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    • Julio Jones advised Alabama’s football wide receivers before Georgia’s upset
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    Julio Jones advised Alabama’s football wide receivers before Georgia’s upset

    Idris Bevan Posted on

    With Julio Jones in town, Alabama football associate head coach JaMarcus Shephard is ready to step down. Maybe even eager.

    Over the weekend, the legendary Alabama wide receiver was seen returning to his old stomping grounds with the team to take on Georgia. He considered offering words of wisdom to the men who were ready for battle, but ultimately backed off, said Shephard, who also serves as the Crimson Tide’s co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.

    “He came to me and said, ‘Hey, I was about to say something to the guys and talk to them … and I stopped because I don’t want to step on your toes,” Shephard said of Jones.

    As far as Shephard was concerned, he had played zero snaps in the NFL, so who was he to stop a seven-time Pro Bowler from giving advice?

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    Shephard told Jones, “You’re one of the greatest wide receivers you’ve ever known.”

    “You have earned this right by what you have done here at the University of Alabama and in the National Football League,” he said. “Actually, you wouldn’t be doing me a favor if you don’t talk to them. So no, you say whatever, during the game, after the game, before the game.

    “If you want me to be quiet, Julio, then you got it.”

    Shephard only arrived in Tuscaloosa in February after following Kalen DeBoer from the University of Washington and admitted he is still impressed by Jones from time to time.

    “It was great meeting him for the first time because it’s Julio Jones, man. “That guy, I’ve been using his film forever,” Shephard said, recalling an old video of a teenage Jones in a barbershop with then-head coach Nick Saban.

    Saban informed Jones that four prospects had already chosen the Crimson Tide, but that didn’t matter to the latter.

    Shephard recited Jones’ monologue accordingly: “‘I don’t care how many people you have in the class… When you go to Alabama, you compete. “You have no choice but to compete.”

    He wants that same hunger to exist in his own receiving corps now and for them to grace Bryant-Denny Stadium in the future.

    “Cream rises to the top,” Shephard said. “And if you’re talking about Julio Jones, yes. That’s the cream that rises to the top.”

    Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached by email at [email protected].

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    Idris Bevan
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