re: Class of 2017 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: Say Your Goodbyes Edition

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Mac Jones came away from his first meeting with new Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian feeling positive.

Sarkisian and fellow assistant Brent Key visited Jones last Friday. Jones, a four-star quarterback from Jacksonville, Fla., has been committed to Alabama since last summer. Jones had talked with Sarkisian on the phone previously.

He will host Alabama head coach Nick Saban on Wednesday before making his official visit to Tuscaloosa this weekend.

"I really enjoyed talking to him," Jones said. "He seems really laid back. We can relate by talking football, but we didn't really talk that much football. We really just got to know each other. I told him we can talk football on my official visit. We got to hang out and get to know each other. It almost seemed like I wasn't talking to a coach. It was pretty cool to get to know him like that."

Jones had built a good relationship with Lane Kiffin, but knew it was likely Kiffin would get a head coaching job after the season. Kiffin landed at Florida Atlantic.

"Coach Kiffin was an easy person to get along with and Coach Sark is an easy person to get along with," Jones said. "It's not like you're going from an extreme to something else. I'm really excited to get to know him more and talk some football this weekend."

Jones said he's told other schools that he plans on sticking with Alabama.

"I pretty much told the other schools that I feel comfortable after meeting Coach Sark," Jones said. "Obviously, I've been comfortable knowing that Coach Saban is going to be there. I told them I'm pretty much done."

He would only change plans "if something crazy happened," but Jones doesn't anticipate anything crazy happening. He's a realist, but he says the Alabama coaches have been straight forward with him about everything.

As it stands, Jones will be one of only three scholarship quarterbacks for Alabama in 2017. Jalen Hurts will be a sophomore and Tua Tagovailoa enrolled this month.

There have been no talks of grayshirting - delaying enrollment until January of 2018.

"They've been honest with me," Jones said. "I know I have to get bigger. We're not going in thinking I have to be a redshirt. We're going in thinking whatever has to be done will be done. I think if I really put on weight, I'll have a really good shot at trying to compete. If I'm not big enough, I'll have to wait my time, but I'm willing to do whatever is best for the team.

"They've talked about redshirting, but the grayshirt has not been a thing for me."

Right now, Jones, who led Bolles School to a state championship appearance, is working out twice a day. He has a 45-minute weight class during school and works out at a training facility after school and throws almost every day with a private quarterback coach.

Jones is also working with younger players going through 7-on-7 tryouts. Most of his training workouts have focused on adding muscle and bettering his speed.

"I like doing that to keep my mind fresh on football," Jones said.

Jones said he's measuring in at 6-foot-2 and a half and after eating well on a recent cruise, he's in the 190-195 weight range. He's also drinking high-calorie protein shakes.

"I'm pretty happy about that, but I'm trying to get up to 200 pounds," Jones said. "I need to make that jump. I've been drinking these protein shakes that have 1,000 calories, and they've been working."

Check out Jones' senior highlights. Video

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One of the best-looking prospects at the workout was 2018 four-star cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart, who said he plans to narrow things down sometime in March or April and doesn’t look to be in any rush.

The San Diego (Calif.) St. Augustine standout said UCLA, Alabama, LSU, Nebraska and Washington are sure to make the first cut. He doesn’t have a top list at this point but said those schools will for sure be around for a long time.

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