Why I Committed to Army West Point | 2027 DB Jayden Haynes Nease HS

In this episode we discuss his recent Commitment to Army, being son to Former 1st Round Draft pick, playing with his brother, and much more…

Twitter: @behindTW904

Transcript

Coach Moss 0:00

Class of 2027, 6'1, 165 pounds, Nease Panthers. He's a senior, but his decision is made. His future is set. He picked army, he picked honor, he picked duty. He picked his country. From Ponte Vedra Beach to the Hudson River. From Nease Green to Army Black, Gold and Gray. He's not waiting on stars. He's not waiting on hype. He's a black knight. Nease high school DB, class of 2027. Army West Point commit, Jayden Haynes. Welcome to Behind the Whistle 904.

Jayden 0:31

What's up? How you doing?

Coach Moss 0:32

Doing good. So when I was doing my research, I saw that that your dad, Michael Haynes, he was pretty, he was a first-round draft pick. How is it like basically like falling on under his footsteps and what kind of what has he kind of helped you with?

Jayden 0:46

Yeah, I mean, he helped me a lot with like my football IQ and just like really understanding the game from all aspects. And like obviously with recruiting, he's helped me just really navigating it. It made it a lot easier for me.

Coach Moss 0:58

Um, so can you talk about um your brother Jackson Haynes? I know he's a class of 2029, and kind of how you have helped him like get better and as he watches you get closer to reaching your dreams?

Jayden 1:10

I mean, yeah, he really just like we all we work out together every day, we do everything together. Even if it's not football related, just really building a bond, and then he's gonna be uh fighting for a starting job next to me, I'll ruin me on the same side of the field this year. He's playing outside linebacker.

Coach Moss 1:26

Okay. So when when did you actually start playing football?

Jayden 1:30

Um, I didn't start until my freshman year. I would play soccer at a high level till then.

Coach Moss 1:36

Okay. So what what kind of made you uh made you you decide to kind of switch to football?

Jayden 1:42

Um, I mean, I just kept seeing it. I used to play it, watch it all the time, and then I finally decided to make the switch to football, and my dad just helped me since then.

Coach Moss 1:53

Yes, sir. So um so what what what kind of made you d decide to um commit to army so so early?

Jayden 2:03

Um I went up there on the 21st, and I spent a lot of time with the coaches, the players, and I really just felt the love from them, and like I wanted to go somewhere on one and not just tolerated. So then and then that's why I felt it there, and had everything I feel like I can do to be the best me. So I decided to just shut it all down.

Coach Moss 2:22

So who'd you tell first that you was gonna commit? Your parents, or did you

Jayden 2:27

Yeah, I I I was up there with my dad, and so I called my mom. I was like, I'm ready to commit. She said, Alright, are you sure? Because once I'm once I commit, I'm I'm back that's where I'm going.

Coach Moss 2:36

Yeah.

Jayden 2:37

So I talked to them, then I went up to Coach Monken and Coach Prince and told them I'm ready to commit. And yeah, so I called my parents first.

Coach Moss 2:45

How excited was they went once you told them that you was committing?

Jayden 2:49

They were excited. They were really excited. So uh I've been talking to our the whole staff since this past January.

Coach Moss 3:00

Okay. So you built like a very strong relationship with them?

Jayden 3:04

Yeah, I feel like I got a really strong relationship with them.

Coach Moss 3:07

So what I know you had over 20 offers, so what other schools was um recruiting you have with with as with Army?

Jayden 3:14

Um, Wake Forest, West Virginia, and Tulane.

Coach Moss 3:18

Okay. Um so what what what was the reaction that you got from your teammates when they saw that you commit?

Jayden 3:25

Uh they were all super happy. They're all just waiting for for me to commit. Because I've saying I'm gonna commit soon. Because I knew I was gonna commit to Army for like I waited like a week until I posted it. So I told them, yeah, I'm about to commit, and they're all super excited, all hyped up, my head coach is super excited.

Coach Moss 3:44

Yeah, that's that's that's a that's a great thing. Um so what what kind of role did have they have they told you at Army that they want you to kind of play?

Jayden 3:53

Um it really I'm either gonna be a free safety or a corner. Just depending on how if I grow anymore, height-wise.

Coach Moss 4:00

Okay. What what do you like playing better?

Jayden 4:03

I mean, I I feel like I can do both. Um I play corner at Nease right now, but I I've have played free safety at Nease a couple games.

Coach Moss 4:11

Okay. Okay. So you watch so you watch Army play. How do you think that um your technique at Nease kind of helps you, it's gonna help you transition it better into that system?

Jayden 4:23

Um we run a we we run the exact same defense at Nease that Army does, so I feel like I'll fit in pretty well. I'm gonna be already familiar with it. I just gotta learn the new terminology.

Coach Moss 4:32

Yes, sir. So you know, like since you announced your commit, are are other schools still trying to hit you up or they like they respect that you committed?

Jayden 4:42

A couple have, but I told them like respectfully that my recruitment's completely shut down.

Coach Moss 4:47

Yes, sir. So you heard it here, his commitment is 100% shut down, right?

Jayden 4:53

Yes, sir.

Coach Moss 4:54

So what um so if you have a message that you kind of want to say to Coach Munken or Black Knight Nation, what would it be?

Jayden 5:04

Um, I mean I'm excited to come up there and I can't wait to get to work and make an impact.

Coach Moss 5:09

Yes, sir. So are you gonna go to a couple games this year?

Jayden 5:12

Yeah, I'm gonna try to go up to at least two games.

Coach Moss 5:15

Okay. Have you been to the Army Navy game yet?

Jayden 5:18

I haven't. I only watch it on TV every year.

Coach Moss 5:21

Yeah, that's something special. Um, so how do you feel? So, you know, Army Builds leaders, so how do you feel that your time at Nease and as well as playing football has kind of helped you prepare you for that?

Jayden 5:35

I mean, um our whole team is a very player-led. Like our coaches put their input, but our head coach, Coach Draft, really puts like our senior group in charge of everyone. So like if someone gets in trouble, the seniors are gonna pay for us. Like we're already having to be leaders on the team already. So like we're already having to step up. Like, we're in charge of the locker room, we've got to make sure it's clean every day, everyone's acting right. And even on the field, like if we gotta make sure no one's talking, the coach is not gonna say anything, they're just gonna wait for us to say something.

Coach Moss 6:06

Yeah. So as far as your your freshman year coming up at Army, what kind of goals have you kind of already set for yourself?

Jayden 6:14

Um, I mean, I'm I want to like make the biggest impact that I possibly can while there, but for my four or five years. So really I just want to get bigger, faster, stronger, and trying to get on the field as soon as possible.

Coach Moss 6:29

Yes, sir. So Army is known for having a strong brotherhood. Did you feel that on the visit? Like, and how did how did that feel like interacting with the players?

Jayden 6:39

I felt it a lot because even some of the Army players that are already on their team are from the 904 area. So I already like Julian Porter is one of them. I will spend a lot of time with him. He's another corner that's there. Okay. So I spent a lot of time with them and I felt it.

Coach Moss 6:54

Yeah, that's yeah, that's pretty big. Did they tell you that did you have any conversation with the players as far as like how tough the workouts are?

Jayden 7:02

They said it's hard, but like you I'm I already knew before committee there that it's gonna be hard, and I I can I just gotta push through it. And it's so like it just will become a like everyday life after the first they said after the first month you get used to it, and it's just like this part of your routine daily.

Coach Moss 7:21

Yeah. So just kind of reflecting back on your your high school career, so what was the moment or what what what was the moment where your recruitment kind of took that big jump and how did that make you feel?

Jayden 7:34

Um honestly the big jump was this past offseason. I went from just having six offers to jumping to 22 in a matter of two weeks.

Coach Moss 7:45

Wow. So do you know like what so what did was it a game that you had or was it a camp you went to, or what kind of made that?

Jayden 7:54

Um it was really this past junior season is my highlight, I really did go on my highlight tape, and then I ran a 4-5-2 at one of the camps. And then my wings, I have a really long wingspan, so really just like all the measurables plus the tape is what really like sold the deal.

Coach Moss 8:09

Okay. So how how how has the offseason been going for you? Like what kind of have you been trying to work on improving going into your sports?

Jayden 8:16

I'm just trying to really get put on a little more weight and then just working on my fast switch.

Coach Moss 8:22

How's that how's that going as far as putting the weight on?

Jayden 8:25

It's going pretty good. I work out at Athlete Sanctuary with Coach G almost every day. And he's one of the best trainers around, if not the best, so it's going great for me. He really helps all of us a lot. He trains a lot of us in the area.

Coach Moss 8:38

Okay. How do you just re reflecting on how your junior season went, can you just kind of talk about a couple highlights that you had and and how you feel like that the season went for as a team for the team overall?

Jayden 8:51

For me, I feel like I did pretty good. I got a small little injury, but I still bounced back. And um, for a team, we met all our in-season goals, we beat our in town rival, and then we fell a little short losing the second round of the playoffs, but this year we're trying to push a little bit farther than that, if not all the way.

Coach Moss 9:11

So who's your in town rival?

Jayden 9:13

Ponte Vedra.

Coach Moss 9:15

So how's that like the week leading up to that game? Like, how's the atmosphere as far as the school?

Jayden 9:20

It's definitely there, there's flyers everywhere, BPV, BPV. There's always news channels coming in every day, pulling us out of class, talking to us. And then walking into the game, like it was I've never felt the vibrations in the stadium that loud before.

Coach Moss 9:34

Wow.

Jayden 9:35

And I remember it was the second or third drive, I got an interception, and it was like I've never felt the beat in my chest that loud before from the stadium. So we went and we were up, I think it was we were up by like 30 at halftime, and it was just a steal deal from there. So we beat him, we took the trophy back, celebrated in the locker room after.

Coach Moss 9:58

Yes, sir. So now can you kind of talk about how the um how y'all summer offseason program is going so far? Because the season getting ready to be here before you know it.

Jayden 10:07

Yeah, I mean, honestly, everyone we graduated lost senior summer's like, oh, Nick's gonna be that good, but like no one really sees like the work that we're doing behind the scenes, like all the rip all the lifting, the running, the film watching. So we're gonna be just as good, if not hopefully better, than last year. Because we got a bunch of dudes stepping up, like Troy McLeod, Ty Sean, and all our whole D line, Chase Bogold, then Wentley, Sloan Davis with the linebacker. So we got a bunch of dudes stepping up.

Coach Moss 10:32

And one thing that I love about Nease is y'all not afraid to play anybody. Can you just talk about that spring game playing playing against Raines Because teams probably people probably didn't want to play against them since they just won the state championship. So talk about that.

Jayden 10:45

Yeah, no, when Coach Drafts tools we were playing them, but that that weight room was exciting because like we got the the blue car mentality, like we're not kind of scared of anyone. Like, if anyone wants to play us, we'll play them and not back down at all. So we went into that Raines game. We went up 14-0. Like, they were kind of shocked that we weren't scared and we just kept pushing and pushing and pushing. Yeah. So yeah, we'll let it play anyone at anyone who wants to.

Coach Moss 11:10

Now, like going into this season, what are some games that you're kind of looking forward to playing that you kind of got circled?

Jayden 11:17

Um one game I'm really looking forward to is Mandarin and Mainland.

Coach Moss 11:24

Okay. Why why those two games?

Jayden 11:28

I mean, mainland is uh they're they're driving all the way up to us, and we're trying to send them home right back. So and Mandarin, they're like, it's been everyone say that, oh Mandarin, niece, Mandarin, niece are the best two teams. We're trying to prove that no, we're the better team than them.

Coach Moss 11:43

Yes, sir. So that's as far as this upcoming season as well. What are some individual goals you've set for yourself and and goals you have for the team?

Jayden 11:53

Um one of the individual goals, like I'm trying to like really pronounce myself as like you locked down corner in St. John's. Like, I'm I'm the best one. I'm just trying to prove that to me. I mean, compared to others, I'm trying to prove to my, like, not even just myself, to everyone else too, that like I'm the best one. And as a team, we're trying to win a district, our district again, and just go farther in the playoffs and try to make it all the way.

Coach Moss 12:16

Are y'all in the same district y'all had last year or are y'all in the new new district now?

Jayden 12:21

Um, we're in a slightly new district. We dropped down to 5A.

Coach Moss 12:24

Okay.

Jayden 12:25

So we have teams we we have Manja in our district, we have Oakleaf, we have Ponta Vidra, and a couple other teams. Those are the big three though.

Coach Moss 12:34

Okay. So how do you c how do you kind of feel about the new rule that just passed in the NCAA where now it's no they're not doing a red shirt anymore, it's just five years to play five?

Jayden 12:45

I mean, I kind of like it. I feel like some of the freshmen were being like limited, like, oh, you probably could be on special teams, but we need to red shirt you to save you because we think you knew bigger things later. So I think it helps a lot of younger kids out.

Coach Moss 12:57

Yeah, because now they can they don't have to just play four games and then don't play the rest of the season. So it kind of helps them develop. Yeah. So I I was talking a little bit earlier about the Army Navy game. You could potentially play in that game five up to five times. Like, what is that game? How how how important is that game to you?

Jayden 13:19

I mean, I feel like it's really one of the most important games in the country. Like, it's pe it's a bunch of young men that are going to go serve the country playing a football game in front of the whole United States. So it's really an important game.

Coach Moss 13:32

Yeah, and then it's even bigger now bigger because you know that it's the only game that's played that weekend. College game day is there, so it's just like the president's normally there, like it's just a huge environment. Yeah. So what's kind of what's kind of what one big message that you think that probably most people don't know about you? It could be you as a football player or just you as a person.

Jayden 13:59

One thing people don't know about me.

Coach Moss 14:01

Yeah.

Jayden 14:03

I mean, a lot of people don't know how late I started football. Because there's a lot of these kids haven't played since they were five, six years old. And I'm just going on to my fourth year right now, so a lot of people don't know that about me.

Coach Moss 14:13

Yeah, because I was shocked because when I was doing my research and they said that you that you played soccer and then you own you only you started ninth grade. I was like, wow, because that's amazing to have over 20 offenses in that short period of time, because most people start playing football when they're like five, six years old. So the last section I got is kind of a rapid fire um section. I'm just gonna kind of give you some questions, you just thumb your answers out to me.

Jayden 14:40

Okay.

Coach Moss 14:41

So press man or zone? What what what you just give you thinking about that hub?

Jayden 14:46

I'm a press.

Coach Moss 14:48

Are you a talker or you or you not a talker?

Jayden 14:51

Um it depends on it depends on on the game.

Coach Moss 14:55

Okay. So upon the VG game, you gonna be talking?

Jayden 14:58

Oh yeah.

Coach Moss 15:01

So pick six or PBU, what you want more?

Jayden 15:05

Pick six or PBU?

Coach Moss 15:06

Yeah.

Jayden 15:07

Oh, I want six. A pick six can change the game.

Coach Moss 15:12

What's one word for receivers? What's one word for receivers that you don't lock up?

Jayden 15:18

What's one word for receivers?

Coach Moss 15:20

Yep.

Jayden 15:22

Shoot. I mean, it's it's a business, like I gotta make sure my company does good and make sure yours does it, so.

Coach Moss 15:33

Yes, sir. So the the term beat navy, what does that mean to you?

Jayden 15:39

I mean, that's really like it's a motto. Like I these ours is be different, and theirs is beat navy, so like we it's really just like one word, like you need to go 110%, you're at 100, you just think beat navy, and that will push you that extra 10%. Like, you know, you gotta go beat, you gotta push a little bear if you're doing better than whatever they're doing over there. Yeah.

Coach Moss 16:02

Exactly. Um, what are you trying to major in that um army?

Jayden 16:06

Um, business management.

Coach Moss 16:08

Okay. Um, after a pick, what you doing? Hand the ball to the ref or you got your you got your a celebration you're gonna do?

Jayden 16:16

Uh I'm gonna hand the ball to the ref. I learned that lesson I guess week one, and then I'm gonna go celebrate while my teammates here in the end zone or on the sideline.

Coach Moss 16:25

So what happened week one to take me back to that?

Jayden 16:27

We spun the ball and he yelled at me. We didn't get a flag, but I got a warning. Yeah.

Coach Moss 16:33

Coach wasn't too happy, was he? Coach wasn't too happy, was he?

Jayden 16:38

Nah, yeah, he wasn't too happy.

Coach Moss 16:40

You what did you did your dad say something to you about it after the game?

Jayden 16:44

He was like, just hand the ball. Okay. And then go celebrate. But no, we definitely got our handshakes. We got like 10 different handshakes that we gotta have memorized in our DB core.

Coach Moss 16:53

Oh wow. You got them all rememorized?

Jayden 16:56

Oh yeah.

Coach Moss 16:57

Okay. So is it before I get you out of here, is it one last message you want to give to the fans, to your, to your fans, to your supporters, or anybody out there?

Jayden 17:06

I mean, all I say is go niece and be navy.

Coach Moss 17:10

Yes, sir. Thanks for coming on.

Jayden 17:13

I appreciate it. Have a going.

Coach Moss 17:15

You too. Well, folks, that's a wrap. Shout out to my guests for coming through and keeping it real. You've been listening to Behind the Whistle Nine or Four. Please remember to download, rate, and review, and turn on the notification bell so you don't miss an episode. See you next time.