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Phil Jeffs, a 6-6 280 OT from Ontario, is a 2021 commit who will be joining the Minutemen in January. I blogged about Jeffs
back in June.
The following article about Jeffs appears through the courtesy of the writer Mike Davies and with permission of the Peterborough Examiner. The original article is available here.
"MIKE
DAVIES
Examiner
Sports Director
Phil
Jeffs learned values and principles playing football in Peterborough
that helped him land a full ride scholarship to the University of
Massachusetts.
The
18-year-old Trent Hills native took a winding path he called “a
roller coaster” to get to this point.
He
started with six-a-side football in Grade 9 at Campbellford District
High School. The six-foot-seven, 280-pound offensive tackle played
two seasons for the Peterborough Wolverines junior varsity team
winning an Ontario Football Conference championship in 2017 while
also playing for Team Ontario. He transferred to Holy Cross Secondary
School in order to play 12-a-side football. He then transferred in
Grade 12 to St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, CT. Midway through the
school year a family emergency which required him to return home to
help his father Doug run the family’s dairy farm brought him back
to Ontario. He finished high school at Clarkson Football North in
Mississauga.
College
recruiters on both sides of the border first took notice of Jeffs in
Grade 10. Boston College, University of Connecticut and Iowa State
were among the schools he narrowed his choice to before verbally
committing to the UMass Minutemen in June. He’ll sign his letter of
intent next month when the signing period opens Dec. 18.
“It’s
a lot of relief,” said Jeffs. “A lot of people won’t understand
the hard work and a lot of sacrifices that had to be made to get to
this point. It’s a lot of relief because you feel a lot better
about yourself and that those sacrifices are paying off.”
Several
factors made UMass his first choice.
“They
showed a ton of interest and I felt like that was the place I was
going to be best set up to succeed and have the best chance to play
after that level if that chance is there,” said Jeffs. “The very
first time I ever talked to them there was genuine interest. You
could tell the people really cared and they weren’t just interested
in you as a football player, they were more interested in you as a
person. They showed me a lot of support and how the next couple of
years of my life were going to look.”
Jeffs
will study education and begin classes at UMass, in Amherst, Mass.,
in January. He’ll train with the football team in the spring and
begin playing as a freshman next fall.
Jeffs
said he was a young kid kind of full of himself when he came to the
Wolverines and coaches Joseph Joncas and Bond Bjorgan, who also
coached him at Holy Cross, helped straighten him out.
“It
was really humbling,” he said, of getting exposed to a wider
football community. “it taught me a lot of great values and
principles I live by and try to emulate and use in my everyday life.
The coaches really helped mold me as a person and gave me a lot of
values I still use.”
Jeffs
is finished high school and is currently training with Joncas to
prepare himself for UMass,
“Coach
Joncas is so much more than just a coach,” he said. “He helped
out so many guys. I know I’m not the only one thinking this. There
are a lot of guys who would do anything for him. He’s done so much
for so many people. It’s rare to see when someone cares as much as
he does.”
Jeffs
is taking education because the idea of being either a teacher or
coach appeals to him.
“I
really want to help people in the ways I’ve been helped. I’ve had
a lot of great people help me get to this spot. I sure as heck
wouldn’t have made it this far without a lot of people helping me
and being there for me,” he said.
mike.davies@peterboroughdaily.com
Trent
Hills native Phil Jeffs played one season of offensive tackle for St.
Thomas More School in oakdale, CT before committing to the University
of Massachusetts Minutemen’s football program for 2021. St. Thomas
More School Photo."