still remembers the first time he met Jones as a 12-year-old youth football player. Lane was coaching the Montgomery (Ala.) Seminoles, and Jones already measured in at over […]
Mario Lane knew Jaden Jones was special for nearly a decade before the defensive end signed with Florida State as part of the 2023 recruiting class.
Lane still remembers the first time he met Jones as a 12-year-old youth football player. Lane was coaching the Montgomery (Ala.) Seminoles, and Jones already measured in at over 6 feet — nearly a head taller than the next biggest lineman.
And when he watched Jones run, it was like nothing he had ever seen from a player of that size.
“I didn’t know what to do with him,” Lane said. “I knew he would be a defensive end, and I played him there. But I also played him at linebacker and running back. It’s rare that you see a tall kid who can really run like that. He ran like a deer. He was just so explosive.”
Lane, a former high school coach who now trains linemen in talent-rich Gwinnett County, Ga., can only laugh as he pulls up old photos of Jones back in those days.
“What’s so funny is we looked just like the Florida State Seminoles,” Lane said. “We had the gold pants, the garnet jerseys and the gold helmets with the spear.”
Lane later coached Jones as a 10th-grader at the former Jefferson Davis High in Montgomery before Jones transferred to Parks Crossing High, where he would play his final two years. And the two have remained close ever since, with Lane following every step of his pupil’s journey.
From signing with a junior college to improve his chances with major college football recruiters, to emerging as the No. 1 JUCO edge rusher in the country and signing with Florida State, to the devastation of sustaining two major knee injuries in less than two years.
As much as Lane believed in Jones’ physical ability, mental makeup and character, even he wondered what Jones would look like when the pass-rusher came to work out with him this summer in north Georgia.
The 6-foot, 5-inch Jones had sustained his first torn ACL just two games into the 2022 season at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. Then after playing in five games with Florida State in ’23, he went down with another torn ACL in the spring of 2024, forcing him to miss that season.
Yet when Jones started running through drills last month at 3TAcademy in Gwinnett, Lane said he couldn’t believe what he was watching.
“I was like, ‘Man, did you really tear your ACL?'” Lane recalled with a laugh. “Whoever did his surgery did an awesome job. He’s very twitchy — the cuts he can make, the lateral movement, the takeoff — he is very twitchy for 6-5.”
Lane has worked with scores of athletes who have gone on to play big-time college football, including current Alabama defenders James Smith and Qua Russaw, Georgia DE Justin Greene and Duke OL Gemyel Allen.
He has coached high school football in Alabama and Georgia, and he knows what elite talent looks like. So after putting Jones through a rigorous two-day workout, he was not the least bit surprised when he started hearing the glowing reports from Florida State preseason camp. When he heard about the sacks in practices and scrimmages and the blocked field goal.
“I told him when he was with me this summer, ‘God blessed you with two things: Strength and length,” Lane said. “He’s a sleeper. His name isn’t ringing out yet, but it will soon.”
Speaking with Warchant by phone Thursday night, Lane said he knew the comparison might sound outlandish, but he truly believes Jones’ physical tools are similar to that of former Florida great and NFL star Jevon Kearse. And he thinks the 6-5, 257-pounder’s skills will be a perfect fit in Tony White’s new 3-3-5 Florida State defense.
“He’s athletic enough to drop and cover,” Lane said. “He can cover that curl/flat. He can cover backs out of the backfield. I promise you he can do it.”
What has impressed Lane perhaps even more than Jones’ talent on the field is his maturity and perseverance. The way he bet on himself by going to junior college instead of accepting offers from smaller colleges out of high school. The way he battled back from the two devastating knee injuries to now become one of the surprise standouts in Florida State preseason camp.
“He’s at a different level right now,” Lane said. “He’s hungry. He’s been through a lot. He’s putting the past in the past, and he’s focused on what’s ahead of him. His maturity level is a lot different than most guys. He’s been through so much. You grow up as a person in JUCO. You’ve got to get out of the mud when you go JUCO, and he did that. Then he came back from the injuries.
“His mental approach is so strong now. I tell kids all the time that football is 90 percent mental, especially at a big school like Florida State. I look forward to him doing great things.”
FSU head coach Mike Norvell and White have raved about Jones during the first week of camp. They say he is one of the smartest players on the team, and White said he made a case for being the best player on the field during Tuesday’s first full scrimmage.
The joy those reports bring to Lane is indescribable.
“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I’m just so happy for the kid,” Lane said. “I told his mom, ‘It’s his turn.’ The kid is gonna do some great things for Florida State. Not only that, but by the time Jaden gets done with college, he’s gonna have his master’s degree.
“He’s always been smart. He comes from a great God-fearing family, and he would do anything I asked him to do. He’s always been a great kid.”
Lane plans to be in the Doak Campbell Stadium stands for Florida State’s season opener against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Having grown up in Alabama and once being a Crimson Tide recruit before eventually starring at Alabama State, Lane admits he will have conflicting emotions.
He plans to wear a Jaden Jones shirt, and he certainly will cheer if his protege makes any big plays. But the former coach of the Montgomery Seminoles won’t be rooting for the Garnet and Gold to come out on top that day.
“I’m an Alabama fan,” Lane said. “I told Jaden, ‘I’m rooting for you. I want you to have a good game. But I don’t want your team to win (laughing).’ I can’t wait for it though. I’m so excited for him.
“I believe God put him through what he did for a reason,” Lane said. “I can’t wait to see him lace ’em up. His confidence is through the roof now. He’s not arrogant, but he’s confident. I don’t know if he’s gonna end up starting, but he’s gonna play a lot. And it matters more who finishes than who starts.”
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Category: General Sports
