Here is the second of a two-part interview with Andre Jones, which appeared on Irish Illustrated on May 9, 2010.

ANDRE JONES: I guess it was being creative. Tai-ler’s mom, my wife Michele, is half Korean, half Hawaiian. So the thought behind it was like Taiwan, so we decided on Tai-ler. I guess it’s creative to a certain extent.

AJ: For me, when I truly understood the possibility of him going on to the next level and being great, was when we left Roswell High School after his sophomore year and he transferred to Gainesville. TJ came home about three weeks into practice and I told him he had to get the entire playbook memorized. At Gainesville, they run the same offense that Notre Dame runs today. There are a lot of hand signals, a lot of color coding and numbering. He came home that day and said he knew it all. It got to the point that by the time the season started, he didn’t even wear a wristband.

So at that point in time, I wasn’t sure about the physical side because you know how that goes. You’ve kind of got to grow into your body. But as far as his mental capability to process football, and as Coach Kelly would say, his football intelligence, I understood that he could get on the field at multiple positions and play well. I think that’s when I first realized that this kid could blossom on the college level. Just off his knowledge alone and a little bit of athleticism, I knew he would have a chance to get some offers.

AJ: I wouldn’t say they showed greater interest. Well, I guess you could say that to a certain degree, but I don’t think that was really the case. What happened was the gentleman that was recruiting TJ from Stanford, Willie Taggart, who is now the head coach at Western Kentucky, was a younger guy, like 33, and he was very in tune to TJ and TJ’s personality. I think he picked up on those things early on better than most people did.

With TJ being more intellectual as a football player than just the normal kid running up and down the field, I think that resonated with TJ and he understood that that particular coach really cared about him as a person and would make sure that all facets of his life would be developed, not just the football side, but his academic side and his personal interests as well.

I give Notre Dame credit because whereas most schools backed off when he committed (to Stanford), Coach (Rob) Ianello, Coach (Jon) Tenuta and Coach (Charlie) Weis expressed to TJ that they really wanted him and that his scholarship was available all the way to signing day. Then they did not drop the ball in between the time he committed (to Stanford) to the time Coach Kelly came in.

AJ: I can’t tell you exactly what happened in TJ’s mind. But I’ll summarize it in a two-pronged series. The first couple of times we came to Notre Dame, TJ didn’t have a chance to hang out with the players because they were unofficial visits and he didn’t really get a chance to interact with them. So when he came up for his official visit for the USC game, it really put things in perspective with the guys that were at Notre Dame. I think he resonated with them better during his official visit than anywhere else that he had been. So that was No. 1.

And then No. 2, the stadium being filled to capacity wasn’t a bad thing, and Notre Dame being an underdog and almost winning that game against USC, it really set in his mind that he could come in here and achieve every goal that he wanted to achieve, athletically and academically.

The third thing would be the time that Coach Weis spent with him during the visit and the conversation that they had at breakfast. This really sent TJ in a different direction. (Weis) was a lot more personable than the stern personality that you see on TV or that is portrayed in the media. I think it really caught TJ off guard and he thought, ‘Hey, I can get this done.’

AJ: In all honesty, I wanted TJ to go where he felt the biggest connection because what transpired with me (as a player) was I fell in love with two schools: North Carolina and Notre Dame. For me, the psyche of a football player…if you’re not comfortable where you are, it will never work, regardless of the connection between the school and your parents.

I have a stronger emotion about him being there now than I did when he first chose Stanford because I personally understood the legacy effect. Truly in my mind, I wanted him to be very comfortable wherever he went. That was No. 1, and No. 2, I didn’t want him to choose Notre Dame and if it didn’t work out for him to say, ‘Hey, you forced me to go here because you went there and it wasn’t right for me.’ That was my biggest fear more than anything; that he would choose (Notre Dame) for the wrong reasons.

So when he went to Stanford and then he changed his mind, I knew he had conviction about the choice and that at the end of the day, he was really choosing Notre Dame because of something he saw and personally experienced on his own. That allowed me to be happy at that time. When he converted, it really kind of hit me like, ‘Wow, my son is here!’ At that time, I became overly elated by the opportunity.

AJ: The great thing about being in real estate is that I make my own schedule. So the flexibility is there for me to leave. What I’ll probably do is after Malachi plays on Friday nights, my other son - I have a 12-year old that’s going to be a beast also, Jahmai - he plays on Thursdays. So I can actually leave on Friday night and get to all of (Notre Dame’s) games without any conflicts in my children’s schedules.

AJ: Malachi is on the verge of being as good as TJ. Jahmai is going to be better than both of them. He’s already a terror down here, especially on the baseball diamond. He hit 41 home runs last year as a 12-year old. He’ll be 13 in August. If you talk to anyone over here at East Cobb - which is the big sports complex down here where they put more kids in the pros than any other park in America - everyone around here knows about Jahmai Jones.

AJ: Today, I would say he is both. But the difference between baseball and football is that you can get drafted for baseball out of high school. So as of right now, that opportunity should be there for him.

But all of them are wide receivers and all of them are equally good in both sports.

AJ: I was on the field for the spring game and the emotion…I don’t think you can put the emotion into words. I just started crying, which is something I didn’t expect to do. I’m an emotional guy anyway. I don’t have any problem sharing my emotions with people. But to see him running out of that tunnel wearing my jersey number and seeing his mannerisms and how much he’s progressed in the short period of time that he’s been at Notre Dame, it was overwhelming.

To think that he’ll have a chance to come in and play and carry on that legacy and hopefully win a national title…I don’t think that was something I could fathom 17 years ago when he was born. It’s still kind of awe-inspiring when you think about the totality of what we had to go through and what has transpired to get to this point where he graduated from high school early and enrolled early at Notre Dame with a chance to get some great playing time this year. It blows my mind.

AJ: (laughing) He never wants to hear what I have to say. He says, ‘Dad, that was 20 years ago! That doesn’t even count anymore!’ He won a state title here in Georgia his freshman year, and his state title ring is bigger than my (1988) national championship ring. So he discounts my efforts due to the size of the rings. But I told him, ‘You get one of these and then we can talk about who had a better tenure in college.’

AJ: I think Brian Kelly is one of the best representatives of what Notre Dame football meant to me during my era. I also think he has the best mix of X’s and O’s and understanding of the Jimmys and Joes, as Coach Holtz would say. I think that, with his sense of urgency and vibrancy and his willingness to go the extra mile, if you told me he’ll win a national title in three years, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. Knowing Coach Kelly, he’s expecting it within two.

That to me is the turning point of where Notre Dame going. I think he’s the total package. He has the ability to recruit the big-time kids. He’s coached at the college level. He understands the mindsets of young men aspiring to become adults. He’s got an offense that’s explosive. They run around and get after it on defense. He’s not scared to get in a tight game and I believe momentum is on his side.

I see a lot of Lou Holtz in him. But I also see a lot of Brian Kelly in his true tenets as a person - his character, his morality, and his supreme care for the kids. All of those things together will set him up for major success at Notre Dame.

AJ: The one thing that I’m most proud about, and it supersedes football. My son is going to walk off that campus with a Notre Dame degree, and I know he’s got a 99 percent chance of graduating. Football is the perk, but the degree is the reason why we went to Notre Dame. Every kid out there that has the opportunity to look at a Stanford or a Notre Dame or a Northwestern or a Vanderbilt…This game is going to end, and when it does, I couldn’t think of a better degree for him to have than a Notre Dame degree.

I know TJ thinks big time about football, the NFL and those kinds of things. But he also values the education, and as a parent, I’m looking at that Notre Dame degree and I know that I’ve done my job and that he has a fighting chance in life to be successful. To me, that’s the greatest story that can be written here today.

Those kids, not just TJ, but his teammates as well all have a shot in life, and that’s a wonderful future to be a part of. I’m happy for all of them, not just TJ, but every single kid up there.