A national championship, the Harlon Hill Trophy, the National Football League. Saginaw Valley senior wide receiver Jeff Janis can hear the whispers.
“I feel like the added attention I’ve been getting really makes me work even harder to achieve even more than what I have already done,” Janis said. “I do not think I’ve even come close to my potential.”
If Janis can tap into that not-yet-reached potential, it could lead to frightening consequences for his Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents. Last year, he set school records in receptions (106) and yards (1635), while also hauling in 17 receiving touchdowns. Janis led all of Division II in receiving yards and was second in receptions. He also caught a school record 18 balls against Michigan Tech and set another school record in by receiving 300 yards in a game against Lake Erie.
“I think last year was a huge turning point for me in college football,” Janis said. “The game really started to slow down for me, and I was much more relaxed while playing. Also, the offense just seemed to make more sense.”
His stats helped Janis burst onto the national stage, and he was named first-team All-American, All-GLIAC First team, GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week four times, and was one of 16 finalists for the Harlon Hill Award (the DII equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.)
“Obviously, it is nice to have school records, but the success of the team is what really matters and what people remember most,” Janis said. “I would much rather see us win every game, whether that is with me scoring a lot or none at all.”
With all that said, Janis can’t quite help but feel that last year’s season wasn’t a success. The Cardinals went 8-3 and shared the GLIAC-North Championship but failed to make the playoffs.
“Coming into next season you have to have the mentality that every game is for the championship,” Janis said. “Our conference is so tough that you cannot afford to lose a game. So we have to come into every game and play at our highest level.
“[I want the team to] win the conference, but I also want to see our team come together as one and have every person working for each other,” Janis added. “If we have that, we will be very hard to beat.”
His head coach Jim Collins knows that Janis will be a vital piece of the Cardinals’ success this season. “Having Jeff on our team makes our offense explosive,” Collins said. “He has made a lot of big plays and clutch plays that have helped us win games. Jeff has handled the attention really well; he is down to earth and very committed to being better this year than he was last year.”
After a stellar senior season in high school, Janis, a 2009 Tawas Area graduate, was red-shirted his freshman year in college. He has steadily improved, both from statistical and physical standpoints, every season. If things go as planned for the wide-out, his senior year could be his best yet.
“I think I’ve had the success I’ve had up to this point due to dedication to the weight room,” Janis said. “I truly believe that if I had not committed myself to the weight room in high school, I wouldn’t be playing in college. So the same goes for now – I don’t think I would be playing at the level I am now if I wasn’t consistently in the weight room.”
With his college career coming to an end this season, Janis might be working even harder.
“This being my senior season, there is a little extra motivation,” he said. “This may be the last time I ever play football, so that adds to the fire of going all-out on every snap and really giving it your all in every aspect. To play at the next level, you can’t make some of the little mistakes I still make. Correcting those will be my biggest focus going into the season.”
Janis has already been mentioned on several experts’ draft boards, and there’s no telling what a strong senior season might due for his professional chances.
“Jeff has the work ethic and talent to be successful at anything he wants to do,” Collins said. “That being said, I think he would really like to be in a position to have a chance to play football at the next level. He has definitely attracted their attention.”
Janis, an Exercise Science Major, graduates in December. After that, he will be weighing his options of attending chiropractic school or getting paid to play the game that he loves.
“Being that I stay healthy, I would love to play football at the professional level,” he said. “Not only for my family and I, but for everyone that has supported me and to represent my home town. But I do realize how hard it is to get into the NFL, so I’m not banking on that happening. Either way I know I will be successful in whatever it is I do; football has prepared me for that.”