N.C. State football coach Dave Doeren made a recent visit to the Cummings High School campus to check out a recruit.
This visit wasn’t your typical Friday night visit under the lights, where college coaches get a glimpse of athletes in shoulder pads.
Instead of watching the field, Doeren was focused on the Cavaliers’ track surrounding it.
The Wolfpack coach was there to see Cummings sophomore Jonathan Paylor, a consensus 4-star football recruit at the athlete position in the Class of 2024, work on a different craft — track and field.
“I never looked at Jonathan as a football player,” Cummings track and field coach Donnie Davis said. “… Jonathan, in my opinion, is one of the best people that I’ve ever coached, as far as having an athletic mind, the ability to take work and the ability to do work.”
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In just his second year in the sport, Paylor won three individual titles at the NCHSAA Class 2-A outdoor state championships on May 20 to earn MVP honors of the event.
“He’s just that good,” senior teammate Christian Gore said. “I mean, there’s nothing to it. He puts in the work for it and he deserves everything that he has.”
On the football field, Paylor piled up 936 receiving yards, 655 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns as a sophomore, helping the Cavaliers go 9-2-1 and finish as the Mid-Carolina Conference champions.
“I just think he’s athletic and talented,” said senior Tamesia Pinnix, who won the girls’ 100 hurdles (14.11) and long jump (18-6.25) at last week’s state meet. “Stuff comes to him easy. He just uses what he has and puts it into track.”
Paylor won the 100 meters (11.19 seconds), the 200 (21.6) and the 400 (49.24) to help the Cavaliers boys win their first team title since the 2013 indoor state meet. The Cavaliers last won the outdoor title in 1998.
“It’s really exciting because the culture Cummings track has is just outstanding,” Gore said. “It just feels like we’re a part of that culture that really stands out.”
The success on the track has given Paylor dreams of becoming a two-sport athlete in college. The possibility of competing in both football and track and field is something Paylor has discussed with Doeren.
“It's a must,” Paylor said. “I have actually talked to N.C. State about it. Me and Coach Doeren sat down about it. The only thing I would have to do is maintain a 2.5 (GPA) just to do another sport.”
Currently ranked as the 18th-best football player in the country and the second-best player in North Carolina in the Class of 2024 by 247 Sports, Paylor pointed to N.C. State, Georgia, South Carolina and West Virginia as “schools that are up there for me.”
A role model on the track
In trading in his cleats for a pair of track shoes, Paylor pointed to his teammates as being a crucial part of his early success in the sport.
“Guys like Christian, Dylantae James, they really push me forward,” Paylor said. “The training we do out there every day from Monday through Wednesday to go hard at practice and really excel. They really set the example for me. As a sophomore, to know I can have role models like that is just spectacular to know the way they handle things, the way they do things, the way they accomplish their goals, I can do it too.”
Gore’s example is one that’s taken literal blood, sweat and tears to reach a championship level.
“Starting out, I was not good at all,” Gore said.
As a freshman, Gore didn’t qualify for any events at the state championships. As a sophomore, he qualified in the 55 hurdles but tumbled to the track on the first hurdle of the event.
Now, after a state 300 hurdles title this spring, Gore will continue his track and field career at Appalachian State.
“Christian epitomizes hard work and what happens when you stick to the task,” Davis said.
That example led to Paylor totally dedicating himself to track after a freshman year in which he finished in the top 5 in multiple state finals.
“Really just to stay focused,” Paylor said. “From my freshman year, I didn't really want anything. I placed second all the time. That transition to this year, I really just stayed focused and really focused on self-development.”
David Kehrli is a sports reporter at the Burlington Times-News and USA Today Network. You can reach him at david.kehrli@thetimesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidKehrliTN. Subscribe to the Burlington Times-News here.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Cummings football standout Jonathan Paylor trades in touchdowns for track & field titles
