How piano, football went from chore to a passion for Texas A&M commitment Tristan Jernigan
Tupelo football fans know Texas A&M commitment Tristan Jernigan as the anchor of one of the best defenses in Mississippi.
The middle linebacker was a vital part of the Golden Wave's undefeated regular season in 2022. Jernigan finished with a team-high 96 tackles along with eight for loss, 8.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries in 12 games.
Tupelo went 13-1, and the defense gave up 10 points in six regular-season home games and only allowed 6.8 points per game last year.
"It's really the energy we had," Jernigan said about last season's defense. "We're gaining that back this year. I can see it coming. We still have a lot of stuff to fix but we still have a lot of talent coming back."
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Jernigan is No. 9 in the Clarion Ledger 2023 Dandy Dozen, the top 12 college recruits in Mississippi for the Class of 2024 as selected by the newspaper. The three-star recruit is No. 15 overall in the state and the No. 50 linebacker in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Jernigan didn't fall in love with football until high school. His passion was the piano before becoming a standout for the Golden Wave. His process of falling in love with football and piano was similar, according to his mother Chasity.
"At first he didn't like it and what happened is he ended up just loving it," his mom said. "Just like football. We put him in football to make him tough and he ended up falling in love with the game. It was the same way as the piano. He hated it. It was a chore at first but now it's something he does to calm him down."
Jernigan's father, Marqcus, didn't learn how to play the piano and made it a priority for his son, who started playing at his father's church at 7 years old. He's continued to play.
The Jernigan family moved from Wetumpka, Alabama, to Tupelo before his sophomore year. He immediately made an impact on the Golden Wave, finishing with 21 tackles, two for loss, and a sack in six games.
Jernigan's mom noticed a dramatic difference in how he approached football following his sophomore season. The results paid off with Florida State, Auburn and Arkansas among others offering a year later.
"He completely reinvented himself in a year," his mom said. "I told him that I was so inspired. In one year of hard work, you can change the whole trajectory of your life. That just really blew me away."
50 BURNING QUESTIONS 50 Mississippi high school football questions, 50 days before start of 2023 season
MHSAA CLASS 7A FOOTBALL Here are seven bold predictions for the MHSAA's new classification
Jernigan also received offers from Alabama, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. He included Georgia and Oregon along with Texas A&M in his top three schools in April.
Jernigan joins Anthony Maddox — the No. 12 recruit in the state — as the second from Mississippi to join coach Jimbo Fisher in College Station from the Class of 2024.
Former Ole Miss defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin played a large role in landing Jernigan. Durkin, Texas A&M's new defensive coordinator, also had stops as the coach at Maryland (2016-17) and defensive coordinator for Florida (2013-14) and Michigan (2015).
Durkin's defensive track record and ability to connect with Mississippi recruits were pivotal to Jernigan.
"They don't really know how important it is yet," Jernigan said about the piano. "But (Texas A&M) will know soon."
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Why Texas A&M commit Tristan Jernigan plays the piano and football
