 Jones with theHamilton Tiger-Cats in 2024 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1967-09-25)September 25, 1967 (age 58) South Pittsburg, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Career information | |
| College | Chattanooga |
| Career history | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
Chris Jones (born September 25, 1967) is an Americanfootball coach. He was previously thehead coach andgeneral manager of theSaskatchewan Roughriders andEdmonton Eskimos/Elks. Jones previously served as thedefensive coordinator for theMontreal Alouettes,Calgary Stampeders andToronto Argonauts before becoming a head coach. Jones won fourGrey Cup titles with four teams between 2002 and 2015.[1]
Born inSouth Pittsburg, Tennessee, Jones played college football for theUniversity of Tennessee at Chattanooga as awalk-on, and received little playing time. Instead, he began focusing on a coaching career.[2][3]
Jones began his coaching career at North Jackson High School inStevenson, Alabama, helping the team win a state championship in 1993. He began coaching NCAA football atTennessee Tech University in 1995, where he served as a graduate assistant under head coachJim Ragland.[4] After serving one season as a graduate assistant at theUniversity of Alabama, he joined theUniversity of Tennessee at Martin coaching staff as a defensive line coach in 1998. He returned to Tennessee Tech in 1999 as a defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.[5]
Jones moved to the CFL in 2002, after being an assistant coach for Arena League Las Vegas in the spring and summer, after being named the new defensive line coach of theMontreal Alouettes helping Montreal win the90th Grey Cup. He remained there until 2007. In 2008, he was named defensive coordinator of theCalgary Stampeders, which won the96th Grey Cup, and was promoted to Assistant Coach in 2010. He later joined theToronto Argonauts as Defensive Coordinator and was part of the team that won the100th Grey Cup.
Jones was named head coach of theEdmonton Eskimos in November 2013. After a 12-62014 season, he was nominated forCFL Coach of the Year. Jones' Eskimos were victorious over theOttawa Redblacks in the103rd Grey Cup game. Following the season the divisional rivalSaskatchewan Roughriders were given permission by GMEd Hervey to entering into negotiations to fill their vacant head coaching position.[6]
On December 7, 2015, a mere week after winning the 2015 Grey Cup, it was announced that Jones would be the newgeneral manager and head coach of theSaskatchewan Roughriders. After a disappointing 3–15 season in 2015 Jones took over in2016 and things got off to a poor start, as the team won only one of their first 11 games.[7] However, down the stretch they won four of the remaining seven games to finish with a record of 5–13.2017 saw the Riders return to being a competitive team, as the club qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2014. After defeating theOttawa Redblacks in a crossover playoff game the Riders were bested by theToronto Argonauts who went on to win the105th Grey Cup.[8] Following the season the Riders extended Jones' contract through the2019 CFL season.[9] Jones and the Riders continued to improve in the2018 season, accumulating 12 wins, but in the playoffs they were defeated by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. On January 8, 2019, Jones and the Riders agreed to a new two-year contract extension.[10]
On January 15, 2019, one week after signing a contract extension with the Roughriders, Jones resigned from the Roughriders to take a two-year contract with theCleveland Browns as their Senior Defensive Specialist.[11] After one season, Jones was removed from the coaching staff with the hire of new head coachKevin Stefanski and placed in an office position for the 2020 season.[12][13]
In April 2021, Jones was named the head coach of his high school Alma Mater, theSouth Pittsburg Pirates inMarion County, Tennessee.[14][15] He notably ended the school's nearly century-old rivalry game with neighboringMarion County High School for the 2021 and 2022 seasons, in part due to suspicions that a Marion County fan turned South Pittsburg in for recruiting violations during the 2020 season, resulting in South Pittsburg being placed on probation.[16] Jones resigned from the position on September 13 after coaching only one game, a win againstSequatchie County High School, in order to return to a defensive position with the Toronto Argonauts.[17]
On September 21, 2021, theToronto Argonauts announced they had hired Chris Jones as a defensive consultant.[18]
Two months after being hired by Toronto, on December 21, 2021, it was announced that Jones had returned to Edmonton to become the head coach and general manager of the renamedEdmonton Elks.[19] After a disappointing2022 season in which the team won only four games and lost 14 the Elks lost their first six games of the2023 season. With Jones on the hot-seat Elks presidentVictor Cui reaffirmed his belief in Jones, and commented that any change to head coaching/general manager would impact the team's ops cap in future years.[20] The team lost three more games, beating the previous record for most consecutive winless games at the start of a season of seven. The team began the season with nine straight losses and tied the team's all-time record for losing streaks with 13 consecutive losses. The team finished 4–14 for the second year in a row.
With the team losing its first five games of the2024 season, Jones was fired on July 15, 2024.[21]
On August 19, 2024, it was announced that Jones had been hired as the senior defensive consultant and would assume defensive play-calling duties for theHamilton Tiger-Cats, replacing the dismissedMark Washington who had been the team'sdefensive coordinator.[22]
In January 2025, Jones was hired as a defensive assistant for theNorth Carolina football program under head coachBill Belichick.[23]
Jones has a son from his firstmarriage and twodaughters with his second wife.[citation needed]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Result | |||
| EDM | 2014 | 12 | 6 | 0 | .666 | 2nd in West Division | 1 | 1 | Lost in West Final | |
| EDM | 2015 | 14 | 4 | 0 | .778 | 1st in West Division | 2 | 0 | Won103rd Grey Cup | |
| SSK | 2016 | 5 | 13 | 0 | .278 | 5th in West Division | – | – | Failed to qualify | |
| SSK | 2017 | 10 | 8 | 0 | .556 | 4th in West Division | 1 | 1 | Lost in East Final | |
| SSK | 2018 | 12 | 6 | 0 | .667 | 2nd in West Division | 0 | 1 | Lost in West Semi–Final | |
| EDM | 2022 | 4 | 14 | 0 | .222 | 5th in West Division | – | – | Failed to qualify | |
| EDM | 2023 | 4 | 14 | 0 | .222 | 5th in West Division | – | – | Failed to qualify | |
| EDM | 2024 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 5th in West Division | – | – | Fired | |
| Total | 61 | 70 | 0 | .466 | 1 Division Championship | 4 | 3 | 1 Grey Cup | ||