For Jonathan Toney, relationships led to Memphis commitment

Three-star offensive tackle Jonathan Toney committed to the Tigers on June 15 after taking an official visit to Memphis. The Georgia native said a major reason he chose Charles Huff’s program was the relationships he formed with the coaching staff.

Toney always knew he would be playing collegiate football. At 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds, he always knew he had the size to make it to the next level, but it wasn’t until his first collegiate offer that it became real.

On Oct. 5, 2025, Appalachian State offered the offensive lineman after he visited Boone, North Carolina, to watch the Mountaineers play Oregon State. It was after that offer that he and his parents knew what was ahead.

“I always knew I could play college football because I’m real big and real tall, so I always knew that,” Toney said. “Then I got my first offer from App. State. That’s when my parents were like, ‘you’re really going to do this. You’re really going to play college football.”

 In the spring, Toney took an unofficial visit to Memphis and announced that he received an offer from the program on April 6. Offensive line coach Andy Kwon started building the relationship from there and showed Toney how he could develop him into a great player at the next level.

Kwon went down to Georgia in May after the Tigers offered Toney to visit the offensive lineman and his family, strengthening their relationship.

“He’s a real cool guy,” Toney said. “A real genuine guy. He told me how he wanted to get me down there, and how he wanted to develop me and make me the best possible player I could be.”

Kwon joined the Tigers’ coaching staff after spending time as UCLA’s offensive line coach, and Huff added him to his Memphis staff after the two spent time together at Alabama. Toney said that while Kwon laid out how he would develop him at Memphis, what stood out the most was how the offensive line coach told him things that would help him improve while he’s still in high school.

“What stuck out to me is how, usually coaches really don’t say too much about high school, like, they’ll tell you here and there what they want to see, but he just continued to tell me, even after he offered me, he continued to tell me stuff I could improve on. Just getting me better,” Toney said.

The three-star recruit said similar things about head coach Charles Huff. Toney raved about how open Huff is with his team and how big he is on relationships. While he described Huff as a “family guy”, the offensive lineman also pointed out that a close relationship will mean that Huff can coach him harder.

“To be coached hard by them, you have to have a great relationship with them, and I feel like I can build that relationship with coach Huff,” Toney said

After an unofficial visit in the spring, Toney returned to the campus in June for an official visit. He was one of seven players on campus, and the Tigers secured commitments from six of the visitors. 

Toney said the players treated them like family, but more importantly, every player raved about Huff and talked about how they wished they could play for him longer.

“When I got on my visit to Memphis, I had a great time,” Toney said. “All the players welcomed us like we were family. They were telling us about [coach Huff] and how all of them would like to play for him for more seasons. My host was a senior, and he was talking about how he wished he could have played for him earlier. They were just praising him. It just felt like home when I got down there.”

The offensive lineman returns to West Laurens High School for his senior season, and he has his sights set on a state championship after his team lost in the state semifinals. West Laurens went 10-0 in the regular season before winning three games in the playoffs before losing to Jefferson 17-13.

“I want us to win our region championship, and when the playoffs come, just play as hard as we can,” Toney said. “No matter who we’re going against, just give it all we’ve got and get to the state championship. Because we fell short last year, but I’m looking to get there this year.”

The offensive lineman is one of nine current commits, and it will be interesting to see how Huff and his staff continue to build the class. Toney went on several official and unofficial visits before committing to Memphis, but it’s clear the staff made it a priority to build the relationship with Toney to secure his commitment. 

“Every school has great facilities. You can go anywhere and just have a great place and stuff around, but to me, it was about the relationship with the coaches, like who they were. It was the people there that really got me to go to Memphis.”