Jason Jones Officially Added to Alabama Football Coaching Staff

TUSCALOOSA, AL Jason Jones’ employment was formally confirmed by Kalen DeBoer, the head football coach at the University of Alabama, on Friday. During his tenure with the Crimson Tide, Jones will serve as the assistant defensive backs coach.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to add Coach Jones to our staff,” DeBoer stated. “He has a history of success with defensive backs, and I have no doubt that he will have a big influence on both that group and our defense overall. Being able to include someone who has played and coached here is really fantastic, and his insight into this university is priceless.”

In addition to his six seasons as a defensive coordinator, Jones has more than 20 years of coaching experience and has been in the secondary his entire career. He has coached 20 all-conference selections, nine first team all-conference honorees, four Jim Thorpe Award semifinalists, and one Nagurski Trophy finalist during that period. Jones has coached in 16 bowl games overall and has been a member of the coaching staff for five conference championship teams.

“The University of Alabama and Tuscaloosa are special places to me,” Jones stated. “Being able to return home and coach at your alma university is a true blessing. I began my coaching career here as a graduate assistant.

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.

Jones was Indiana’s safeties coach for three seasons (2020–2022) before coming to Chapel Hill. In 2019, he spent one season at FAU before traveling to Bloomington. Jones coached cornerbacks for the Owls, most notably Meiko Dotson, who tied for the national lead in interceptions with nine and was named to the first team all-conference. That season, on their way to winning the Boca Raton Bowl and Conference USA, the FAU defense topped the country with 33 takeaways.

From 2013 to 2018, Jones worked as co-defensive coordinator for Ole Miss for six seasons, concentrating on the Rebels’ secondary team. His team tied the OM single-season record set in 1938 with four pick-sixes in 2015. Ole Miss placed second at the end of that campaign. 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 11^th in pass efficiency defense along with 17^th 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.