Why it’s no surprise Jaivon Heiligh is setting receiving records, a standard at CCU
Setting records is nothing new for Jaivon Heiligh.
Should it be any surprise that he is about to become the most prolific wide receiver in Coastal Carolina history?
Heiligh came to Conway after setting several Florida state high school receiving records in 2017 including career receiving yards, and single-season catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Following Friday’s regular season finale at South Alabama and a bowl game that follows, the senior who wears No. 6 will likely hold CCU program records for career receptions, receiving yards and 100-yard games, and single-season receiving yards and 100-yard games.
“He’s an elite receiver and he’s going to be playing on Sundays,” CCU quarterback Grayson McCall said. “Whenever we’re in a rough situation, find 6. He’s going to find a way to get open, he’s going to catch the ball in traffic. He does great things for us. Even when he’s not getting the ball he pulls defenders his way because they know when 6 is on the field he’s a huge target.
“I love playing with that guy. He’s one of my best friends off the field so it’s truly a blessing to be able to play beside him.”
Heligh, who is 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, is likely playing his final two games as a Chanticleer despite a fifth year of eligibility awarded by the NCAA because of the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the 2020 college football season.
“I think the biggest legacy he’s going to leave here is the way that he prepares, the way that he practices, the way that he handles his business,” CCU coach Jamey Chadwell said. “He’s a great example for young players and we believe we’ve got some young really talented receivers and he shows them how to practice and how to prepare. He’s obviously a good player but I think that’s a huge legacy he’s going to leave, and our program is better for him being a part of it, especially at that wide receiver position.”
Breaking records at two levels
Heiligh is six receptions and 77 receiving yards shy of becoming the school’s all-time career leader in both statistics. He has 178 catches, second to Matt Hazel’s 183, and 2,644 receiving yards, second to Jerome Simpson’s 2,720.
Simpson played eight years in the NFL and Hazel spent parts of five seasons on NFL rosters.
Heiligh enters Friday’s regular season finale at South Alabama 53 yards shy of joining Simpson (1,077 yards in 2006) as the only players in school history to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in a season. He has team highs with 53 receptions and 947 receiving yards and has six TDs.
Heiligh has already broken a pair of Simpson’s school records with six 100-yard receiving games this season and 11 in his career. Simpson had five in a season and nine for his career.
“Personally it was expected from me, I don’t know if it was expected by everybody,” Heiligh said. “But I have standards for myself and of course I wanted to meet those standards every day and I knew the steps to be able to accomplish those because I got to do it in high school. I had people around me supporting me ... just to help me create my goals and also have the team goals in hand, as well.”
Heiligh put up ridiculous numbers at Venice High to break Florida state records. As a senior in 2017, he set single-season marks with 131 receptions, 2,359 receiving yards and 32 receiving touchdowns with CCU teammate Bryce Carpenter as his quarterback — those were 54 receptions, nearly 500 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns more than the runners-up in the respective categories.
Heiligh finished second to Carpenter, who was Florida Mr. Football in 2017, for the Florida Class 7A Player of the Year honor after Venice won the 7A state championship and finished the season with a No. 25 national ranking.
His 252 career receptions set a state record as well, and he graduated ranked second in Florida history with 3,964 career receiving yards and 53 career receiving touchdowns.
Heiligh said in 2018 that he had offers from several other Sun Belt Conference schools, received a late offer from Iowa of the Big Ten, and received a lot of interest from Iowa State of the Big 12.
Though Carpenter also committing to Coastal wasn’t what convinced Heiligh to come to Conway, he said it made him more comfortable with the decision.
“That helped me coming here, but I’m not saying that was the main reason. I just loved it here and he loved it here so it made us both want to come here,” said Heiligh, who was recruited by then-offensive coordinator Chadwell and current co-offensive coordinator Willy Korn.
Developing at Coastal Carolina
Heiligh had 14 catches for 202 yards and two TDs as a freshman and led CCU in receiving as a sophomore with 46 receptions and 497 receiving yards, with three TDs after learning from 2018 team-leading receiver Malcolm Williams and slot receiver Ky’Jon Tyler. He improved to 65 receptions for 998 yards and 10 TDs last season, when he was named First Team All-Sun Belt.
“Route running I would say I’m a lot better at, and I would say knowing football more,” Heiligh said. “Knowing different coverages, knowing how people play us, different things like that, reading things on the run and being able to play faster rather than reading stuff slower. It takes time. It does.”
In his final two games last season, Heiligh caught a combined 24 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns.
His 13 catches in the overtime loss to LIberty in the Cure Bowl set both a CCU and Cure Bowl record, and his 178 receiving yards in the game set the bowl record. He also had 11 receptions for 138 yards and the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds in the regular season finale at Troy.
“I would say [my strengths] are my hands and now building in what I’ve worked on is my routes now, because I can make a lot of things look the same, things like that,” Heiligh said. “You can’t just jump certain things. It’s nice, it makes a [defensive back] have to think before they do it. They have to play slower, so I would say that gives me an advantage.”
He said he wants to improve on getting more separation from DBs on routes. “You can always work on that. That’s something every receiver can always work on,” he said.
The development of Heiligh, NFL tight end prospect Isaiah Likely and McCall over the past two seasons has allowed Chadwell to expand his offense.
CCU recorded more rushing yards than passing yards in 2018, when Chadwell was the offensive coordinator under head coach Joe Moglia. The Chants passed for more yards in both 2019 and 2020 under Chadwell, but by less than 200 yards over the rushing production each year.
This season, the discrepancy is more than 500 yards in favor of the air attack.
“Obviously as Isaiah and Jaivon and all the receivers and your quarterbacks continue to develop and your [offensive] line continues to develop, you try to broaden your package and include more things, and having guys like that definitely makes it easier because you feel confident you can go out there and they’re going to win some one-on-ones and some of those things,” Chadwell said. “I think you’ve seen that ever since Jaivon and those guys have been here each year we’ve added more and more because of the success they’ve had and they gained experience with what we wanted to do.”
The fact that Heiligh’s numbers ballooned with McCall’s emergence as the starting quarterback last year is no coincidence. Heiligh has been the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year’s top target for the past two seasons.
“He can throw it a lot of different ways and put it in certain spots that some people can’t,” Heiligh said. “...But I’ve still got to get open and I’ve got to catch the ball, and I’ve got to help him just like he helps me.”
Unselfish on and off the field
Over the past two seasons, Heiligh has returned 21 punts for 148 yards, including a career-high 40-yarder, and recovered a fumble this season as a member of the punt return team — which is not something many 1,000-yard receivers in college football are doing.
“I want to be on the field as much as possible to make plays. I’m trying to help my team be the best we can be,” he said. “They believe in me to be able to get it done and execute on offense and be able to do special teams, so thank you to them just for believing in me and doing that. That’s how I always want it to be. I want to be on the field.”
He hasn’t taken advantage of the new opportunity this year to benefit and profit from his name, image and likeness (NIL), other than signing some trading cards. “I didn’t want to get too far into it. I wanted to stay focused for football,” he said. “...Money will come eventually. I’m not worried about it, really. I don’t stress about it.”
Heiligh takes part in team-sponsored initiatives in the community, including visiting and speaking to young members of area schools and churches. “We do a lot for the community because they do a lot for us, when they come to the games and different things like that,” Heiligh said. “Everybody is brought up in different situations no matter where you’re at in your life, so it’s just nice to get to know them, get to know their dreams, what they want to do, and hopefully some of them can be a part of our family.”
After graduation, Heiligh wants to help Brandon Gerzeny grow his yard maintenance and landscaping business. Gerzeny is a childhood friend who has a disability but began lawn maintenance at the age of 13.
“We’re going to figure something out. I already told him my little plan that I think will work, but we’re going to sit down and actually go through a plan and we’ll see how it goes,” Heiligh said.
“...I feel like good people will get good things in return. Even if I didn’t get any return I still would do it. I just like people to think good about me and know I’m a good person. Good vibes will bring good vibes around you. But it flips [for football]. You’ve got days. You have to learn how to switch [the football mentality] on and switch it off.”
Is the NFL possible?
Heiligh will have opportunities to showcase his skills to NFL scouts in all-star games, as he’s been invited to participate in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, East-West Shrine Bowl and Hula Bowl. He plans to play in at least the East-West game on Feb. 3.
“I’ve had some people hit me up and say that I have potential and I’ve been invited to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl in Vegas. I’ll probably do that and see how it goes,” Heiligh said. The NFL is “the goal. That is what you’re shooting for,” he said.
Perhaps the only question about Heiligh’s ability to play professionally is his speed. It’s the same question that likely allowed CCU to sign the high school star. He’s not considered a burner, and said he doesn’t know how fast he can run a 40-yard dash. “But we’ll soon find out,” he said.
He’ll be going through testing in preparation for a possible shot with an NFL team, either at the NFL Combine, if he receives an invitation, or CCU’s Pro Day. He plans to prepare at either the Michael Johnson Performance center in Texas or XPE Sports in Florida.
Heiligh will graduate next month with a bachelor’s degree in business management, and following his shot at a playing career he plans to open a football training facility, possibly in Florida.
His record-setting experience at Coastal has set him up for success on or off the field.
“I love this place,” Heiligh said. “You build relationships with people here and you’re not going to lose them. The culture here is actually different. You know I’m going to have these people for the rest of my life to fall back on.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2021 at 8:30 AM.
