Falcons WR Julio Jones was once locked inside his school to keep Seahawks coach Pete Carroll away

Atlanta Falcons WR Julio Jones is one of the best wideouts in the NFL, maybe the best. He was the best back in high school, before going to Alabama.

According NBC’s Rob Buska, Jones’ high school coach once went to extreme measures to keep Pete Carroll — now coach of the Seattle Seahawks — away from his star.

“I had talked to Pete Carroll once about Julio Jones, and he said when Julio was in college, he of course went to Alabama, and Pete Carroll was still at USC,” Buska said on NBC’s Pro Football Talk, as he filled in for Mike Florio.

Buska relayed what Carroll had to say:

“We loved Julio so much, and he went to his high school in the middle of nowhere, in the sticks there in Alabama. We flew in to see him, and once we got out of the car, at the football field, during the middle of practice, coach saw me and knew who I was. He took Jones off the field, ran him inside, got the principal and the athletic director, and locked the school.”

Buska said they wouldn’t let Carroll in.

“Got Nick Saban at Alabama on the phone right away, and said, ‘Hey, Pete Carroll’s outside.’ Next thing you know, there’s your full scholarship right there,” Carroll said.

Jones went on to light it up at Alabama, and the Falcons traded up with the Cleveland Browns to take him in the 2011 NFL Draft. They made him the sixth overall pick, and he’s gone on to torch the NFL with QB Matt Ryan.