Jarvis Jones is on the shortlist of best Georgia players of the 21st century.

After a stellar playing career at Georgia, Jones was a first-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jones has long since hung up the cleats and is now entering his second season at Carver-Columbus, the very same high school he attended.

Carver-Columbus won a state title last season, Jones’s first running the program. Now he’ll look to do what the 2022 Georgia football team did: repeat as champions.

Jones worked on that 2022 Georgia staff, serving as an off-field analyst. He first came back to Athens prior to the 2019 season.

In speaking with Jack Leo of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jones spoke about his coaching journey and specifically the impact of Kirby Smart.

“I think I piggyback off a lot of coaches, man. I spent more time with (UGA coach Kirby Smart), though, at Georgia,” Jones said. “I think I spent six and a half, going on seven years there sitting in the defensive meetings with some of the best coaches in America. I’d have to say coach Smart, man. Just the way he loves the game, how he approaches it from a mentoring and physical standpoint, how he holds his players, coaches and the people that have a role in the program around football accountable. Just the expectation every day.”

Smart is entering his 11th season at Georgia. Like Jones at Carver-Columbus, it was his first head coaching job.

During his time in Athens, Jones was a fixture with the outside linebacker group. That position will be under new leadership this season, as Larry Knight takes over for Chidera Uzo-Diribe.

While Jones isn’t currently a member of the Georgia coaching staff, he’s still very much practicing the lessons he learned while in Athens.

“With this game, you’re not always going to feel the best physically, and sometimes, you ain’t going to be here mentally,” Jones told Leo. “So you’ve just got to put your best foot forward and make your effort count twice. That’s my biggest thing, and watching him do it at the highest level, being around his coaching staff, and him being a Georgia guy and me being a Georgia guy, I think coach Smart probably has the biggest impact on who I am and how I go through my coaching and some of the things that I try to get done and grow myself and my players.”

Carver-Columbus went 15-0 last season. It opens the upcoming season against Douglass High School on Aug. 21.