Emery Jones shares advice for incoming freshmen at LSU

Emery Jones has some solid advice for the incoming freshman of the LSU Tigers.

The dependable offensive lineman took his game from coveted recruit to bonafide starter last season, and he recognizes you have to be open and honest with the coaching staff if you want to do that, so he’s relaying that message to his new teammates.

“The advice that I would give is just come in and take coaching,” stated Jones. “Everybody, you’re not going to come in the best guy. You’re not going to come in like you were in high school, just throwing everybody. So just take coaching, be open to everything that they’re telling you, and get better like we’re all doing.”

After Brian Kelly took over the Tigers last season, he put a lot of confidence in Jones, running him as their starting right tackle last season. From last season to now, Jones has turned into a dependable player for the Tigers on and off the field.

Heading into spring practice, the Tigers offensive lineman has established himself as a true leader, and his coach is taking notice. Kelly used the word “reliable” to describe the right tackle. Most of the praise from the head coach came away from Jones’ ability to protect the quarterback.

“It starts with how he handles himself away from the field,” Kelly said. “He makes good choices, good decisions. He’s never on a list. When I say on a list, he’s never on an academic report, he’s never on a list relative to being late to anything. He’s reliable.”

Alas, Jones played in all 14 games last season for LSU, getting a start in 14 of them. He played opposite Will Campbell, both being huge in-state recruiting wins for Kelly. Jones was a top 100 and four-star recruit and is from the city of Baton Rouge.

When his time at LSU comes to an end, the NFL will certainly come calling if Jones keeps up his trajectory. While he has two more seasons of college football to play before being eligible to declare, when the time comes, Kelly is going to rave to NFL scouts, coaches, and general managers, about Jones’ reliability.

“I was telling my guys the other day, in my three decades of being a head coach, if there is one question I am asked over and over from GMs and head coaches — ‘Is he reliable? Is he going to be on time? Can I count on him?’ This is a guy you can count on and we can count on him as a true freshman,” Kelly said. “He’s so reliable and that just goes to his parenting, his background, his high school, where he came from. He’s exceptional.”

While he might be entering his second season, Jones is technically still a freshman. He was named an On3 true freshman All-American this past season — as was his tackle counterpart, Campbell. They might find themselves on the overall All-American teams in a year’s time.

Emery Jones played high school football at Baton Rouge (LA) Catholic, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 100 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this article.