ESPN College Football

Chandler Jones had so much fun working with at-risk boys last summer as part of the Youth Impact Program that Syracuse hosted, he decided to help out once again.

The school announced Wednesday it is hosting the program for the second straight year, and Jones will be there next week when it begins. The program will run from July 5-29, and Syracuse football players will help with classroom work in math, language and writing, along with life skills sessions, a football chalk talk and football practice.

The group of more than 100 at-risk, inner-city boys are from sixth, seventh and eighth grade. They will get to work with players Ollie Haney, Lewellyn Coker, Dyshawn Davis, Jaston George, Deon Goggins, Prince-Tyson Gulley, Sean Hickey, Nick Lepak, Keon Lyn, Phillip Thomas, Shamarko Thomas, Jeremi Wilkes and Jones. Syracuse athletics academic coordinator Joe Fields will direct the program, and public school teachers also will help.

If there is anything Jones wants the boys to take with them, it is an emphasis on getting an education.

"Last year, I wanted to send a message to them they can't do anything without academics," Jones said in a phone interview. "I told them,'You have to stay in school. To do some football drills, you have to get that math skill right. For me to teach you the secret move I do, you have to solve this problem.'"

Jones said he wants to be a mentor because that is something he did not have growing up. "I just look at it from my own perspective," he said. "When I was a kid, I didn't have a high prestigious athlete to talk to me and show me. I had older brothers, but they weren't Division I athletes. Being in the position I'm in, I want to help them be successful."

Some coaches would rather unplug their headsets than play a true freshman, while others don't hesitate to throw newbies into the fire. Of course, most of the time it's not a matter of choice but available talent.

That's why I tracked how many true freshmen played in Week 1 for each Big East team. Sometimes this gives you a good idea of where teams are and sometimes it says how talented the freshmen are. Two true frosh started in Week 1: Marquis Spruill at outside linebacker for Syracuse, and Preston Brown at middle linebacker for Louisville.

Here's a list of which straight-out-of-high-school players played the opener, according to the official participation reports (note that many of them played on special teams, not necessarily their listed position):

Cincinnati (1): Adrian Witty, DB

Connecticut (1): Leon Kinnard, WR/QB

Louisville (5): Preston Brown MLB; Marcus Smith, LB; B.J. Butler, DL; Jarrett Davis, WR; Brandon Dunn, DL.

Pittsburgh (2): K'Waun Williams, DB; Aaron Donald, DL

Rutgers (5): Jeremy Deering, WR; Chas Dodd, QB; Jordan Thomas, RB; Marcus Thompson, LB; Betim Bujari, OL

South Florida (6): Terrance Mitchell, DB; Bobby Eveld, QB; Mark Joyce, DB; Marcus Shaw, RB; Tony Kibler, OL; Steven Bravo-Brown, WR.

Syracuse (9): Spruill; Malcom Cater, LB; Brice Hawkes, LB: Prince-Tyson Gulley, RB/KR; Jeremi Wilkes, DB; Steve Rene, WR; Ross Krautman, K,; Macky MacPherson, OL; Lewellyn Coker, LB; Jay Bromley, DL.

West Virginia (7): Barry Brunetti, QB; Ivan McCartney, WR; Trey Johnson, RB; Doug Rigg, LB; Ishmael Banks, DB; Mike Dorsey, DB; Travis Bell, DB.