ORLANDO, Fla. — I have a great idea regarding Florida Gators quarterback Emory Jones that I will share with you in a minute, but first things first:
How about a standing ovation for Jones, who already has let it be known that he plans to transfer but is sticking around long enough to play for UF one final time in Thursday night’s “Thrilla In the Gasparilla” bowl game against UCF.
If you ask me, Emory Jones is one class act.
With all he has endured during his one year as UF’s starter — the booing, the constant calls for him to be benched in favor of freshman Anthony Richardson and coach Dan Mullen getting fired — nobody would have blamed Jones if he had bolted right after the regular season ended and left the Gators high and dry for the bowl game. Instead, with Richardson unavailable for the Gasparilla Bowl because he just underwent minor knee surgery, Jones is bailing out the Gators by staying and playing in the bowl game.
This is typical of Jones — a player who has handled all of the adversity this season with grace and dignity. Even after the many losses and uneven performances, Jones always showed up to the postgame news conferences and answered every tough question from the media just like a true team leader should.
Which brings us to my great idea:
Right after he quarterbacks the Gators one last time in the Gasparilla Bowl, he should take off his UF jersey, walk across the field, put on a UCF jersey and announce he has decided to become a Knight.
OK, so it probably won’t happen quite like that, but if you ask me UCF would be a great landing spot for Jones, who was recruited heavily by UCF coach Gus Malzahn when Malzahn was the head coach at Auburn. Jones was a four-star quarterback out of Franklin, Ga., which is right up I-85 from Auburn.
“Emory is a very good quarterback,” Malzahn acknowledged earlier this week. “He was about 30 or 40 minutes away [from Auburn] and I actually recruited him out of high school. I know him well. He can beat you with his feet and can beat you with his arm. He’s a really good competitor. He’s played a lot of football, too, and played in big games. He presents a lot of challenges.”
True freshman Mikey Keene has done an admirable job starting at QB for UCF this season, but there will almost certainly be an open quarterback competition this spring. And given a fresh start at a new school, I believe Jones can still be a really good college quarterback — whether it’s at UCF or somewhere else.
