Marvin Maurice Jones (born June 28, 1972) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

player who was a

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL) for eleven seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. Jones played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivi ...

and was recognized as an All-American twice. He was drafted in the first round of the

1993 NFL Draft The 1993 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...

by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

and he played his entire professional career for the Jets. In 2018, Jones was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

for the

Cedar Rapids Titans The Cedar Rapids River Kings were a professional indoor football team based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The River Kings joined the Indoor Football League (IFL) as an expansion team in 2011 as the Cedar Rapids Titans and first took the field for the 20 ...

in the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

(IFL) and served as head coach of the

Omaha Beef The Omaha Beef is an indoor football team and a charter member of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, the Beef play their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston. History First 13 se ...

in the

Champions Indoor Football Champions Indoor Football (CIF) is a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2014 out of the merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and Lone Star Football League (LSFL), plus one team fr ...

(CIF) from 2020-2022. Beginning in 2023, Jones will be the head coach of the IFL's

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

Early years

Marvin Jones was born in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
Marvin Jones
Retrieved February 16, 2012. He graduated from

Miami Northwestern High School Miami Northwestern Senior High School is a public four-year high school located in Miami, Florida, United States History Academics Northwestern has long been known for its academic challenges; however, the school has shown an unprecedented ...

,databaseFootball.com, Players
Marvin Jones
. Retrieved February 16, 2012. where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

for the Northwestern Bulls.

College career

While attending

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

(FSU), Jones played for coach

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

Seminoles The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and ...

team from 1990 to 1992. The Seminoles finished 10–2 in 1991 and 11–1 in 1992, winning the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

(ACC) championship in the latter, Florida State's first season in the league. Jones was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American in both 1991 and 1992, and won the Rotary Lombardi Award and was honored by ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' as its College Football Player of the Year in 1992. He decided to forgo his remaining college eligibility and enter the NFL Draft. The Seminoles inducted him into the FSU Hall of Fame in 2000.FSU Hall of Fame, Football
Marvin Jones
. Retrieved February 16, 2012. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...

as part of its 2022 class.

Professional career

The New York Jets selected Jones in the first round, fourth overall pick, of the

, and he played for the Jets from to .Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Marvin Jones
Retrieved February 16, 2012. Nicknamed "Shade Tree" by his teammates, Jones recorded a career high 137

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

in . In eleven seasons, Jones played in 142 NFL regular season games, started 129 of them, and compiled 1,021 tackles, nine sacks, five

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

for 42 yards, 31 pass deflections, ten forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

s, and eight fumble recoveries. Jones signed a one-day contract with the Jets to retire following the season.

Coaching career

Jones was the linebackers coach of the

Brooklyn Bolts The Brooklyn Bolts were a professional American football team based in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. They were a charter member of the Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL), which was trying to become the developmental league for the Natio ...

of the

Fall Experimental Football League The Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL) was a professional football minor league that played two seasons in 2014 and 2015. This league's stated goal was to become a professional feeder-system for the National Football League (NFL). The lea ...

in 2014. He was the interim

for the

Colorado Crush The Colorado Crush were an arena football team based in Denver, Colorado. They began play as a 2003 Arena Football League expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspen ...

of the

(IFL) in 2017. He initially took the defensive coordinator position with the Richmond Roughriders of the

American Arena League The American Arena League (AAL) is a professional indoor football minor league that began playing in 2018. The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and the Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am), although the AAL on ...

for the 2018 season, but was named the head coach of the

of the IFL in January 2018 prior to either 2018 season beginning. Jones went on to become the Defensive Coordinator of the

and later became the interim Head Coach for the Beef in 2019. The

shortly after the 2019 Champions Indoor Football season removed the interim tag and named Jones Head Coach. After a cancelled 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jones and the Beef won the sixth Champions Bowl and the team's first ever league title. On September 14, 2022, the

announced that Jones would be their head coach for the Oilers' inaugural 2023 season.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Jones started the Marvin Jones Charitable Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting and motivating youth towards success by engaging them in positive experiences through academics, community involvement and sports.Charity.com, Children & Yout
Marvin Jones Charitable Foundation
. Retrieved February 16, 2012. Jones holds a B.S in Sociology from

Charter Oak State College Charter Oak State College is a public online college based in New Britain, Connecticut. The college was founded in 1973 by the Connecticut Legislature and offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees. The college is adjacent to Central Con ...

, and diplomas in counseling and herbal medicine from the Institute of Natural Healing. He lives in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Marvin 1972 births Living people All-American college football players American football linebackers Charter Oak State College alumni Florida State Seminoles football players New York Jets players Miami Northwestern Senior High School alumni Players of American football from Miami Indoor Football League coaches Fall Experimental Football League coaches Indoor American football coaches Coaches of American football from Florida Sports coaches from Miami Ed Block Courage Award recipients