Three & Out: Christian Jones is having a good year, Nebraska fans breathing a couple sighs of relief until Carlon Jones makes brutal announcement
Three & Out is Nebraska On3’s feature in which recruiting analyst Bryan Munson gives his weekly takes on topical issues concerning Nebraska football and recruiting.
In this week’s Three & Out, Christian Jones is riding high and plans to stay there, a couple of great things happened for Nebraska fans on Tuesday night, and one bad thing followed. Here is your Three & Out:
Christian Jones reflects on the year
Omaha (Neb.) Westside linebacker Christian Jones has had a heck of a couple of weeks. The 2025 four-star recruit won a state title with his high school team and committed to playing in the All-American Bowl. He admits that things are going well for him.
“It’s been an amazing year,” Jones said. “I am very grateful for the senior class. It is full of some of the hardest-working individuals I know. But more importantly, they are good dudes and always got your 6.
“With that, we will lose a lot of good leadership and talent, but we will have to compete against compliance thoughts and feelings that we have done something or that we are owed anything.”
Committed to the Adidas All-American Bowl! @AABonNBC @ErikRichardsUSA @SWiltfong247 @Rivals @On3sports @247Sports pic.twitter.com/7DUcKfuP4K
— Christian Jones (@CJones428) November 27, 2023
On top of winning a state title with Westside recently, he also committed to play in the All-American game. Jones loves the idea of representing the often-overlooked players from the area.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity and have always prayed for opportunities for these since I was a kid, and being able to represent Nebraska while doing it is even better.
“The word is going to get out soon on how Nebraska got some good ball players, and I hope I can shed some light on the state and everyone in it so people don’t think Midwest football isn’t able to be elite.”
Jones was in Lincoln last weekend to see Nebraska take on Iowa in what turned out to be the Huskers’ final game of the season. Jones likes where the Nebraska football program is headed despite missing out on a bowl game this year.
“I think Coach Rhule is a good fit for Nebraska, and sometimes the ball doesn’t roll your way, and he gets a lot of heat for it, but it’s his first season and needs some grace and support,” Jones said.
“I have a good relationship with Coach Dvoracek. He is a cool guy and has good energy, with all the NU staff being pretty persistent at recruiting me.”
Jones will be participating in track this spring for Westside. He does a field event and a few track events, including a sprint and a relay.
“I will do track again in the spring,” Jones said. “I will be doing shot put and 100-meter dash and the 4×100-meter relay.”
Jones says that all areas are being targeted for improvement from this season to his senior season. He says he refuses to be satisfied with where he is currently and strides to be 1% better daily.
Nebraska fans breathing a couple of sighs of relief
Tuesday night was a big night for Nebraska fans. There was the obvious: Grant Brix publicly committed to Nebraska, and there is the less obvious: San Diego State was hiring Colorado OC Sean Lewis for their head coach.
I am excited to announce I am a Cornhusker! Although there were great things about all of my top three schools, I firmly believe in what is being built by Coach Rhule and his staff. I want to thank everyone who has helped me and made this process special. God bless and GBR!! pic.twitter.com/4qufRFtiLl
— Grant Brix (@grant_brix) November 29, 2023
Let’s start with Brix. Nebraska fans have been hoping for Brix to choose the Huskers over Alabama, Kansas State, and Oklahoma. The process has gone from his official visits in June to wanting to commit by the end of August to Labor Day to finally taking additional visits in November.
It’s been a process, and I appreciate him standing on his values and handling the process his way versus how the others do it and what the standard might be. Some have said that the process didn’t reflect well on Brix.
I disagree. He’s undoubtedly not one that requires attention, and I am sure that the Nebraska staff is aware of that and sees that as a massive plus with Brix.
NEWS: San Diego State has targeted Colorado OC Sean Lewis as its next head coach, @PeteThamel reportshttps://t.co/dGxOwjaiH6 pic.twitter.com/ipyp7mP1GI
— On3 (@On3sports) November 28, 2023
Let’s move on to Sean Lewis being hired as the head coach for San Diego State. White interviewed for the position at San Deigo State, and given his ties, it would have made sense.
White was at San Diego State from 2009 to 2017 as the cornerbacks coach and added the recruiting coordinator title in 2011. It was a destination that would have made sense on paper for White to go to if he got the opportunity.
But what a loss it would have been. No one could have seen how well the Nebraska defense played this season on top of all the questions about the effectiveness of the 3-3-5. Let’s just say it’s effective.
Nebraska had a chance to celebrate a couple of wins on Tuesday night until…
Carlon Jones breaks off commitment with Nebraska
The evening was fun while it lasted, right? Two positive things followed by a crushing, negative one. Bay City (Texas) defensive lineman Carlon Jones, who picked up an offer from Ohio State earlier in the month, backed off his commitment from Nebraska hours after Brix committed to the Huskers.
Recruitment back 100% open pic.twitter.com/C7DA2au1Mg
— carlonjones6 (@carlonjones11) November 29, 2023
Some information reached us earlier that some ominous signs were happening out of the Jones’ camp that we hoped to hold on to until Tunnel Talk, maybe get some comments, and confirm with Carlon.
The word was that Jones had changed his mind on signing during the December signing period and would wait until February. It seemed that this might have been something that Ohio State was interested in having Jones do. And why not? Buy yourself another two months and get a better handle on your board. Understand the numbers of the class and how they relate to the roster.
It must be nice.
Most fans would agree that this is the second time that Nebraska went out and found a guy using their evaluation process that outplayed their ranking. And it was then that everyone began to take notice. Nebraska can feel good about its eye for talent. But the following and more complicated part of the process is keeping the commitments in the boat and committed to the Huskers. It will happen with time and wins. But it will sting a while until Rhule and his staff can get the program to that point.
The post Three & Out: Christian Jones is having a good year, Nebraska fans breathing a couple sighs of relief until Carlon Jones makes brutal announcement appeared first on On3.
