Rohan Jones details his journey from Canada to Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas tight end Rohan Jones has had a bit of a quirky path to Fayetteville.
A native of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Jones spent his freshman year at Maine before he transferred to Montana State. There, he played for an FCS National Championship last year before transferring to Arkansas.
Jones met with the media after the second day of Arkansas fall camp and said he has had a positive experience getting acclimated to his new home.
“I think I’ve adjusted pretty well,” Jones said. “Because we 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.”
Football in Canada isn’t the same as it is in America, especially in the SEC. Jones said he didn’t learn what the SEC was until about a year ago. But he’s faced challenge throughout his entire career, and he’s advanced forward every time.
“I knew that my talent and my will power would take me to where I needed to be,” Jones said. “So, from Maine like it wasn’t the best experience because we weren’t really high-level program, and we weren’t very good. But I think like putting in the work every day and striving for my goals, from there I transferred to Montana State.”
After one season at Montana State where he started three games and had 30 receptions for 470 yards and nine touchdowns, the offensive coordinator left to take the same job at Temple.
That prompted Jones to once again bet on himself and enter the transfer portal for a second time. This time, he landed at Arkansas.
“We had a really great season, and I had a great time there, it was amazing,” Jones said. “But then we had a coaching change and my OC left, so I knew it might not be the same thing this upcoming year, so I just wanted to see what opportunities were open to me because I had worked hard, and I knew I could make another jump.”
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How Arkansas found Rohan Jones
On Arkansas’ side, tight ends coach Morgan Turner said he found Jones by spending copious amounts of time in the transfer portal. The film stuck out to him, so he reached out and started recruiting him.
“Yeah, seeing the film, seeing the way he could move, seeing the way he is after the catch, and then he’s not scared in the run game,” Turner said. “He’ll go hit you and all that. Like, it impressed me right away on the film.”
Jones took an official visit to Arkansas shortly therafter, and hasn’t left since.
“Talking to Coach Turner and Coach Petrino, I knew coming here would be a great fit for me,” Jones said. “And I came on the visit. I didn’t even leave after the visit. I came on the visit and enrolled to school and stayed here ever since.”
Jones and the Razorbacks will head back out for Day 3 of fall camp on Sunday morning. Be sure to stay tuned to HawgBeat for more coverage of Arkansas football. Subscribe to HawgBeat right now for $1 and also receive a from year of The Athletic for new members.
