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Pillar of Success: Barrett Jones
By Myles Simmons Rams Insider
View: http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Pillar-of-Success-Barrett-Jones/234224b5-528c-4786-a4c1-3594e0179e83
The state of Alabama is crazy about college football -- of that fact, there is no doubt -- and the University of Alabama has long been at the center of it. The Crimson Tide has a strong tradition of champions, especially under famed head coach Bear Bryant, and the program has come back to the forefront of the sport under current head coach Nick Saban.
Indeed, Saban’s four national titles with two different schools -- one at LSU, three at Alabama -- is impressive in its own right. And one of the common threads between all three of Saban’s ’Bama titles is one Rams offensive lineman: Barrett Jones.
Jones was a jack of all trades at Alabama, helping anchor the offensive line by playing three different positions. After redshirting for a year upon entering the university, he played right guard in the team’s first championship season under Saban. Jones played the same position his redshirt sophomore year, before flipping over to left tackle his junior year en route to another national title. He finished his collegiate career as the Crimson Tide’s center, finishing No. 1 in the country for a third time.
All told, Jones won a bevy of awards, including the Outland Trophy (awarded to the nation’s best interior lineman) in 2011, the Rimington Trophy (awarded to the nation’s best center) in 2012, and was a two-time consensus All-American (2011, 2012). And it’d be remiss not to mention that he was named an NCAA Academic All-America Team Member of the Year (2012).
Yet if not for Saban, Jones may not have attended Alabama at all. Though his father also attended the school to play basketball, the offensive lineman said that there were no guarantees he would go there himself. In fact, Jones says that he probably would not have selected Alabama until Saban arrived. Once he heard the head coach’s recruiting pitch, Jones was sold on where he wanted to be.
“That’s kind of when I knew that I would probably be going there because he was the kind of coach I wanted to play for,” Jones said in a recent interview with stlouisrams.com. “It wasn’t necessarily any one particular thing he said. It was kind of the way he said it -- how organized he was, and the way he had such a plan and a process for going about it. He just kind of showed me the specific steps that he had in place, and the way that he had every aspect of the program geared toward becoming a national championship-winning program.”
Another reason Jones says he gravitated toward Saban and Alabama was the head coach’s personality. The offensive lineman called Saban “a type-A guy” who is always encouraging competition.
“He’s really not the guy who’s going to promise you that you’re going to start as a freshman or anything like that,” Jones said. “The only promise is that you’re going to have a chance to compete for a starting job. I was drawn to that.”
Compete he did -- that is, after his redshirt year. Jones said the process of going from a small private school to Alabama was a bit overwhelming, and using his first year to acclimate to everything that is Tuscaloosa and Alabama football was certainly helpful.
The next season, however, Jones earned a starting role at right guard. He said that he had feelings of nervousness that season that never seemed to manifest themselves again.
“The first game I ever played was against Virginia Tech, and that was in the Georgia Dome,” Jones said of the Sept. 7, 2009 matchup that the Crimson Tide won, 34-24. “I was so nervous.”
The team would go on to a 14-0 season, winning a national title for the first time since 1992. The two other games from ’09 that stand out the most to Jones were Alabama’s final two of the season -- the SEC Championship against Florida, and the BCS National Championship game against Texas.
“My favorite game I ever played was the 2009 SEC Championship against Florida,” Jones said. “That was my favorite game ever because we had played them the year before and they had barely beaten us. And that was our goal the whole year, to just get back to that game, to play Florida. We knew they’d be there. And we did it, we accomplished it. We probably played the best game we maybe ever played in that game.”
Jones says that season’s title game means the most to him out of the three he won.
“The first one was so unique and special,” Jones said. “It was at the Rose Bowl, it was against Texas -- a marquee team. And I was just so nervous. I’ll never forget how nervous I was for that game. They went up 6-0, but after that we kind of settled down, played our game. But that was definitely a really special experience because it was the first one.”
Though Jones would win a second BCS National Championship as a left tackle in the 2011 season and a third as a center his senior year, those titles just don’t carry the same weight.
“We had already played LSU, so we knew exactly what to expect,” Jones said of winning his second, 21-0 over the Tigers.
“And I’m not trying to insult them, but to be honest, we knew we were going to roll Notre Dame after seeing them on film,” Jones said of the 42-14 victory in his third championship game. “They were a good team, but we had an understanding. We didn’t want to say it because we wanted everybody to come out ready to play, and we obviously did. But I think we knew that it was kind of an uneven matchup.”
Aside from being a member of one of the most successful runs a college football program has seen in recent history, Jones did plenty off the field to show his mettle. He received his undergraduate degree from Alabama in the summer of 2011, graduating summa cum laude. He then earned his masters in accounting in December 2012, maintaining a 4.0 GPA in the process.
“My view was that I just wanted to get in as much school as I could, and I tried to take advantage of that in a good way,” Jones said. “I always tell people to pick a school that you’d want to go to even if you weren’t playing football. I think that Alabama was that place for me because I really just enjoyed the school aspect of it so much. It’s a great university.”
When you walk through the football complex at Alabama now, Jones’ likeness is front and center on the wall of the offensive line’s meeting room. It’s a testament to what he was able to accomplish both on and off the field, and Jones calls it a big honor.
“We said when we went there, we wanted to do something that people will remember -- at least for a while, I know everybody eventually forgets,” Jones said. “I think we did that.”
Even considering how football crazy Alabama fans are, perhaps they will forget. But with three national championships in four years, it likely won’t be anytime soon.
By Myles Simmons Rams Insider
View: http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Pillar-of-Success-Barrett-Jones/234224b5-528c-4786-a4c1-3594e0179e83
The state of Alabama is crazy about college football -- of that fact, there is no doubt -- and the University of Alabama has long been at the center of it. The Crimson Tide has a strong tradition of champions, especially under famed head coach Bear Bryant, and the program has come back to the forefront of the sport under current head coach Nick Saban.
Indeed, Saban’s four national titles with two different schools -- one at LSU, three at Alabama -- is impressive in its own right. And one of the common threads between all three of Saban’s ’Bama titles is one Rams offensive lineman: Barrett Jones.
Jones was a jack of all trades at Alabama, helping anchor the offensive line by playing three different positions. After redshirting for a year upon entering the university, he played right guard in the team’s first championship season under Saban. Jones played the same position his redshirt sophomore year, before flipping over to left tackle his junior year en route to another national title. He finished his collegiate career as the Crimson Tide’s center, finishing No. 1 in the country for a third time.
All told, Jones won a bevy of awards, including the Outland Trophy (awarded to the nation’s best interior lineman) in 2011, the Rimington Trophy (awarded to the nation’s best center) in 2012, and was a two-time consensus All-American (2011, 2012). And it’d be remiss not to mention that he was named an NCAA Academic All-America Team Member of the Year (2012).
Yet if not for Saban, Jones may not have attended Alabama at all. Though his father also attended the school to play basketball, the offensive lineman said that there were no guarantees he would go there himself. In fact, Jones says that he probably would not have selected Alabama until Saban arrived. Once he heard the head coach’s recruiting pitch, Jones was sold on where he wanted to be.
“That’s kind of when I knew that I would probably be going there because he was the kind of coach I wanted to play for,” Jones said in a recent interview with stlouisrams.com. “It wasn’t necessarily any one particular thing he said. It was kind of the way he said it -- how organized he was, and the way he had such a plan and a process for going about it. He just kind of showed me the specific steps that he had in place, and the way that he had every aspect of the program geared toward becoming a national championship-winning program.”
Another reason Jones says he gravitated toward Saban and Alabama was the head coach’s personality. The offensive lineman called Saban “a type-A guy” who is always encouraging competition.
“He’s really not the guy who’s going to promise you that you’re going to start as a freshman or anything like that,” Jones said. “The only promise is that you’re going to have a chance to compete for a starting job. I was drawn to that.”
Compete he did -- that is, after his redshirt year. Jones said the process of going from a small private school to Alabama was a bit overwhelming, and using his first year to acclimate to everything that is Tuscaloosa and Alabama football was certainly helpful.
The next season, however, Jones earned a starting role at right guard. He said that he had feelings of nervousness that season that never seemed to manifest themselves again.
“The first game I ever played was against Virginia Tech, and that was in the Georgia Dome,” Jones said of the Sept. 7, 2009 matchup that the Crimson Tide won, 34-24. “I was so nervous.”
The team would go on to a 14-0 season, winning a national title for the first time since 1992. The two other games from ’09 that stand out the most to Jones were Alabama’s final two of the season -- the SEC Championship against Florida, and the BCS National Championship game against Texas.
“My favorite game I ever played was the 2009 SEC Championship against Florida,” Jones said. “That was my favorite game ever because we had played them the year before and they had barely beaten us. And that was our goal the whole year, to just get back to that game, to play Florida. We knew they’d be there. And we did it, we accomplished it. We probably played the best game we maybe ever played in that game.”
Jones says that season’s title game means the most to him out of the three he won.
“The first one was so unique and special,” Jones said. “It was at the Rose Bowl, it was against Texas -- a marquee team. And I was just so nervous. I’ll never forget how nervous I was for that game. They went up 6-0, but after that we kind of settled down, played our game. But that was definitely a really special experience because it was the first one.”
Though Jones would win a second BCS National Championship as a left tackle in the 2011 season and a third as a center his senior year, those titles just don’t carry the same weight.
“We had already played LSU, so we knew exactly what to expect,” Jones said of winning his second, 21-0 over the Tigers.
“And I’m not trying to insult them, but to be honest, we knew we were going to roll Notre Dame after seeing them on film,” Jones said of the 42-14 victory in his third championship game. “They were a good team, but we had an understanding. We didn’t want to say it because we wanted everybody to come out ready to play, and we obviously did. But I think we knew that it was kind of an uneven matchup.”
Aside from being a member of one of the most successful runs a college football program has seen in recent history, Jones did plenty off the field to show his mettle. He received his undergraduate degree from Alabama in the summer of 2011, graduating summa cum laude. He then earned his masters in accounting in December 2012, maintaining a 4.0 GPA in the process.
“My view was that I just wanted to get in as much school as I could, and I tried to take advantage of that in a good way,” Jones said. “I always tell people to pick a school that you’d want to go to even if you weren’t playing football. I think that Alabama was that place for me because I really just enjoyed the school aspect of it so much. It’s a great university.”
When you walk through the football complex at Alabama now, Jones’ likeness is front and center on the wall of the offensive line’s meeting room. It’s a testament to what he was able to accomplish both on and off the field, and Jones calls it a big honor.
“We said when we went there, we wanted to do something that people will remember -- at least for a while, I know everybody eventually forgets,” Jones said. “I think we did that.”
Even considering how football crazy Alabama fans are, perhaps they will forget. But with three national championships in four years, it likely won’t be anytime soon.
