Born in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, Jones played college football for the University of Tennessee but did not excel as a player. Instead, he began focusing on a coaching career.
Jones began coaching NCAA football at Tennessee Tech University in 1995, where he served as assistant coach for one year. He later transferred to the University of Alabama and the University of Tennessee before rejoining Tennessee Tech in 1999 as a defensive coordinator.
Jones moved to the CFL in 2002 after being named the new defensive line coach of the Montreal Alouettes and remained there until 2007. In 2008, he was named defensive coordinator of the Calgary Stampeders, which won the 96th Grey Cup, and was promoted to Assistant Coach in 2010. He later joined the Toronto Argonauts as Defensive Coordinator and was part of the team that won the 100th Grey Cup.
Jones was named Edmonton Eskimos Head Coach in November 2013. After a 12-6 season, he was nominated for Coach of the Year.
Jones was nominated the West representative for coach of the year in 2015. The East representative is former Eskimos assistant coach Rick Campbell.[2]>
