For the first two years of his high school career at Southington High School in Connecticut, Jay Rose played tight end and began garnering national recruiting attention. Then, in his junior year, Rose switched to playing quarterback and passed for over 3,000 yards & 47 touchdowns and started being recruited potentially as a quarterback as well. By the end of his junior year Rose had at least nine offers from Power 5 conference schools.
In mid-August, Jay trimmed his list of schools to Connecticut, Syracuse, Wake Forest & Wisconsin. Wisconsin & Wake Forest were recruiting Rose solely as a tight end.