📡 Mississippi State hires former South Alabama coach Joey Jones as special teams coordinator

[Max]

Mississippi State has reportedly added a former head coach to its staff.

According to Steve Robertson of Scout.com, the Bulldogs have hired former South Alabama coach Joey Jones to serve as special teams coordinator. Jones was the coach at South Alabama from 2008-17.

Over his nine seasons leading the Jaguars, Jones went 52-50, which included going 18-29 in Sun Belt Conference play after the school joined the conference in 2012.

Prior to coaching at South Alabama, Jones was the head coach at Division III Birmingham-Southern for two seasons from 2006-07.

Jones resigned as the head coach at South Alabama at the end of the 2017 season, during which the Jaguars went 4-8. He led South Alabama to two bowl games during his tenure at the school — a Camellia Bowl loss in 2014 and an Arizona Bowl loss in 2014.

While this will be Jones’ first coaching job in the SEC, he has previous ties to the conference. He played wide receiver at Alabama from 1979-83. He later played one NFL season for the Atlanta Falcons in 1986.

According to Will Sammon of the Clarion Ledger, Jones’ deal was expected to be completed on Thursday.

The role of special teams coordinator opened when Scott Fountain left after just one month at Mississippi State. On National Signing Day, Fountain returned to Georgia to become its special teams coordinator. He was a special teams analyst at Georgia last season.

The Mississippi State coaching staff is back to being full, with 10 assistants under first-year coach Joe Moorhead.

Report: Mississippi State hires former South Alabama coach Joey Jones as special teams coordinator

 

[JoshB]

Former South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones has been hired as special teams coordinator at Mississippi State, a source confirmed to AL.com.

Jones, 55, resigned in December after nine seasons as Jaguars head coach. He went 52-50 at USA, including 4-8 in 2017.

South Alabama's special teams were regarded as among the best in the country during Jones' tenure. The Jaguars ranked second nationally in ESPN's special teams efficiency rankings last season.

Jones' position at Mississippi State will be his first in the SEC and his first job as a college assistant. He was a high school coach for nearly two decades before taking over as head coach at Birmingham-Southern in 2006 and then at South Alabama in 2008, starting both programs from scratch.

A Mobile native, Jones played wide receiver at Alabama under Paul "Bear" Bryant and Ray Perkins from 1980-83. He later played with the USFL's Birmingham Stallions and NFL's Atlanta Falcons before going into coaching.

Former Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen left for Florida after last season, with the Bulldogs hiring Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead as the team's new head coach. Moorhead initially hired Scott Fountain to be special teams coach, but Fountain left on national signing day to return to Georgia.

Ironically, perhaps Jones' biggest victory at South Alabama came in Starkville. The Jaguars knocked off Mississippi State 21-20 to open the 2016 season, in what remains the lone victory in program history over a Power 5 conference team.

Jones' hiring at Mississippi State was first reported by Steve Robertson of 247 Sports.