Jaiden Francois is a linebacker who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Duke.
Francois is steady in every phase without a signature trait. Played for four head coaches at three programs in four seasons: Gus Malzahn, Blake Anderson, Nate Dreiling and Manny Diaz. A game that shows it: 10 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against NC State — Week 4, 2025.
Play style
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
73 tackles. 3 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 7.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Duke | 73 | 30 | 7.5 | 1.0 | 3 | -- |
| 2024 | Utah State | 51 | 24 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2023 | Utah State | 57 | 21 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2022 | UCF | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 182 | 76 | 14.5 | 3.0 | 7 | 2 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 14 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 45-17vs Elon | 10 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 19-45vs No. 11 Illinois | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 27-34@ Tulane | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 45-33vs NC State | 10 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 38-3@ Syracuse | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | W 45-21@ California | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 18-27vs No. 12 Georgia Tech | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 46-45@ Clemson | 9 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 34-37@ UConn | 4 | 4 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 17-34vs No. 20 Virginia | 7 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 32-25@ North Carolina | 6 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 49-32vs Wake Forest | 6 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 15 | W 27-20vs No. 16 Virginia | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
 Bowl | W 42-39vs Arizona State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 73 | 30 | 7.5 | 1.0 | — | 3 |
Week 4 · 2025
W 45-33
vs NC State
0.5 sacks · 1 tackle for loss · 10 tackles
Edged out NC State at home in a shootout.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
73tackles this seasonTFL rate
10%8 TFLSack rate
1%1 sackPD rate
4%3 pass breakups73 tackles · 7.5 for loss · 1 sack.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 14 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 6.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Road6g | 5.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 5.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 5.1 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Manny Diaz
Pass share
53.3%
506 pass / 444 run
Plays / game
67.9
14 games
Team sack rate
4.8%
495 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS linebacker who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #224 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-ACC
Based on 2025: #21 of 74 ACC LBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
5 coachesPlayed for 5 head coaches at 4 schools: Scott Frost, Gus Malzahn, Blake Anderson, Nate Dreiling and Manny Diaz.
