Origins of Myles Jack’s promising future at UCLA draw from past

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Amid La Sonjia Jack’s proud collection of her son’s achievements, mementos chronicling 12 years of athletic prowess, one image seems to rise above all the rest.

Myles Jack’s three high school state championship rings, a few framed jerseys from his Atlanta Pop Warner days and countless newspaper clippings line his mother’s living room. In every direction, there is no shortage of proud moments commemorated. From porch to pantry, it seems every last accolade has its place.

But they all led up to the one play that transformed the 18-year-old UCLA football player into a freak of nature. Hanging neatly on the living room wall is a picture of Jack wearing his No. 30 UCLA white away jersey, dodging the red and blue of an Arizona defender.

On Nov. 9, 2013, Jack outran the playful doubt of his teammates, who had never seen the starting outside linebacker carry the ball in a game situation. He outran several Wildcat defenders who presumably saw the highlight over and over again on SportsCenter’s Top 10. That night, the 225-pound linebacker took a handoff from quarterback Brett Hundley and ran 66 yards up the sideline for a fourth-quarter touchdown that put the game out of reach.

It’s inconceivable, then, to think he almost never got the chance to run the ball in the first place.

“I had talked to him that morning,” his mother said. “He didn’t tell me. The world got to see Myles play both ways, but he’s been doing it the whole time.”

For the first eight games of UCLA’s 2013 season, Jack was a full-time linebacker. Then, the night before the team took the field in Tucson, offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone greenlit Jack’s running back package after never seriously considering it before.

“They had been joking about it,” Jack said. “But finally, the night before, they were gung-ho about it. It was the night before where we walked through it in the ballroom. I mean that whole sequence was probably about five minutes after we got done with everything.”

Five minutes that led to a moment now best remembered as a picture above his living room. There are probably 1,000 words that can describe it, but three words of ESPN’s game commentary probably suffice: “Jacked up indeed.”

Jack way back

La Sonjia Jack stood washing dishes while her 10-year-old son, Myles, sat in the kitchen.

During her son’s three championship seasons in his first four years of football, she said she had her concerns about concussions, just “one of those things.”

She paused and decided to ask the most enthusiastic football player she knew what he thought.

“If me and your dad said you couldn’t play football anymore because it’s dangerous, what do you think about that?” she asked.

In silent disbelief, her oldest son didn’t say a word.

“Do you hear me?” she said, looking over.

The young two-way player got up out of his chair and walked over to his mother.

“Well, if I don’t play football, then I don’t think I should be doing anything,” a young Myles Jack said.

And so everything he did, he did with football in mind. As a kid, seldom were his Saturdays spent watching cartoons. Instead, Jack ran his own workouts in his backyard, finding entertainment in orange cones used to set up agility drills.

“I should have stock in those orange cones,” his mother said.

Jack built his football knowledge base from a deep love of the professional game. If he and his brother, Jahlen, saw a player they liked on TV, they watched video dating back as far as they could: College, then high school.

It wasn’t long before Myles would put together some pretty impressive clips of his own, but a family job transfer meant the Jacks had to move to from Atlanta to Bellevue.

The move was a bit of a culture shock, but the football wasn’t. Bellevue High School is a football powerhouse, having won a Washington state title every year from 2008 to 2013.

Though still in the body of a young high school student, Jack’s athleticism made a good first impression.

“You could just see he had ‘special’ written all over him,” said Bellevue High School football coach Butch Goncharoff. “He could do things that were fairly rare.”

Soon, a skinny frame filled out to a bruising 225 pounds. Jack was a good running back and an even better linebacker, earning the attention of a number of Pac-12 schools, but not immediately a laundry list of national powerhouses.

“Recruiting-wise, we were kind of scratching our heads,” Goncharoff said. “We were telling schools, ‘I don’t know what you’re waiting on. This guy is the real deal.’”

After Jack’s junior year of high school and especially after a dominating performance against Trinity High School of Euless, Texas early on in his senior year, schools finally saw the light. Letters poured in, with the Jacks having to open as many as 200 a day. Their Bellevue home would sometimes host as many as three or four coaches per day. But, as all high-profile athletes must, Jack narrowed his options down. He had his final two in Arizona State and UCLA.

Jack took a visit to Tempe, Ariz., the January after his junior year and was hosted by reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Will Sutton. A week later, he headed down to Westwood for an official visit.

“I was teeter-tottering every hour,” he remembers.

That all changed when he met his future teammates. Walking through the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame for the first time, Jack saw linebackers Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks and Jordan Zumwalt all sitting at a table. He joined them and was immediately hooked.

“I sat down and I was just chopping it up with them,” he said. “We weren’t even talking about football, we were just talking about anything. It just felt natural, so I just said, ‘If they’re this cool, then it’s a no-brainer.’ It was them three that got me here.”

Jack officially signed with UCLA that June, leaving coaches across the nation disappointed.

From Seattle, with love

Pulling a laminated picture out of a drawer in her living room, La Sonjia Jack can’t help but grin.

This time wearing UCLA’s alternate all-black uniforms, her son is pictured with his fingers in his mouth, his eyes locked on the Washington sideline. It was Jack’s second straight game at running back in November, and he savored a touchdown for far too long, earning him a 15-yard personal foul for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“This is the one that got him in trouble,” his mother said, jokingly.

Based on proximity, the University of Washington was one such disheartened school. Jack admitted to some tension with the school when asked outright last year, and recently said he had a little extra motivation to show the Huskies his worth. Four touchdowns in a 41-31 victory more than did the trick, adding on to the folk legend he established the week prior against Arizona.

“Myles Jack is the best player in the world, that’s all that is,” said UCLA wide receiver Devin Lucien after the game. “He’s amazing, right? Oh, my God.”

Jack’s finger-licking performance also earned him some additional buzz.

“After that I said, ‘Myles, we still live here,’” La Sonjia Jack added. “And yes, I wear my UCLA stuff very happily. Everywhere we go I have UCLA stuff. And when I see people, it’s funny, because they’ll see my last name on my credit card.”

Living close to the University of Washington campus brings with it an implied sense of loyalty, one that is called upon when the state’s most talented athletes reach decision time.

But Myles Jack didn’t grow up in Seattle. He didn’t play his Pop Warner football there. The draw felt by a number of hometown kids wasn’t the same one he felt.

“They wanted him terribly, but he was never from here. He didn’t grow up a Husky,” Goncharoff said. “He grew up in Georgia. If you’re a kid that’s grown up and you’ve seen purple and gold your whole life, it’s different. I think he’d handle some things differently if he could, but he’s a kid and it is what it is.”

The Washington game and the games that followed cemented Jack as a goal-line force. He was recognized as a bona fide two-way player, eventually earning Pac-12 Offensive and Defensive Freshman of the Year honors.

“That’s a huge accomplishment, but that just shows what I’m capable of, just coming in,” he said. “The sky’s the limit.”

New year, New Jack

It’s pushing beyond that limit and improving the ability he showed during his freshman season that will be Jack’s biggest challenge as he officially starts his sophomore season of football Tuesday with the opening of spring practice.

Two of the big three linebackers that drew him to UCLA in the first place, Zumwalt and Barr, will likely be taken in this year’s NFL Draft, leaving Kendricks and Jack to hold down the fort. Jack said he knows his pass rush will have to improve to fill a void left by Barr, and he’s still trying to improve his strength to avoid being handled at the line of scrimmage.

Only months have passed, yet it’s clear Jack’s expectations are different in this new football season. Last season, the comparison was always made to Jack as the “next Anthony Barr.” Now Zach Whitley, an impressive linebacker talent and early enrollee has been heralded as “the next Myles Jack.”

When asked by his mother what he learned last season, he said his success came earlier than expected, that he didn’t think people would know his name until his junior year at UCLA.

Her reply: “Myles, I think that’s a wrap.”

Now the question becomes whether Jack, who posted one of the best freshman seasons in Pac-12 history, can possibly improve. Some, like Goncharoff, believe increased exposure to the college game and an added familiarity with UCLA’s defensive playbook will signal some excellent football still to be played.

“His best football is still ahead of him,” Goncharoff said. “That’s what people don’t realize is he’s scratching the surface. He’s learning the game. He has a chance to be even better.”

For Myles Jack, at least, there are goals. He wants to be more of a vocal leader. He wants to lead his team to a Pac-12 title with a chance of earning a shot at a national championship.

He also wants that thing every promising college football player wants.

“I wrote down ‘Heisman’ because if I don’t get it then I don’t get it, but if I get it, then that’s crazy,” Jack said. “That’s what my motto is, ‘Why not try?’”