L.J. Nyenow Jr. of Cedar Rapids Jefferson, originally ‘a hooper,’ is definitely a football player now

CEDAR RAPIDS — When Ed Miles first got the job as head football coach at Cedar Rapids Jefferson some three years ago, he met a precocious freshman named L.J. Nyenow Jr.

“He told me ‘I’m a hooper,’” Miles remembered.

The coach told him that was good, that was fine, but that Nyenow could do both: play basketball and football. Miles asked Nyenow that if he ended up getting a college scholarship offer in football but not basketball, what was he going to do?

He wasn’t going to turn it down. That’s why he needed to play both sports.

So he did.

“It’s funny, because I think if you asked him now, he’d say ‘Oh, yeah, I’m a football player,’” Miles said with a smile.

An emerging one. Nyenow had eight receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown in Jefferson’s season-opening win two weeks ago at Muscatine and added a 5-67-1 performance last week as the J-Hawks toppled Marshalltown.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior has good size and athleticism, attributes that are attractive to colleges. Nyenow, in fact, has heard from Missouri, Iowa State, Yale, Montana, Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa.

Those likely won’t be the only ones by the time his recruiting is all said and done.

“Really, I try and block out that noise. Just do what I’ve got to get done,” Nyenow said. “Stay focused, keep my grades up in school and just stay out of the way.

“I think people are high on me because they see the potential I’ve got. They see the plays I make on the field, and they enjoy and love it. I’m going to take my time and pick the right school for me.”

A couple other things are in Nyenow’s favor. One, he’s being coach by a former NFL wide receiver.

Adrian Arrington was an all-state receiver at Cedar Rapids Washington, played college football at Michigan and played pro football with the New Orleans Saints. He is an assistant coach at Jefferson.

“Since my freshman year, he has seen my potential and tried to help me live up to it, so he gets on me,” Nyenow said. “It’s great having a coach who was a wide receiver in the NFL and who has played at three levels: high school, college, pro.”

The other thing Nyenow has going for him are caring parents. His dad, Lloydson Sr., and mother, Patience, harp on him constantly about academics.

If he’s not doing well enough, they will not let him go to practice that day.

“I know they’re trying to lead me on a great path,” he said. “They are very strict on me about my grades. They want me to keep them up. My parents have high expectations of me, very high expectations for me. If I don’t meet them, I’ve got consequences, like not practicing. So I try to meet them every day and do good in the classroom.”

For the record, he hasn’t missed a practice this season.

“It’s good to see the success for these guys, especially a guy like him, who really, really is a good kid and just wants to be great,” MIles said. “If you want to be great, you’ve got to do things that other people aren’t willing to do. You’ve got to sacrifice and put the time in, and I think he’s done that. He’s still got a long ways to go, but I think he’s done that.

“It helps when you’ve got a coach like Adrian Arrington, who has been to the top and who is coaching him. He’s done it professionally, and he is coaching professionally at the high-school level. That helps. And just his size and being athletic. When you put all that together, and you have a good kid, it makes a world of difference.”

Nyenow Jr. has added free safety to his position list this season. You always want to try and get your best guys on the field as much as you can.

Jefferson plays Friday night at Des Moines North (0-2), then hosts Des Moines East the following week. The J-Hawks easily could be 4-0 going into their city rivalry game against Cedar Rapids Washington.

Jefferson won its first four games in 2023, then dropped its game to Wash and the four more after that. The goal is not to let that happen again.

“Friday night, we just want to go out there, execute our game plan and just have fun,” Nyenow said.

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