Emory Jones told Billy Napier he was leaving, then Napier recruited him back

By the end of the 2021 season, Emory Jones had made up his mind.

He didn’t see a future with the Florida Gators. His coach had been fired and he was struggling on the field. Off the field, his social media mentions had become a toxic nightmare.

Jones had publically stated it was becoming hard for his mother, Trina, to attend games because of the things fans would shout. He even asked her to stop coming.

Before the Gasparilla Bowl, he told Pete Thamel that he intended to transfer. Gators Online was able to confirm that story at the time. It wasn’t long before Jones made those intentions clear to Napier.

“I honestly went in telling them I didn’t want to be here,” Jones said after the first day of spring practice.

In his mind, that was it. He had finished the difficult conversation and would begin, with his family, looking for a new situation.

Napier and Jones have a chat

Napier came to Florida without preconceived notions. He hadn’t had the opportunity to watch much film of the players he was inheriting. His first two months were all about hiring and recruiting. It was a whirlwind and the initial conversation with Jones most likely caught Napier off guard.

The Gators had, at the time, four quarterbacks on scholarship. They added Jack Miller from Ohio State and also signed Max Brown to the 2022 class. Miller is on campus now, giving the Gators five scholarship quarterbacks with Brown enrolling in the summer.

But at the time of that first conversation with Jones, Napier didn’t know which quarterbacks would coming, going or staying, or if Anthony Richardson would be ready for the spring. It wasn’t until the day before spring camp was to start that Richardson got the all-clear from Florida trainers to participate in camp.

So Napier put his recruiting hat on. He wasn’t going to hold Jones’ past against him. Napier wanted Jones to stay, see what kind of coach he was and give his program a shot.

“Coach Napier and Coach (Ryan) O’Hara sat me down, a lot of the offensive guys sat me down and basically said they went through my film and said they really were excited about things that I have done. They think they can make me a way better player than I have shown,” Jones said of the sales pitch. “Basically I just wanted to give them a chance.”

Napier put Jones in touch with Levi Lewis, his quarterback at Louisiana. A coach can tell a player anything but hearing it from a peer can often mean more. Jones reached out to Lewis, who gave a glowing recommendation of Napier.

There was also something else. Something bigger than football.

Getting a degree from the University of Florida mattered

As Gators Online reported two months ago, Jones is on track to graduate from Florida this spring. The opportunity to earn a degree from the University of Florida — a top-five public university — weighed into Jones’ decision to stay at Florida.

He has spent every semester of college at UF since enrolling early. With just one more to go, why transfer and earn a degree from another school where he spent just a semester?

“That was definitely a big factor for me,” Jones said of earning a degree at UF. “I always wanted to get a degree from here so definitely working toward that too.”

Getting a college degree is nothing to thumb your nose at. Obtaining one from a school like Florida is something to be proud of. Even if Jones finishes spring practice and decides, ultimately, that he wants to transfer, he’ll always have a degree from UF to hang his hat on.

What does the future hold?

Jones has been working as if nothing has changed. He’s desperately close to earning a degree and had the opportunity to get back on the practice field this week.

Nothing in life is certain. Jones could opt to leave Florida after walking the stage, like former starting QB Feleipe Franks. A lot of regular students choose to attend graduate school somewhere new. Most, however, don’t have the eyes and attention on them as Jones does.

Right now he’s enjoying a clean slate with a new coaching staff. There are still, of course, high expectations of him and the position.

“I think for the most part he’s trying to learn a new system,” Napier said of Jones. “We oftentimes will tell the quarterbacks they’re the standard-bearer of the organization. Everything that they do should reflect the goals of the entire organization. If a player’s observing our quarterback room or an individual quarterback on our team they should say that’s how it should be done.

“So, a certain level of self-discipline in terms of how you live your life, your work ethic, your discipline, your focus. I think he’s learning a new system and there’s a lot to be learned out there, not only for him but the entire quarterback group.”

Jones and Richardson were the first two quarterbacks in line during the portion of practice open to the media. They are, from an outsider’s perspective, the two most likely to earn the starting job. While Napier said the Gators are “a long way” from naming any starters regardless of position, Jones and Richardson are the clear frontrunners.

There won’t be starting jobs assigned by seniority with this coaching staff. If Jones stays and is named the starting quarterback, he will have earned the job.

For now, he’s happy to be with the team and getting close to graduation. Mostly, he’s happy to have a fresh start and a new coach that supports him.

“That’s what the coach is supposed to do. He’s supposed to defend their quarterbacks. That’s good. That’s another thing that just makes me glad to be here, just knowing that he has my back through everything,” Jones said. “I’m committed. I’m here. I’ve been working my butt off since the offseason. Trying to get closer to a lot of guys around here and for this team.”