Golden opportunity: Julius Jones a legend? Not quite, but he still has a chance to fulfill his potential and boost a sagging Notre Dame offense after a one-year academic dismissal - College Football

Julius Jones a legend?

Not quite, but he still has a chance to fulfill his potential and boost a sagging Notre Dame offense after a one-year academic dismissal.

History repeated itself in South Bend last week. Under the Golden Dome, they call that an echo.

Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham stood outside the Irish practice field and used words such as "exciting" and "marvelous" in discussing the potential of tailback Julius Jones, a fifth-year senior readmitted to the university this summer who will major in redemption this fall.

Four years ago, in the same proximity to Touchdown Jesus, the previous Notre Dame coach, Bob Davie, spoke with similar superlatives in describing what Jones might mean to Irish football. Jones barely had unpacked his bags for two-a-days as a freshman when Davie declared privately to reporters after the first few practices, "I'll tell you what--No. 22 is something special."

And special Jones was. He had speed made for the track and a body built for the beach. Jones had a gear other running backs couldn't find, and that helped him find the field quickly at Notre Dame. By midseason, he was sharing carries at tailback and returning punts and kickoffs. By the end of the season, he was sharing screen time with Ron Dayne and Michael Vick on national highlight shows.

He gained only 375 yards rushing and average 13.0 yards on punt returns and 23.2 on kickoffs as a freshman. But the way he burst through holes created such a buzz that before his sophomore season began, one national magazine had named Jones to its all-decade NFL backfield for 2000-2009 alongside Edgerrin James.

Suddenly, Jones' name was included in sentences with Heisman and Gipp and Pinkett, and only Julius Jones knows what effect the instant celebrity had on his career.

His sophomore and junior seasons were weighed down by injuries and expectations, not to mention a few extra pounds impossible to ignore for everyone but the author of the Notre Dame media guide in charge of listing heights and weights.

Jones led the Irish in rushing in 2000 and 2001 but never stayed healthy enough to surpass 1,000 yards and never was consistent enough to have the running hack job to himself.

His practice habits slowly deteriorated; his discipline on and off the field declined, and one former Notre Dame assistant even referred to Jones as "the most high-maintenance player I have ever been around."

Some of the most damning evidence of Jones' lack of direction came from Willingham one day after the coach's first spring practice in 2002. After three seasons under Davie, who coddled Jones to the point that teammates noticed it, Jones still was in the process of adjusting to Willingham, who believes in treating every player the same.

During an interview, willingham was naming returning seniors he would need to count on to help provide leadership in his first season. He never mentioned Jones, one of the biggest stars in the locker room.

"Would you consider Julius Jones a leader?" Willingham was asked.

"I'm not sure I would say that" he answered, careful not to criticize a player but saying plenty with what he didn't say.

Less than a month later, Jones was dismissed from school for academic reasons.

"Maybe he was in the wrong curriculum there. Maybe he didn't take advantage of everything Notre Dame bad to offer, or maybe he just couldn't handle it, I don't know," says Phil Robbins, Jones' high school coach at Powell Valley in Big Stone Gap, Va. "I do know that there were people surprised back home. Julius never has been the most mature kid, but we thought he'd grow up out there."

By now, maybe Jones has. He became eligible for readmission at Notre Dame by taking classes last year at Arizona State. He left Notre Dame intent on returning to finish his degree and fulfilling the goal he once announced as a wide-eyed, wonderful freshman runner: becoming "one of the best backs to ever play at Notre Dame."

His family wanted Jones learn from this experience, last year he moved in with his brother, Thomas, in Phoenix. Thomas Jones was a 2000 first-round draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals, but he had a disappointing first three seasons in NFL and has been traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now both brothers have something to prove.

Jones begins the season listed as Notre Dame's second-team tailback behind Ryan Grant. But few doubt that Jones possesses more ability than any runner on the roster, and he offers the breakaway threat the Irish need if they want to become BCS-worthy.

Notre Dame kept Jones off limits to interviews until the entire team met reporters on media day at the end of the first week of practice, and Willingham remains wary of lavishing attention on any one player.

Notre Dame fans falling too hard for the hype surrounding Jones also might be wary. It sounds all too familiar.

David Haugh is a sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune.

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