Mike Jones to Iowa: Interview with his HS Coach
The Iowa Hawkeyes landed perhaps their #1 recruiting target in the form of Parade All-American offensive lineman Mike Jones of Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Illinois.
The 6-foot-5, 305-pound Jones selected Iowa over Notre Dame, Tennessee, Penn State and Miami, but had a slew of offers from around the nation.
He is regarded as one of the best tackles in the country and his high school coach Gary Korhonen feels that he is worthy of the hype.
“Absolutely. I have been a head football coach at Richards High School for 31 years and have been here for 38 years; they tell me that I am third on the all time list for career wins (in Illinois high school history) so I have been around a little bit.” Korhonen said.
“I have had 80 division 1 players and 233 players go to college to play football overall but Mike Jones has handled the recruiting process better than any D1 player I have ever had.”
Jones had his every move chronicled along the recruiting process, but he never wavered. In fact, it was hard to get much out of Jones along the way, as he kept his cards very close to the vest.
“He has been mature, patient and up front about all of this. He did not allow himself to be pressured into certain situations that one or two schools tried to do.” Korhonen said. “He has handled it all with the utmost class, and if you know his family and his brother Jim, who by the way played for Notre Dame and started there two and a half years and is presently with the Baltimore Ravens, you know that if anyone in that family says yes, they mean yes.”
As you can see, Jones is following a rich tradition of Richards players moving on to college, but Korhonen does not feel the trip will end at Iowa.
“He is just an awesome kid. I have seen them come and go at Richards…we have four former players in the NFL right now, but when I see Mike walk out the door, he has as good of a chance as any to be playing on Sunday’s (in the NFL).”
Korhonen listed his former players in the NFL as: Jim Jones (Mike’s brother) with the Baltimore Ravens, Demetrius Smith with the New Orleans Saints, Joe Montgomery with the Carolina Panthers and Dwayne Goodrich with the Dallas Cowboys.
While playing as a true freshman has not been ruled out, Korhonen feels that Mike will do what ever is asked of him.
“I think that whatever Iowa has plans for him doing, he will follow that. Mike is a quiet competitor, and whatever cards are dealt him, he will follow instructions and do what they want him to do. He will go in there to do the best job he can and if he fits into their plans as a true freshman, that is fine and if he doesn’t, he will follow the plan accordingly.”
Korhonen also had high praise for the Iowa staff and how they recruited his star player.
“I want to complement coach Ferentz and his staff, Lester Erb and Joe Philbin in particular, for the first class manner that they conducted themselves through this entire recruiting process. That goes a long way with me coming from the old school.” Korhonen said.
“I went to Upper Iowa back in the late 50’s and early 60’s, so I have a little Hawkeye in me. I have also just appreciated the class in terms of the way this was handled. Mike did as well. There is a wonderful article in the Sun-Times today and if you read that, you will find out what Mike is all about and why he made the choice he did.”
Korhonen went on about the maturity level that Jones displayed throughout the entire process.
“He is just a very class and quiet young man. I don’t think that socially, he said 10 words to me in four years. Yet, I have never had anyone exposed this much by the media.” Korhonen explained.
“We had TV cameras at practice this year and normally I would not allow that, but I just figured that it would help the high school, but not at the expense of anyone, and in Mike’s case I knew that it would not affect him at all and it didn’t.”
“He handled it with the grace and charm that a communication major would handle it. When he is interviewed, it is almost as if he is a communication major, he speaks so well.”
In addition to coach Korhonen’s roots in the Hawkeye state, his family has a few more ties to the Iowa football team.
“My daughter goes to Augustana and she is excited about this. She graduated from the high school that Eric Steinbach graduated from (Providence Catholic in Illinois). All three of my kids went to that school. There are probably 10 kids from her graduating class at Iowa, so she is excited about this.”
“I don’t know Eric at all. His brother Rory (a walk on at Iowa) was a great linebacker for them.”
It never hurts to land a player from one of the biggest high schools in the state of Illinois, and those that follow Richards High School will be playing close attention to what goes on in Iowa City for the next four or five years.
“You have a great place there and Richards High School is ecstatic that Mike chose Iowa and we are more excited that he feels good and comfortable with his decision and we are looking for great things to happen over there.”