Jones Again Answers Irish Call
The game had just ended, and his phone kept vibrating out of control.
Call after call. Text after text after text.
Chris Battaglia had barely made it to the locker room and hardly could believe the words on his screen: senior reserve defensive end Jamir Jones helped Notre Dame rally past Virginia with a pivotal forced fumble that helped set up a crucial go-ahead touchdown in the Fighting Irish’s 35-20 win.
Yet Battaglia's surprise at Jones being prepared to answer the call when Daelin Hayes went down with a torn labrum is nonexistent.
“The funny thing is, I had a game that day,” said Battaglia, who was Jones’ high school coach at Aquinas Institute (Rochester, N.Y.) and now serves as defensive coordinator at Irondequoit. “I was surprised he was playing against Georgia; I know the plan was to redshirt him this year. So, I get out of my game and my phone is blowing up. Our old high school is the Aquinas Little Irish, and everybody loves Notre Dame.
“But I think Jamir is of the mindset of what a Notre Dame kid is, he’s going to make his mark on the team whether it’s playing all the time, on scout team or being a good citizen. I think he loves Notre Dame so much he’s gonna do whatever he can to do his part. Luckily, his part was he had to go in and play a key role.”
Battaglia knows well his former pupil’s selfless approach. Just imagine a nearly 6-foot-4, 210-pounder with multiple Power 5 scholarship offers --- though at the time, not yet one from Notre Dame --- giving up his position as a menacing defensive end during his junior season in order to helm the Little Irish’s offense.
Family members recall Jamir didn’t relish switching sides of the ball, but they also expect Jamir to place team before self.
“I just know he went off when he was playing quarterback, as much as he said he hated it,” said Jamir’s older brother, Jarron, also a former Notre Dame standout. “He voiced his opinion on playing quarterback, but he still went off, made an impact and led his team to the Sectionals.
“Just the fact that he’s always prepared. He can play anything and anywhere on the field. But that’s testament to him. Not many people play football, basketball and lacrosse growing up and he did all three of those things. It’s only helped his game grow.”
When his star quarterback had been injured at Aquinas and he turned to Jamir Jones, Battaglia didn’t worry about Jones’ ability to command the offense; likewise, Battaglia didn’t relish having to tell Jones that his work terrorizing opposing offenses was done.
“Our second game of Jamir’s junior season, our quarterback Jake Zembiec, who was a top-10 quarterback the in the nation and Notre Dame was recruiting him at the time, he broke his wrist,” Battaglia said. “And I went to Jamir, and I said, ‘Listen, I know this stinks, but you’ve got to move to quarterback and you’re the best athlete on the team. He said, ‘Coach, I’ll do whatever you want.’ I said, ‘I know you will, but that means you can’t play defense.’ He said, ‘Coach, I’ll do whatever you need me to do.’
“We won the next eight games with Jamir as the quarterback. Had a great year. My love for Jamir will never waver after that conversation. He’s by far the most loyal individual I’ve ever met.”
Jones likewise draws praise for his preparedness. How else to explain his time leading into the Virginia game working with the scout team, voluntarily going to get extra work against the Fighting Irish’s staunch offensive line, and then answering the call in a major way after Hayes’ injury?
“You’ve got be ready, anything can happen,” said Jones, a converted defensive end with 36 career games. “Honestly I wasn’t going into this (Virginia) game, I didn’t think I was going to play at all. Things happen. I honestly didn’t even get any reps this week. I was working with the scout team. I just stayed true to Coach (Clark Lea) and just when the opportunity presented itself …
“It just goes into like my preparation each and every day. Coming out and getting better. Instead of just standing around and watching this week, I decided to go and work with our great offensive line. I think that pretty much helped me, too.”
So prepared is Jones that other teammates pick his brain.
“He's smart; he used to be a linebacker, so he knows what's always going on,” standout defensive end Khalid Kareem said. “So that's how he helps me out personally, he always tells me like whatever formation is coming, this is the play. So, he's just a very smart football player I think.”
Battaglia takes that football intelligence into even greater detail.
“I always believed he would go to college and be a d-end,” Battaglia said. “His senior year, we moved him to middle linebacker. He knew every formation, every play, balls were being snapped and he was standing in the hole before the ballcarrier.
“He’s a student of the game and he’s a good person. When you get good people in your program like Notre Dame has now, and certainly some others, it’s important. I think that’s a sign of a good program. But it doesn’t surprise me at all about Jamir. I can’t say enough about him; he’s just the greatest kid.”
Jamir Jones’ role remains a bit murky in the Irish’s immediate future. Hayes needs surgery for the labrum injury and could redshirt. The defensive end grouping is an undeniable team strength and, on the heels of an eight-sack performance against the Cavaliers, is rounding into the form that places it among the nation’s best.
Maybe this is it for Jones, and he commands a regular role for the Irish’s final eight games.
Maybe there’s two more games he plays and Notre Dame returns both Hayes and Jones in 2020.
“Great teammate, I mean he's a stud,” coach Brian Kelly said. “He's just...he does everything we ask him to do. Great person, great teammate, works his butt off and a really, really good football player.
“We are here to win this year, and we’ll figure it out from there.”
So, too, will Jamir Jones. Scout team, rotation at defensive end, whatever it takes. He’s part of the solution for Notre Dame.