Liberty’s Oliver proving to be a force like his local legend father GRIDIRON PEDIGREE
Jason Oliver Jr. knows what it means anytime he sees “the look.”
Oliver, who carved out a starting cornerback role in his sophomore season at Liberty High School last fall, rarely needs to be told when he’s made a mistake, as confirmation tends to come via a single sideline glance from his father Jason Sr., who coaches the team’s defensive backs and receivers.
“If I make a mistake, it’s to a point where we just have a look and we know what I did wrong,” Jason Jr. said. “I just look at him and we can fix it.”
Jason Sr. said this almost telepathic relationship formed through years of running drills on the practice field and the backyard, where he’s attempted to fine-tune every aspect of his son’s game.
“It’s so many hours put in to the point where we’ve grounded it in,” Jason Sr. said. “I can just look at him and right away, he knows ‘Ok, technique right here broke down.’ ”
While the father-son pair’s commitment to grinding out drills likely isn’t a surprise to many in Kern County, the elder Oliver says this path wasn’t always preordained for his son.
A star at Bakersfield High School in the late 80s, Oliver’s stature in the local football community only grew after a run at USC, where he recorded 11 career interceptions as a defensive back from 1990-93.
But when he and wife Nicole had a son in 2004, Jason Sr., whose birth name is Durant Jason Oliver, wanted to carry on his name without putting any pressure on his child to follow in his gridiron footsteps.
By slightly altering the name, the couple hoped people wouldn’t instantly associate son Jason Durant Oliver with his father’s on-field accomplishments. The plan didn’t work.
“I didn’t want to make him a junior like that, because what if he doesn’t want to play football?” Jason Sr. said. “But everybody specifically switched his name to make him a junior. I kind of doomed him with that.”
The younger Oliver needed little
convincing to take the field himself, though, with his dad saying he began asking to go through workouts “while he still had Pull-Ups on.”
Entering high school with hopes of landing a Division-I scholarship, Jason Jr. put himself in position to achieve that goal during a sophomore season where he played a key role on a Liberty defense that allowed seven or fewer points in six of 12 games.
He recorded two interceptions on the year, the biggest coming in the SWYL opener against Centennial. With the Golden Hawks down 14-7 and 11 yards away from tying the game in the third quarter, Oliver jumped a route in the end zone to return the momentum to the Patriots, who went on to win 17-7 en route to a third consecutive unbeaten run in league play.
That early progress has already caught the attention of a Pac-12 program. In May, just weeks before his 16th birthday, Jason Jr. was elated and surprised to receive his first offer from Utah, a program that had three DBs selected in the first three rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft.
“That was so awesome, but I was definitely surprised I got that offer so early,” he said. “I had my mom sitting right next to me and I was the happiest kid in the world.”
With two years until college begins, Jason Jr. is hoping to further boost his stock in the coming seasons. Listed at just 145 pounds, he’s aiming to add considerable bulk to his frame while also improving his footwork and ball skills.
A major hurdle ahead is the potential loss of the 2020 season. With the CIF set to determine the fate of the fall season Monday, a continued increase in COVID-19 cases has many fearing the season will be delayed, if not outright canceled.
Jason Jr. is among the fearful, expressing concern that he could lose out on a season where both individual and team expectations are sky high.
“Right now, it’s not looking too good for us,” he said. “If we don’t have (a season), I’ll just have to wait for my senior year, show out then. But I’m a little worried because I was really looking forward to this season, because we have a good team coming in. I was hoping we’d (have) a chance at Valley.”
Until team activities can resume, workouts will likely be limited to the backyard at the Oliver house, where Jason Jr. will attempt to make needed improvements to his game, all while avoiding dreaded critical looks from his father.
But with his son seemingly on pace to exceed his lofty accomplishments, Jason Sr. expects those disapproving glances will be few and far between.
“His skillset, in my opinion, is clearly ahead of mine,” he said. “I didn’t get offered a Division-I scholarship as a 15-yearold. I didn’t play varsity as a sophomore. He’s faster than I am, quicker, better ball skills. I don’t know if that’s dad talk, but he’s clearly going to be a better athlete than his dad was.”
Edwin Rios or Will Smith when he needs a break from catching.
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