Jordan Jones will be the first to admit he’s made mistakes throughout his career – but becoming a dad changed that almost overnight.
The winger knows he’s been young and immature more than he should have been, but 15 months ago that all stopped.
His son Jesse – young JJ – was born, and now all dad Jordan cares about is making the right choices for his first child.
And that first choice came when he was left with the choice of where to end up this season after his worst year in football.
But Jordan’s dad convinced him there was no better option when Kilmarnock came calling for a Rugby Park return.
He left Ayrshire in 2019 after the side qualified for Europe, and now he’s hoping to rejuvenate his career here once again.
Speaking exclusively to the Kilmarnock Standard, Jones said: “I sorted my career here before and that was at the back of my mind.
“I sat with my dad and we spoke a lot, and to be honest as soon as I mentioned Kilmarnock and working with Derek McInnes he said straight away I need to go there and it’s pointless thinking about anything else.
“When I was here before I was just a kid, I was immature, but now I feel like I’m a much better footballer, and off the pitch I’ve just become a dad, if that doesn’t mature you then nothing will!
“It just felt like the right moment to come back, the club can help me and I can hopefully help them.”
On being a dad, Jones added: “It’s the best thing in the world, but it’s hard work!
“Becoming a dad matured me overnight it felt like.
“It’s strange, I was speaking to the manager about this because it’s changed me so much off the pitch.
“During the summer I was looking back at my old games, I was at my best when I was on the pitch and when I was being confident, arrogant, borderline cocky.
“But that’s how I have to be to be at my best, I have realised that looking back now.
“The downside was that I was like that off the pitch back then too, I had no real responsibilities it was all about me.
“But when you have a child you completely mature, everything is about them.
“I want to get back to my best, I want my son to watch me play football at the best level possible, that was a massive factor in coming back here.
“If I was guiding him at this point in his career I’d be telling him to go and show what he can do, show how good you are.
“That’s what my dad has been doing with me, so it really shows how important it is.”
Rumours of a Jones and Killie reunion were flying around for weeks, but it kept going quiet.
He mulled over his options, with a move abroad giving him the chance to get away from the spotlight after a tough season at Wigan.
But he decided not to fly into the sun and head back to where his career got off and running last time round.
He said: “It was as dragged out as it seemed to be fair.
“I had to take a lot of time thinking about my next move, I had the worst year of my career last season.
“That was down to a few different reasons, but I spent a lot of time this summer reflecting and making sure my next step was the right one.
“There was options to go abroad and that was in my thoughts, but I felt like if I did that I’d be doing it for the wrong reasons, not for football and I’d be chucking the towel in.
“I didn’t want to give up, I wanted to work under a manager who believes in me at a club that means a lot to me.
“ I feel like I’ve made the right decision, I just want to get back to my best.”
He added: “They (Wigan) made it very clear to me that I wasn’t going to be part of their plans, so I spent a couple of weeks training with the kids which wasn’t easy to take.
“I gave myself two weeks to think about it where I’d go, I spoke to clubs all over, but Killie just stood out.
“The manager was a massive draw, the first time I was at Kilmarnock he tried to sign me a couple of times.
“And when I was at Rangers there was talk of me going on loan to Aberdeen with him.
“We have been close to working together three or four times, so he knows me well.
“When I spoke to him he understood the year I’ve just had and where I’m at in my career.
“It was nice to hear someone speak about me the way he did, he understands my game. I knew that he was going to be right for me, so I just hope we can help each other.”
Jones admits he was gutted to see Killie get relegated, but he insists it's the team's duty to bounce back from that after promotion.
He said: “When Killie got relegated I was devastated, I honestly was.
“Because we’d done so well under Steve Clarke, to end up where they did was really tough to see.
“These things happen in football though, for Kilmarnock to finish third and get Europe was massive, I don’t think some people realised how big of an achievement it actually was to be fair.
“Because we were doing so well so often it just became normal, we were taking points off the Old Firm which a lot of teams didn’t, people thought it was normal.
“But the club lost the manager and a lot of players, and relegation can happen, but they’re back now which is great.
“This year the main thing is to stay in the league, but with the squad and manager we have I don’t see why we can’t push for more.
“The manager’s highest ambition won’t be finishing 10th I’m sure of that, I am confident we can do well and so is he."
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