'He's just having fun out there': UWF football's John Jiles continues to impress in first season with Argos

Peewee Jarrett’s first impression of John Jiles isn’t necessarily a favorite one.

It wasn’t even at the University of West Florida. The initial memory is from 2018, while Jarrett was freshman at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa. Jiles was a freshman at Fort Scott Community College in Fort Scott, Kansas.

The two teams battled Oct. 13, 2018. Ellsworth had a touchdown in the fourth quarter to push the game to overtime. Fort Scott wound up scoring a touchdown in overtime.

Who scored the game-winner?

Jiles, of course. He finished the game with 12 receptions for 209 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Jarrett went 7-for-18 in the air with 147 yards and a touchdown.

“I remember him having a hail mary touchdown at halftime, then catching a screen and winning the game in overtime. It was not a great memory for me, and something he just put on the back shelf and forgot about,” Jarrett said. “As a receiver, I don’t know how you could forget three touchdowns and 200 yards.”

Coincidentally, while Jiles didn’t remember the game immediately, it did come up in conversation recently with fellow wide receiver Caden Leggett.

“I walked it off on him,” Jiles said, smirking.

But one thing’s for certain: Jiles’ skill level, brilliance and effectiveness hasn’t changed. In his first season with the Argos, entering Week 8, is second in Division II in receiving yards. He boasts 817 yards on just 37 receptions.

He only trails Max McLeod of Colorado School of Mines who has 831 yards on 55 receptions.

“It just shows you he’s done it at every level at every school,” Jarrett said.

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Jiles broke the single-game record for receiving yards for UWF with 277 against North Greenville University. That impressive game is also the fourth-most receiving yards in a single game in Gulf South Conference history, and is the most by a Division II football player this year.

According to head coach Kaleb Nobles, Jiles knows he has the records but “he’s the last one worried about that.”

“I’m telling him certain things and he’s like, ‘I didn’t even know that.’ He doesn’t care. … He knows that everything he’s done in the past doesn’t matter, and all that matters is what we’re doing moving forward,” Nobles said. “He’s definitely one of the top guys that have come through here. And we’ve had a lot of good receivers that have come through. Part of him coming here is he because he knows we’ve had good receivers.”

‘I knew it was a good fit’

UWF checked all the boxes for Jiles once he hit the transfer portal, leaving Virginia Union. Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Ron Dickerson Jr. showed Jiles around the campus, and he felt there was “a winning culture.”

Jiles also played with UWF linebacker Willie Jordan at Fort Scott, and Jordan told him “everything about (the program).” Then Jiles found out Jarrett was an Argo.

“I was like, ‘I’ve got to get here. I’ve got a great quarterback. … Let’s make this work,’” Jiles said. “I knew it was a good fit.”

Once Jarrett found out Jiles entered the transfer portal, Jarrett sent Nobles some of Jiles’ film. The coaching staff went through his stats, watched the film and then finally got his highlights on the big screen.

“We were like, ‘Yeah, OK. This is it,’” Nobles said.

One thing that stood out for Jiles was the connection and relationship formed between the coaching staff and his mother. Jiles told Nobles that not too many coaches had talked to his mother.

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It’s not a “recruiting ploy,” Nobles said. “We’re trying to build a relationship. Make sure she feels comfortable with us. … Hopefully that makes her son feel better. …

Just being able to build relationships, that’s what it’s about, and show him, ‘Hey man, we’re not here for you just as a player. We want to be good people to you, too, for a long-term relationship.’”

Jiles noted that he and his mother are very close, being a single parent. The relationship that Nobles, Dickerson and his mother built “set everything up” for Jiles when choosing his next collegiate home.

“If my mom loves them, then I know I’m going to love them,” Jiles said.

Right to work right away

After Jiles signed his commitment to come to UWF in May, he got to campus as early as he could in June. That’s when Jiles and Jarrett got to work during the offseason. The duo spent all summer together, on and off the field, to get ready for the 2023 season.

Both players know they just have one year together.

That extra work mentality extended to the season as well. After almost every practice, Jarrett and Jiles get additional passes in at Pen Air Field.

“They’re inseparable at times. It shows with the connection on the field,” Nobles said. “They built a good relationship through a lot of throwing during the summer.”

Once the first game against Kentucky Wesleyan College hit, Jiles and Jarrett didn’t miss a beat. Jiles had 75 yards receiving and a touchdown – his first of nine so far this season.

That game was also the first time Argo fans – and fellow teammates – saw Jiles’ ability to leap. He hurdled over a KWC defender during his long gain of 51 yards, and eventually scored. Jiles leaped again over a player against the University of West Georgia.

“(I asked him), ‘At what point in your mind are you thinking, “I’m going to jump over this human?”’ I’ve never thought that. I’ve never had that thought cross my mind,” Nobles said, standing at 5-foot-10 compared to Jiles’ height of 6-foot-3. “I’m not the best athlete in the world. … When he jumps, I kind of just pause like, ‘OK. Hope he lands on his feet.’ I just hope he lands it and he’s healthy. … Seeing guys do that never ceases to amaze me.”

Jiles previously said that it’s almost like he has a timer in his head that goes off when he sees somebody get too close.

“When somebody gets to close and I feel like they ain’t even looking at me at all, I’m just gonna jump,” Jiles said. “I feel like Josh Allen a little bit.”

There’s been a couple times the leap hasn’t worked – including the North Greenville University game – where Jarrett made sure to tell Jiles “it wasn’t the smartest time” to show off his jumping ability.

Nonetheless, Jiles’ vertical isn’t a surprise to Jarrett, who saw Jiles on the basketball court during the summer “make some dunks that didn’t look normal for a human being.”

“He’s just having fun out there,” Jarrett said. “It’s all instincts.”

‘Nothing is ever good enough for us’

Nobles said the summer relationship helped translate to what has become a pretty success pass game for the Argos this season. Jarrett has thrown for 1,825 yards and 17 touchdowns. Jiles has 817 of those yards with nine touchdowns.

In five of the Argos’ first seven games, Jarrett’s longest throw of the game has been recorded by Jiles. Against KWC it was for 51 yards. In Week 2 at McKendree, Jiles had a reception for 77 yards. Against West Georgia it was a 64-yard reception. And most recently, at West Alabama, Jarrett and Jiles connected for a 57-yard reception.

Jiles is potentially on his way to break the single-season record for receiving yards, as well. The current record is held by Quentin Randolph in 2019 – the National Championship season from UWF – who had 1,169 yards.

After the connection that was built during the summer, “the hard work is starting to pay off on Saturdays,” Jiles noted.

“Peewee knows where I’m going to be, so he throws the ball and I just try to make a play,” Jiles said.

“Nothing is ever good enough for us. There’s always something that I feel like he could fix, or he sees something from a receiver’s perspective,” Jarrett said. “It shows on the field. … We’re always on the same page for the most part. And when we are, it’s kind of hard to stop.”

Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on X (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF football's John Jiles impressive during first season with Argos