Official: Alabama hires Jason Jones as assistant defensive backs coach

University of Alabama head football coach Kalen DeBoer officially announced the hiring of Jason Jones on Friday. Jones will hold the title of assistant defensive backs coach while with the Crimson Tide.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to add Coach Jones to our staff,” DeBoer said. “He has a proven track record of success with defensive backs, and I know he will be able to make a significant impact on that group along with our defense as a whole. It is also great to be able to add a guy who played and coached here, and his knowledge of this University is invaluable.”

A 20-plus year coaching veteran, Jones has spent his entire career in the secondary in addition to six seasons of defensive coordinator experience. Over that time, he has mentored nine first-team all-conference honorees and 20 total all-conference selections, in addition to four Jim Thorpe Award semifinalists and one Nagurski Trophy finalist. Jones has also been a part of the coaching staff for five conference championship teams and has coached in 16 total bowl games.

“The University of Alabama and Tuscaloosa are special places to me,” Jones said. “My coaching career started here as a graduate assistant, and to be able to come home and coach at your alma mater is truly a blessing. I am so thankful to Coach DeBoer for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this great staff, and I am excited to be back. I can’t wait to get to work.”

Jones, who earned his undergraduate degree from the Capstone in 2001 and a master’s degree in 2005, returns to Tuscaloosa after spending the last two seasons at North Carolina where he served as cornerbacks coach. In 2024, he helped Alijah Huzzie earn all-conference honors for a second consecutive season. Huzzie highlighted UNC’s 2023 cornerback unit that contributed to the Tar Heels’ 12 interceptions, its most since 2019.

Prior to his time in Chapel Hill, Jones spent three seasons as the safeties coach at Indiana from 2020-22. He traveled to Bloomington after one season at FAU in 2019. While with the Owls, Jones coached cornerbacks, highlighted by Meiko Dotson who earned first-team all-conference accolades and tied for the national lead in interceptions with nine. The FAU defense led the nation with 33 takeaways that season en route to Conference USA and Boca Raton Bowl championships.

Jones spent six seasons at Ole Miss from 2013-18 where he served as co-defensive coordinator with a focus on the Rebels’ secondary unit. His 2015 group tallied four pick-sixes to tie the OM single-season mark that dated back to 1938. Ole Miss finished that campaign ranked second in the SEC with 15 interceptions and third in the league with 23 total turnovers.

In 2014, Jones was named the National Defensive Backs Coach of the Year by FootballScoop.com after turning one of the Rebels’ most inexperienced groups the previous year into one of the most dominant units in the country. His corners helped OM lead the nation in scoring defense (16.0 ppg) and fewest touchdowns allowed (24) while forcing an SEC-leading 32 turnovers, good for eighth nationally, 22 of which were interceptions to lead the league and rank fifth in Division I. The 2014 defense was highlighted by Nagurski Trophy finalist and consensus first-team All-American Senquez Golson, who led the SEC and ranked second nationally with a school-high tying 10 interceptions.

Jones arrived in Oxford after five seasons at Oklahoma State, where the Cowboys totaled a 49-16 mark from 2008-12. With his assistance, the defense forced 130 turnovers from 2009-12 to rank second in the nation during that span. Jones coached three different corners to first-team All-Big 12 honors and a pair of Thorpe Award semifinalists in Brodrick Brown (2011) and Perrish Cox (2009). Cox led the nation in passes defended per game in 2009 on his way to first-team All-America honors with Brown ranking third in the same category in 2011 as part of an OSU defense that led the nation with 44 turnovers forced. While in Stillwater, Jones also helped develop former high school quarterback Justin Gilbert into the eighth overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft.

Before his time at OSU, Jones served as the cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator at Tulsa in 2007. In his second stint at Tulsa, Jones helped the Golden Hurricane to a 10-4 record, an appearance in the Conference USA title game and a 63-7 win over Bowling Green in the GMAC Bowl.

In 2006, he worked as the cornerbacks coach at Rice and helped the Owls to their first bowl appearance in 45 years that season. In his first stint at Tulsa in 2005, Jones coached the corners and helped UT to a Conference USA Championship and bowl berth. With Jones guiding the Tulsa secondary, the defense ranked third nationally in takeaways (36) and interceptions (22) and was 11th in pass efficiency defense along with 17th in the nation for pass defense.

Jones’ coaching career began at his alma mater, Alabama. He served as a graduate assistant for the Crimson Tide from 2003-04. He earned his degree in financial planning from the Capstone in 2001 and added a master’s degree in sport management in 2005. As a player, Jones was a three-year letterman at defensive back for the Tide and was a part of three bowl teams, an SEC West title in 1996 and an SEC Championship in 1999.

Jones and his wife, Kysha, have four children – Andrew, Jace, Jarah and Jathan.

While appropriate members of The Board of Trustees have been notified of the proposed terms and conditions of this proposed appointment, the financial terms remain subject to approval by The Board of Trustees.

*** This information was acquired from a recent press release from Alabama Athletics. 

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