Daronte Jones (born November 11, 1978) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach who is the defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL).

Playing career

Jones played as a cornerback for one season at

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, but then transferred to

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically bla ...

. His playing career ended after his second season with the Morgan State after repeated injuries led to nerve damage.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

After being a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

at Lenoir–Rhyne and coaching safeties at Nicholls State, he was a defensive coordinator for two years at two separate Louisiana high schools. From 2005 to 2009, Jones was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Bowie State University in his home state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. He spent the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

season coaching at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. After a one-year stint coaching the

Montreal Allouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

of the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

, he spent 3 years coaching at Hawaii. He then would spend a year in the Big 10 coaching at

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. Jones then began coaching in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

, where he worked as assistant defensive backs coach for two seasons. The next two years he spent coaching the secondary for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

. In

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

he was the defensive backs coach for the

LSU

Jones was named the defensive coordinator at

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

on January 26, 2021. He was not retained for the following season.

Minnesota Vikings

On February 23, 2022, Jones returned to the

as the team's defensive backs coach for the 2022 season.

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Daronte 1978 births Living people African-American coaches of American football Players of American football from Annapolis, Maryland People from Capitol Heights, Maryland Players of American football from Prince George's County, Maryland Coaches of American football from Maryland American football defensive backs Morgan State Bears football players Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football coaches Nicholls Colonels football coaches High school football coaches in Louisiana Bowie State Bulldogs football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches Wisconsin Badgers football coaches Miami Dolphins coaches Cincinnati Bengals coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches LSU Tigers football coaches 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen