Jalen Weathers is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Chandler High School for AZPreps365.com

As time progresses, families have become more prone to holding back their kids in school. You primarily see this when a student is an athlete. Parents have various reasons why they take this action, but the main reason is so their child can get an advantage over the other students they’re in competition with. This will allow them an extra year to develop into the athlete they want to become in preparation for college.

Although reclassifying can benefit such athletes, Jojo Taylor III is living proof that you can become a great player without an age advantage. Taylor went into this year’s football season as a 16-year-old senior, starting at safety for Chandler High School, the No. 3 team in the state. He’s 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds. Taylor might be the youngest senior on Chandler’s football team, but his level of play and work ethic are transcendent.

Growing up, Taylor was always the youngest in his class. His birthdate is Oct. 12, 2006, but his parents decided to enroll him in school early instead of having him wait another year. He was raised in the Chandler area. When starting high school, his mindset was different than his classmates. He knew he was younger than everybody else in his class. His age didn’t deter him from being an astounding athlete at Chandler though.

“Growing up and transitioning to high school, my dad instilled a hard work ethic in me,” Taylor said. “I knew I must work twice as hard as everyone else because of that year advantage in development everyone has over me.”

Not only do Taylor’s classmates and teammates have a year advantage in physical development, but mentally as well. He’s a year ahead of his class but has still managed to excel in the classroom. Taylor currently has a 3.3 GPA. He has dreams of playing in the NFL but with his intelligence, Taylor aspires to matriculate to college, majoring in business. 

Taylor meets the exact standards Chandler football has for each of its players.

“He’s exactly what we have up on the wall,” Coach Rick Garretson said. “He does things the right way, leads by example, holds himself and his teammates accountable, and embraces his teammates' success as well. He’s a quiet leader but his work ethic speaks for itself.”

Jojo Taylor III running to make a tackle against Centennial. (Jalen Weathers photo/AZPreps365.com)

Taylor has made a significant impact since touching the field for Chandler, but he wasn’t always a player they relied on. During the beginning of his junior year, he did not start for the Wolves. 

“There were times early on you could tell Jojo was a little younger,” Taylor’s position coach, Mike Underwood, said. “Not so much from a maturity standpoint, but his confidence to take control and maximize his reps in practice. There were no set safety positions, but he kind of played the back role initially and let a couple of his teammates that were in competition with him go in front of him.”

Although Taylor wasn’t fully taking advantage of his opportunities, Underwood still noticed the athletic potential Taylor had and didn’t give up on him. There were times Underwood would have talks with Taylor saying, “Listen, you don’t understand how good of an athlete you are. I don’t know if you don’t realize that you can compete with these other guys, but you absolutely can.”

This gave Taylor all the confidence he needed. Towards the middle of the season, he got his first start against Red Mountain and Taylor didn’t disappoint.

“As a junior, Jojo could have started on most secondaries in the state,” Garretson said. “When he got his opportunity though, he made the most of it. By the end of that game, the coaching staff knew we found another player. His ability to be around the ball and tackle jumped out at us. I knew coming into his senior year he was going to be one of the top safeties in Arizona.”

As time progressed into Taylor’s senior season, it was apparent that his confidence and comfortability grew on the field. Taylor has 29 total tackles in six games he played this season. Fourteen of those were solo tackles. He also has five pass breakups with two impressive interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.

“He’s a playmaker,” Garretson said. “He’s got some really good film and he’s a really good student. He’s recruitable for sure.”

Taylor currently has offers from Drake University, Pacific University (Oregon), Beloit College, University of Jamestown, and Fort Lewis College. He’s on track to potentially becoming an all-region player this season, so that might help him continue getting even more offers from schools this upcoming offseason.