FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. \u2014 When Rohan Jones stepped onto the practice field for Arkansas\u2019 fall football camp, he did so as a newcomer in more ways than one.<\/p>\n
Jones, a tight end from Montreal, Quebec, is adjusting to a new school, a new team and a football culture unlike any he encountered in Canada or during his previous college stops.<\/p>\n
The journey that brought him to Razorbacks included a freshman year at Maine and a breakout season at Montana State, where he played in the FCS national title game last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve adjusted pretty well,\u201d Jones said after the Hogs\u2019 second day of fall camp. \u201cWe have a good tight end group, a good tight end coach, and I think we have a lot of good offensive players that have facilitated the adjustment for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones, 6-foot-3 and 242 pounds, said he was unfamiliar with the SEC until about a year ago. In Canada, football is played with a wider field and different rules. The atmosphere and competition in the SEC are on another level.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that my talent and my willpower would take me to where I needed to be,\u201d Jones said. \u201cFrom Maine [where] it wasn\u2019t the best experience because we weren\u2019t a high-level program and we weren\u2019t very good.<\/p>\n
\u201cPutting in the work every day and striving for my goals, from there I transferred to Montana State.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones started three games at Montana State, catching 30 passes for 470 yards and nine touchdowns in his lone season with the Bobcats.<\/p>\n
He helped Montana State get to the national championship game, but when his offensive coordinator left for Temple, Jones decided to enter the transfer portal for a second time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a really great season, and I had a great time there, it was amazing,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThen we had a coaching change and my OC left, so I knew it might not be the same thing this upcoming year. I just wanted to see what opportunities were open to me because I had worked hard, and I knew I could make another jump.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arkansas tight ends coach Morgan Turner said he discovered Jones by combing through hours of transfer portal film.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing the film, seeing the way he could move, seeing the way he is after the catch, and then he\u2019s not scared in the run game,\u201d Turner said. \u201cHe\u2019ll go hit you and all that. It impressed me right away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones took an official visit to Arkansas and made an immediate decision. \u201cTalking to Coach Turner and Coach Petrino, I knew coming here would be a great fit for me,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI came on the visit. I didn\u2019t even leave after the visit. I came on the visit and enrolled to school and stayed here ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Razorbacks are retooling their offense under head coach Sam Pittman and offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino. Jones joins a tight end room that includes other transfers such as Jaden Platt from Texas A&M and Gavin Haschke.<\/p>\n
Pittman earlier in fall camp previews praised Jones\u2019 physicality and willingness to contribute in all phases of the offense.<\/p>\n
\u201cA guy who\u2019s not catching a lot of balls but is doing a lot of good things is Rohan Jones,\u201d Pittman said. \u201cHe caught one the other day, but he\u2019s in there blocking, he\u2019s doing the dirty work. We\u2019re excited about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones was a first-team All-Big Sky selection at Montana State. He also returned 17 kicks for 377 yards, averaging more than 22 yards per return. His versatility and work ethic have helped him adjust quickly in Fayetteville.<\/p>\n
Canadian players are becoming more common in NCAA football, with more than 240 competing in the United States last season, but few make the leap to the SEC.<\/p>\n
The Jon Cornish Trophy is awarded each year to the top Canadian in NCAA football, and Jones\u2019 emergence at Arkansas is another sign of that trend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s still some stuff to get used to,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt\u2019s a different culture, a different kind of football. But I like it here. I like the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones\u2019 journey from Montreal to Arkansas is defined by perseverance and adaptability. For now, he is focused on helping the Razorbacks prepare for the season ahead and making his mark in the SEC.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I could make another jump,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI\u2019m just ready to go to work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. \u2014 When Rohan Jones stepped onto the practice field for Arkansas\u2019 fall football camp, he did…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":114057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-114056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114961487497356708","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}