Marvin Jones Jr. grew up hearing the stories about his father's former glory as a member of the Florida State football program.
He grew up watching his older cousin Fredrick Jones play defensive tackle for the Seminoles from 2014-18 alongside players he idolized like Jameis Winston.
Originally, Jones Jr. elected to pave his own path in college football, choosing Georgia over FSU and other top schools as a five-star recruit in the 2022 class.
However, two years later, he changed his mind. After two seasons in Athens, the talented defensive end entered the transfer portal this offseason, electing to follow in his family's footsteps as a Seminole.
"Definitely a lot of time spent in this building," Jones said of Doak Campbell Stadium Wednesday morning when reflecting on his childhood.
Jones' high-school recruitment was a chaotic one. He certainly felt the pull to play for the team he grew up watching after his father, Marvin "Shade Tree" Jones, was a legendary FSU linebacker from 1990-92 before enjoying a 10-year NFL career.
It wasn't any secret where Shade Tree wanted his son to play. Jones Jr. very much appreciated that his father didn't try and influence his decision to lead him to his former stomping grounds.
"Definitely appreciate him not making the decision too hard on me. He let me know it was my decision," Jones said of his father. "At the end of the day, he's not the one waking up and going to class anymore. He definitely was very helpful, allowed me to be myself, obviously gave me advice. I could tell he wanted me to come here the first time around, but he was definitely very helpful."
In the end, the allure of a Georgia team that would win its first national title in over 40 years just weeks after Jones signed was too much for him to ignore.
When he entered the transfer portal in December after two seasons (and a national title) with the Bulldogs, his decision was much easier this time. He laughs now saying that he was locked out of his social media accounts at the time and may have missed some recruiting attempts with the knowledge that it didn't really matter. His mind was pretty close to made up immediately upon his portal entrance.
"I kind of knew I wanted to come to Florida State either way. It wasn't really much of a decision, honestly," Jones said. "I had seen what (FSU head coach Mike) Norvell had done, I knew the kind of man he is so it wasn't a hard decision...
"A lot of great connections built here during high school. I didn't make the decision to come here out of high school, but I knew what kind of guy coach Norvell is, know what kind of guy JP (defensive ends coach John Papuchis) was, coach (Adam) Fuller. It definitely helped having such a strong relationship with them in high school, helped make this decision a lot easier."
When Jones was choosing between FSU, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas A&M out of high school, it was fair for him to question the Seminoles' future. FSU had been 8-13 in Norvell's first two seasons and not yet made a bowl in his tenure.
In the two years since he chose UGA over FSU, the Seminoles amassed a 23-4 record and returned to the program's former glory in a 13-0 ACC Championship campaign this season before their College Football Playoff snub.
"He definitely made it clear (during my high-school recruitment) that he was going to come in here and make a change," Jones said of Norvell. "You guys see it by the record, obviously."
Jones, ranked by Rivals as the No. 13 overall recruit and No. 2 weak-side defensive end in the 2022 class, saw a good bit of the field in his two seasons at Georgia. He played 303 total defensive snaps, 237 of which came this past season over which he recorded 12 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
In fact, Jones' two largest rep counts with the Bulldogs came in his final two games, playing 33 snaps in the regular-season finale vs. Georgia Tech and 35 in the SEC Championship Game vs. Alabama.
Despite playing plenty at Georgia, Jones is participating in a full offseason program for the first time in his collegiate career this year. He didn't enroll early in 2022, missing out on Georgia's 2022 offseason program. And then, he missed the 2023 offseason program due to a shoulder injury that required surgery.
A few weeks into Tour of Duty, Jones is already seeing the difference that a healthy offseason is making for him. He said Wednesday he and FSU director of strength and conditioning Josh Storms have agreed he should aim for the 260- to 263-pound range for his playing weight for the upcoming season.
"I think me being able to work out and lift in the offseason will help me in every category. Strength, speed, reaction time. Being able to move around before the season starts, I think is going to help me a lot..." Jones said. "This is my first winter workout program so it definitely feels like a fresh start being able to lift in the offseason. Tour of Duty definitely isn't fun. It's work. I'm just happy to be here, honestly. Happy to get better."
In addition to the coaches who recruited him originally to FSU and a few former high-school teammates like Earl Little Jr. on the roster with him, another familiar face to him has joined the program since his original recruitment.
FSU defensive backs coach Patrick Surtain Sr., hired last offseason, was Jones' head coach at Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage School. While he won't be his position coach, it's another staff member Jones arrived at FSU with whom he already had a great relationship.
"Coach Pat has always been there for me. Even before high-school football, he's always been a part of my life," Jones said. "It's definitely cool having people you're so comfortable with in the building every day."
Asked for one of his earliest memories of FSU growing up, Jones still cites the picture he got to take with legendary FSU running back Dalvin Cook as something that stands out.
"He was my hero growing up," Jones said.
After a bit of a winding path to his father's alma mater, Jones now can't wait to hopefully realize his potential and be the same figure to future generations that Cook was for him.
"I can't say enough about how excited I am for this season..." Jones said. "Dalvin inspired me and I hope I can do the same for other fans of Florida State."
Follow The Osceola on Facebook
Follow The Osceola on Twitter
Subscribe to the Osceola's YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Osceola's podcasts on Apple
