My Words: Maturity, Growth and Reflection

Jarron Jones ended his Notre Dame career last month and is now training to prepare for his NFL future. In his first installment of “My Words”, the Notre Dame graduate reflects on maturing and handling the pressure of being a student-athlete.

These are his words.

As I reflect on my time at the University of Notre Dame, there are many moments and emotions that come to my mind. There were many memories that stand out during my time in South Bend. There isn’t one specific memory I would consider “the best” as I had fun with all of my teammates and fellow students.
 
Even the 2016 season, while we didn’t finish in a bowl game, it was still a fun year. Everyone on the 2016 team will look back and be able to say they had fun throughout the year. There have just been so many things that happened at Notre Dame that have been a positive to look back on.  
 
I chose Notre Dame during my recruiting process for the educational opportunities the degree presents student-athletes. Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and my home-state school Syracuse offered me the opportunity to be in their programs.
 
When I was making my decision, I knew there was more than football and I wanted to be prepared for life after football.  I wanted a degree. I wanted connections. I wanted the networking that comes with being an alum of the University of Notre Dame.
 
I can definitely look back and say my decision to come to Notre Dame five years ago was a success.
 
From an athletic standpoint, Notre Dame was tough. Tougher than I imagined. It was an adjustment. I didn’t reach my goals at Notre Dame from an athletic standpoint, but that wasn’t something Notre Dame or the staff had an impact on.
 
My injuries held me back from where I truly wanted to be. A LisFranc injury. A torn MCL. A stress fracture. It was a battle, but I learned not every ball is in your court, so I had to deal with it and make the most of it.
 
Sitting out during the 2015 season was extremely hard after tearing my MCL in fall camp. Watching the success of the defense against Texas was awesome, but hard. Missing the road trip to Clemson and being stuck at home watching my teammates do battle in the rain and ridiculous crowd on TV was hard. Watching from the sideline, as Stanford kicked the game-winning field goal ending our playoff hopes was hard.
 
I felt like we were playoff-bound entering the season and then injuries kept us from it. I went down. Malik went down. Tarean went down. Drue went down. We had a lot of talent. We had the depth. I felt like we had every piece we needed and we would have been in the playoffs. We could have won the championship. I really believe that.
 
Coming back this fall was exciting. We lost some key guys, but we had key guys back and I was ready. But, it was an adjustment. I had to get the thoughts of possibly being injured out of my head. It sounds easy, but it was tough.
 
I came back for the Ohio State game last year, but I got a stress fracture after the Fiesta Bowl. I was afraid to play a lot of snaps and I was afraid something like that would have kept me out again.
 
It was a rough road, but I got over the fact I wasn’t going to get injured and everything was out of my control. I was healthy. I started to play well. I saw my play get better as my confidence got better.
 
It all really clicked when we played Syracuse at MetLife Stadium. I realized I played a significant amount of snaps and I was definitely sore, but I was fine. It wasn’t something that came from a previous injury or anything like that.
 
October 29th was a great day. We got a chance to renew a rivalry against Miami. We won and it was a great day individually. It was kind of my way of showing people that if I had not been hurt, what I could have been. It was a ‘What could have been game.’
 
I felt lot of people questioned what I could have been at Notre Dame if I wasn’t injured. I really felt I got to show people what I have and can be against Miami.
 
2016 was tough on us as players, but I also learned a lot. There was a lot of noise throughout the season and it was negative noise. The struggles taught me that people and fans have their input, but they don’t know what’s really going on inside the locker room.
 
They don’t know what we’re being coached. They don’t know anything in those terms. They are on the outside, so they think whatever they believe is right will help us win. Most of them don’t know football like our coaches or our team know football. You just have to learn to ignore it. Over the last few months, we had to do a lot of ignoring and it taught me a lot.
 
That’s why you come to play at Notre Dame. To grow. I grew up at Notre Dame. Coach (Brian) Kelly helped me with growth. There were times where it was tough to play under him, but there were times it was really fun to play for him.
 
One thing about Coach Kelly and all of our coaches is they always have our best interests at heart. When you learn the lessons they are trying to teach you, you see it more as a positive and it helps you in the long run.
 
There was stuff I didn’t always agree with, but at the end of it, I understood why they did what they did. It was always with my best interests in mind. I learned and grew from their lessons.
 
Now, my brother Jamir will get to learn those lessons. It was a great day when Notre Dame offered Jamir and it was an incredible experience to play with my brother. It was fun having him out there and seeing him make plays.

 
I’ll always remember seeing him make his first tackle and being there to cheer him on. It was great having him with me for my last year, especially in practice and seeing him every day. I got to see him grow as a player and student.
 
He’s smart. Jamir is a smart player and that’s going to take him a long way, because he knows a lot about the game. I was really grateful I had the opportunity to watch him grow as a player.
 
Last week, as most students do, I took a swing around the roundabout in front of the Golden Dome. I got my picture with the Golden Dome in the rearview mirror.
 
It was emotional. I kept thinking about the memories and how long it took me to fully understand Notre Dame. It took until my junior year to finally settle in. That’s when things started to run completely smooth for me.
 
I wasn’t ready to leave Notre Dame, but I also understand it’s my time to leave. It’s part of growing up. I am excited to find out where I am going to end up next. That’s the positive part of leaving a place like Notre Dame, because you know you’re set up for success.
 
I will be back. Jamir is playing there, so I know my family will be there with me.
 
I have signed with Joel Segal of Lagardere Sports and in a few weeks, I will head to San Diego to start training at EXOS.
 
I am excited to see where my path leads.
 
- Jarron Jones