Jimmy Telles is a three-time Nevada state champion and two-time national champion with the Bishop Gorman Gaels of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Over Telles’ first three years as a Gael, the team has gone 43-2 with an undefeated 13-0 record in 4A Sunset – Southwest league play. The Gaels have had three straight undefeated 15-0 seasons (2014, 2015, and 2016) as well.
He talked about how grateful he is to be able to play for Bishop Gorman and be a part of such a dominant football program. See his junior highlights here.
“Aww it’s a blessing. My parents have sacrificed to put me through here and they give me everything I [need] to succeed so I pretty much take advantage of everything. Being around this team, they really built me into the person I am today,” he said. “On the field, guys clash and stuff like that but at the end of the day it helps us all build our character and stay who we are on the inside.”
He’s going to miss being around his teammates because a lot of them he came into the program with as a freshman. He also wants to make sure his and his team’s legacy is cemented by winning another national championship and state championship, making that four in a row for the latter.
“I started playing football when I was really young. I started playing around like five. I watched football on TV with my dad on Sundays. [I was] a big fan of the [San Francisco] 49ers so I watched them every Sunday. I just started liking it and I told him I wanted to play one year. Ever since then I just kept playing.”
He went on from there and his love grew for football in the seventh grade. He played quarterback for the Bishop Gorman Gators (no affiliation to the high school). He talked about how another quarterback started over him and how he had to play his way into recognition. His chance to shine came at the expense of the starting quarterback getting hurt.
“We went into [the season], he had gotten injured, and he had broken his ribs. Then I went [in] and we were losing that game. We came back and won the game. That night I was sitting down at home talking to my parents and I was like ‘wow I could really play this game.’ So then, ever since then I’ve just put my heart into it and really knew what I’m capable of,” Telles said.
Jimmy Telles bumped heads with coaches and went through phases where he felt like he was being doubted but now as a senior Bishop Gorman Gael wide receiver, he wants to be a player that his team can depend on.
He currently has no scholarship offers right now but has high interest in the University of Nevada, University of Colorado and UCLA. Colorado is a school, he said, he can see himself playing at and performing well. UCLA, Telles hopes his quarterback, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, would recruit him there should he commit to UCLA.
The four-star 2018 Quarterback has released his top seven and UCLA, Michigan and others made the cut. He currently is the fourth best dual-threat quarterback and second best player in Nevada according to 247sports Composite.
“[Dorian and I] we’re the closest together on the field. freshman year, we competed at quarterback actually and built up a little tension in the beginning now that we’re back on varsity together and we’re not playing the same position and not playing against each other, we bond more,” Telles said.
Jimmy Telles and Thompson-Robinson have been able to get there timing down and make their on field chemistry stronger through the seven-on-seven football season with Team 702 Elite. They went to the Adidas national championship game in California and lost to the host team Ground Zero.
Here is what Telles had to say about what fans, coaches and teammates can expect out of the pair in the 2017-18 season.
“They expect big things. This year we lost a bunch of seniors. We lost a bunch of big players, big play makers. Everybody’s doubting 2018 and saying the class is nowhere near 2017 but we just have to go out there and show them that we can do exactly what they did if not better,” he said. “Coaches always push on leadership, discipline and building our character. They expect Dorian to be a big leader at quarterback and they expect me and Jalen [Rasheed Nailor] to be leaders at the wide receiver core.”
Jimmy Telles wants to bring his family up with him as he tries to reach all of his goals. He enjoys hanging out with his friends because it prevents him from getting big-headed.
The best part of being a wide receiver he said was running routes. Every wide receiver has a favorite route and Telles’ favorite route is running a corner.
Jimmy Telles wants to win and his team has the same mindset. That has been proven by their pure dominance.
“I consider myself a big leader. If I see someone down, I always try to help them up. We’ve all been down, we’ve all had those times where we all fall down we just need that one hand to pull each other back up. School-wise, people have always helped me because I wasn’t the smartest but people have always helped me as much as they could so I would like to give back and help others as much as I can also.”