Patrick Jones
	Height	6-2
	Weight	275
	40-yard Dash	4.67
	Bench Press	340
	Squat	510
	Vertical Leap	33 inches

247sports: **
Rivals: **
Scout: **
247sports: No. 141 DT in country
247sports: No. 318 player in Texas
First-team All-District 7-5A nose guard

Last Year Statistics

29 tackles
8 sacks
15 tackles for loss
4 forced fumbles

Strengths as a Player

Patrick Jones is a big, strong player who thrives on the physicality that takes place at the line of scrimmage. He can use a club move or a spin, but it’s the bull rush that stands out, earning comparisons by his high school coaches to former Arlington Heights (and current Alabama) defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson. Jones also is an intelligent and tough player: as a junior, he broke a toe during a playoff game and stayed in the game. The injury did not require surgery — he spent a couple of months in a protective boot — and he ices it when doing a lot of running. “I had to go back in. I think I broke more parts of the toe, but that’s alright, because I’ll do anything for my team.” As a senior, he spent much of the time in the middle of Arlington Heights’ 3-4 defense, earning first-team all-district honors as a nose guard, although he did move to defensive end against some teams that ran spread offenses. But Jones said he finds the most enjoyment when doing his work in the middle of the line of scrimmage. “I don’t say I like to hurt people, but I do like to be in the mix.”

Interviews

Patrick Jones on why he chose SMU:

Really, in my opinion, several things triggered me toward SMU.

The first was the culture. The coaching staff is new, but when I went there, I thought they had been coaching together their whole lives. Normally, I’m a very good judge of character, and I can tell who doesn’t get along with who, but I didn’t see any of that. The coaching staff really likes each other and likes working together.

Second: my high school is an athletic powerhouse, but my mom couldn’t care less about football — I’m the one who loves football. My mom and grandma always say “anyone can go to college, but only a few graduate.” So when Coach Morris said he would make sure I graduate, she was hooked, and she was talking about “Pony Up” this and “Pony Up that.

SMU is one of the top colleges for academics, so God forbid, if I don’t make the NFL, I’ll have a great education to fall back on.

My brother (TCU offensive tackle Ty Barrett) was leaning on me. I told him I don’t hate TCU, that I’ll still go to his games. We’re kind of different. Me, I’m a competitor, and I don’t care who I play against. To be honest, the word “hate” is a strong word — we don’t really use that in our family. But having a rival — that’s something I can deal with. The teams in our district don’t like us, but hating TCU will be hard. I grew up on TCU, and my brother goes there … but that does not mean I don’t want to give them a good whupping.

(On interest from other schools during senior season, after committing to SMU) There was a lot. I probably could have gotten more offers. A lot of coaches came in to see me and asked, “Are you solid in your commitment to SMU? Is there anything I can do to change your mind?” Me — I believe in honesty, and I told them, “probably not.” They asked a lot, but I thought about it and prayed about it and stuck with my commitment to SMU.

(When on official visit to SMU), Delontae (Scott) and I didn’t talk a lot about football. My main questions were about handling everyday life. He’s a freshman this year, so how does he handle that? What do I have to know about? He broke it down and gave me some pointers about how to handle the day-to-day. He also talked about how to get ready. Before coming in, most kids get the workout book, and he said to do every part. He said some guys just lift, but told me to make sure to run, too. But I’m a runner, regardless, so that’s no problem.

Me and Coach (Keith) Gunn are tighter than white on rice — I can’t put into words how great a man Coach Gunn is. When he calls, it usually isn’t about football. He asks me about how my life is going. I’m a very religious person, and he understands it. It’s unique for a college coach to call and not talk about football — sometimes we don’t even touch the subject of football. He asks about school, my mom, about life.

They have said pretty consistently that I’ll be a defensive tackle. In (SMU’s) 4-2-5, the right defensive end sometimes stands up, and I’ll be playing next to him.

I talked to my high school coach about Coach Morris, and he said Coach Morris has been a winner everywhere he has gone. When I was a freshman in high school, we had a new coaching staff, and we ended up exceeding expectations. When I look at SMU, that’s what I see there, too. It’s a new coaching staff, but we’re going to exceed everyone’s expectations.