Jones TE Wade thrives in new position; Alabama offer could be next
When Dylan Wade transferred from Ocoee High to Jones High he was a big-bodied quarterback at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds who had plenty of potential as a sophomore.
The timing of his transfer, however, wasn’t ideal and he had just a few months to familiarize himself with the intricacies of Jones coach Elijah Williams’ multi-faceted offense.
He grew a bit frustrated. “I tell guys all the time, ‘Football is supposed to be fun,’ and if every single day it’s not fun ... ever? Then that usually means you are in the position you shouldn’t be in,” Williams said.
As a converted tight end headed into his senior season, Wade is finally having the time of his life, and he has the attention of almost every major college recruiter in the country.
He’ll get an opportunity to show off those talents Friday when Jones closes out the spring session with a home game against Suburban Class 3A state contender Rockledge at 7 p.m. Jones is one of the state favorites in the new Metro Class 3A.
Switching a player’s position wasn’t new to Williams. He had plenty of success moving players around prior to Wade’s arrival. There was quarterback James Brown, who earned a scholarship as a tight end at Tennessee. Sevyn Banks was a receiver at The First Academy and then Jones before moving on to stardom as a cornerback at Ohio State. The same was true of receiver Dominick Hill, who is a cornerback at South Carolina.
What Williams saw in Wade was an athletically gifted player who could be much better suited as a tight end or defensive end.
“I told him from Day 1, ‘You’re the best player on the field,’ and I remembered one game I ripped him. I said, ‘You’re the best player on the field and this is how you play?’ ” Williams said. “I was hard on him because I needed him to understand how good he could be.
“Some people don’t understand it, but being in my position and doing it for so long, a kid like that, you have to go all in on him, hard as you can because you know he can take it ... You know he has all the potential, but you have to pull it out of him.”
Wade confirms Williams was definitely tough on him.
“He always keeps it real and he doesn’t sugarcoat anything,” Wade said. “He told me when he first changed my position that he knew I was going to be a big-time player.”
Now Wade has more than 20 scholarship offers from Football Bowl Subdivision programs, and he also has the attention of coaches from the likes of Georgia, Alabama, Florida and FSU. And all of those schools like his potential at tight end. He picked up Miami, North Carolina, Maryland and West Virginia this past month.
“It was smooth. I just moved over and balled, played football,” Wade said of the transition. “I wasn’t surprised. I just moved over to defense and started learning.
“Now I get to beat up on people. At quarterback you don’t really get too much of that action.”
Williams also credits Wade’s mother, Karla Hammond, for her positive influence with her son and her reluctance to interfere with the process knowing Williams’ experience as a coach.
“I never spoke to her about it, but I know he came to Jones to play quarterback. He had played quarterback his entire life,” Williams said. “I’m sure she had some concerns, but she never contacted me about it. She sat back and let it play out. When parents do that, they set their child up for success.
“So I give her a lot of credit.”
Mom said she was definitely concerned about the position change at first.
“I was because I knew he wanted to play quarterback, not that he didn’t have the skillset to do anything else ... I just knew that he loved the position of being a quarterback,” Hammond said. “I actually had to trust the process and 100% believe in trusting the process, whatever that may be.
“I feel like everything is a learning process, and either you have to learn something or you have to win something, so that’s my philosophy.”
To see her son make the strides that he has lends credence to that philosophy.
“I’m ecstatic and just enjoying the ride that he’s on,” Hammond said. “I’m grateful for him being exposed to different positions ... I’m just happy for him.”
The Miami offer was one Wade said he had been awaiting, calling it his dream school. He was ecstatic when Hurricanes’ tight end coach Stephen Field told him the news of the offer.
“I was just happy and I asked the coach if I could give him a hug,” Wade said. “Everybody in my family liked Miami growing up and I was just the same way.”
But he didn’t allowed his emotions to get in the way of his college decision.
“I want to keep my options open. It’s all good. I feel like the process is fine. At first it was all shocking, but now it’s pretty normal,” Wade said. “I think I’m going to commit in the beginning of June.”