Coming out of St. Raphael Academy, Central Connecticut’s junior linebacker Tre Jones was a 210 lbs safety and had no scholarship offers. But after three years, Jones has transformed himself into a 255 lbs linebacker who can be described as a swiss army knife.

“I’m pretty proud of myself,” Jones said. “I had to work really hard to get to where I am today, it’s been a long journey.”

Out of high school, Jones did not generate any buzz during the recruiting process and was close to going to the University of Rhode Island to stay close to home.

Luckily for Central, after a long talk with his mother, Jones had a change of heart. He really enjoyed Central’s campus and felt welcomed from the beginning by the football program, despite not being on scholarship.

Although, it did not take long for Jones to earn that scholarship.

“When he got here [and we got a chance to see what he’s all about], we put him on money relatively quickly,” Central’s interim head coach Ryan McCarthy said.

“He’s obviously made a commitment and he’s a very good football player; he’s captain as a junior, he can drop into coverage and he’s our best pass rusher right now.”

In addition to changing his role into more of a pass rusher, Jones has made another change this season.

“I wanted my high school number back,” Jones said after switching jersey numbers from 50 to five. “I’ve worn it all my life since pop-warner. I wanted it when I first got here but someone already had it, so I had to wait my turn.”

Jones waited his turn until players graduated, but graduation also left a hole in the leadership department in Central’s defense and the team as a whole.

“It’s never too early to be a leader,” the junior captain said. “But I think it’s just being more vocal on the defense; that’s something we need on the defense and the team and I think we have that with me, Aaron [Winchester], Tajik [Bagley], Conner [Mignone] and J’Von [Brown].”

Through four games, Jones has recorded 2.5 sacks which leads the Blue Devils and ranks second in the Northeast Conference.

In addition, Jones leads the Blue Devils in tackles for loss with 4.5, has recorded 18 tackles this season (T-3rd on team) and recently recorded his first interception of the year against FBS opponent Eastern Michigan.

He is projected to finish the season with 54 tackles, and career-highs in sacks (7.5), tackles for loss (13.5) and interceptions (3)

In the pre-season, when the NEC constructed it’s award projections, it did not see this breakout season from Jones coming, as they left him outside of any of their All-NEC teams.

“It motivates me a lot, that gives me the motivation to keep going, I always try to perfect my craft,” Jones said. “It tells me I need to be more physical, more violent on the line and I plan on doing that for the rest of the season.”

Jones earned Week 4 Defensive Player of the Week honors in the NEC Conference after recording five tackles and an interception.

He led a defense that held Eastern Michigan to fewer yards than their previous two opponents, Illinois and Kentucky.

“I don’t really know how else to explain it, he’s a dog,” quarterback Aaron Winchester said. “He’s a guy where you have to find every snap, like ‘where’s Tre at?’ because you don’t know what he’s going to do.”

That versatility from Jones is something that adds confusion to opposing quarterbacks, but according to McCarthy, “more often than not, we’re gonna rush him; I think he’s in the perfect position, he’s our hybrid rush end guy.”

Jones was asked to improve on his pass-rushing during the spring by the coaching staff and he did, just by watching videos.

“Videos, man. Von Miller, Aaron Donald, everybody. Guys like Chris Tinkham and Seth Manzanarez taught me moves, too,” Jones said.

Jones’s role depends and changes week-to-week but it seems he has turned himself into a player that opposing offenses take notice of.

If opponents leave Jones unchecked, he will impact the game as he has already proved to.

“He’s loud and he’s going to let you know he’s coming,” Winchester said. “He’s definitely a lot better than most these guys we’re playing.”

“On one-on-one matchups, I feel really confident in what I can do on the field,” Jones said.