Chris Jones (born September 25, 1967) is an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach. He was previously the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

and Edmonton Eskimos/Elks. Jones previously served as the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

Montreal Alouettes 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 ...

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

and

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

before becoming a head coach. Jones won four

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

titles with four teams between 2002 and 2015.

College career

Born in

South Pittsburg, Tennessee South Pittsburg is a city in Marion County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN– GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,106 at the 2020 census. South Pittsburg is home to the National Cornbread Fes ...

, Jones played college football for the

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is part of the University of Tennessee System. History UTC was founde ...

as a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album) or the title song, 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album) or the title song, 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album) or the title song, 1992 *''Walk On'', by Kellie Coffey, 200 ...

, and received little playing time. Instead, he began focusing on a coaching career.

Coaching career

NCAA career

Jones began his coaching career at North Jackson High School in

Stevenson, Alabama Stevenson is a city in Jackson County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Chattanooga-Cleveland-Dalton, TN-GA-AL Combined Statistical Area. Sources listed either 1866 or 1867 as the year of incorporation, but that seems to conflict ...

, helping the team win a state championship in 1993. He began coaching NCAA football at

Tennessee Tech University Tennessee Technological University (commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech) is a Public university, public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of D ...

in 1995, where he served as a graduate assistant under head coach Jim Ragland. After serving one season as a graduate assistant at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

, he joined the

University of Tennessee at Martin The University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee, United States. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outsi ...

coaching staff as a defensive line coach in 1998. He returned to Tennessee Tech in 1999 as a defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.

Early CFL career

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 the

helping Montreal win the

90th Grey Cup The 90th Grey Cup was the 2002 CFL season, 2002 Canadian Football League championship game played between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Montreal Alouettes on November 24 at Commonwealth Stadium, in Edmonton, Alberta. The Alouettes defeated the Eski ...

. He remained there until 2007. In 2008, he was named defensive coordinator of the

, which won the

96th Grey Cup The 96th Grey Cup was held in Montreal, Quebec at Olympic Stadium on November 23, 2008. The East Division champion Montreal Alouettes hosted the West Division champion Calgary Stampeders. The Stampeders won the game 22–14, with quarterback Hen ...

, and was promoted to Assistant Coach in 2010. He later joined the

as Defensive Coordinator and was part of the team that won the

100th Grey Cup The 100th Grey Cup was a Canadian football game between the East Division champion Toronto Argonauts and the West Division champion Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League to decide the Grey Cup champions of the 2012 season. The ga ...

Edmonton Eskimos

Jones was named head coach of the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

in November 2013. After a 12-6 2014 season, he was nominated for

CFL Coach of the Year The Annis Stukus Trophy is a Canadian Football League trophy, which is presented annually by the Edmonton Eskimos Alumni Association to the Coach of the Year, as determined by the members of the Football Reporters of Canada. The Trophy is named aft ...

. Jones was nominated as the

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

representative for coach of the year in 2015 after winning 14 of the 18 regular season games. The East representative and winner was former Eskimos assistant coach Rick Campbell. Jones' Eskimos were victorious over the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

in the

103rd Grey Cup The 103rd Grey Cup was a Canadian football game that was played on November 29, 2015 between the East Division champion Ottawa Redblacks and the West Division champion Edmonton Eskimos to decide the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship f ...

game. Following the season the divisional rival

were given permission by GM

Ed Hervey Edward Hervey (born May 4, 1973) is an American former professional football wide receiver who is the general manager for the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played in the CFL for the Edmonton Eskimos for eight years and ...

to entering into negotiations to fill their vacant head coaching position.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On December 7, 2015, a mere week after winning the 2015 Grey Cup, it was announced that Jones would be the new

and head coach of the

. After a disappointing 3–15 season in 2015 Jones took over in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and things got off to a poor start, as the team won only one of their first 11 games. However, down the stretch they won four of the remaining seven games to finish with a record of 5–13.

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

saw the Riders return to being a competitive team, as the club qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2014. After defeating the

in a crossover playoff game the Riders were bested by the

who went on to win the

105th Grey Cup The 105th Grey Cup was played on November 26, 2017, between the Calgary Stampeders and the Toronto Argonauts at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. In a re-match of the 100th Grey Cup, the Argonauts won the game 27–24, winning their 17th cham ...

. Following the season the Riders extended Jones' contract through the

2019 CFL season The 2019 CFL season was the 66th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 62nd Canadian Football League season. The regular season began on June 13 and concluded with the playing of the 107th Grey Cup in Calgary on Novem ...

. Jones and the Riders continued to improve in the 2018 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.

Cleveland Browns

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 the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

as their Senior Defensive Specialist. After one season, Jones was removed from the coaching staff with the hire of new head coach

Kevin Stefanski Kevin Lawrence Stefanski (born May 8, 1982) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career as an assistant coach for the ...

and placed in an office position for the 2020 season.

South Pittsburg High School

In April 2021, Jones was named the head coach of his high school Alma Mater, the South Pittsburg Pirates in

Marion County, Tennessee Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,837. Its county seat is Jasper. Marion County is part of the Chattanooga, AL– TN– GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Marion Co ...

. He notably ended the school's nearly century-old rivalry game with neighboring Marion 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. Jones resigned from the position on September 13 after coaching only one game, a win against

Sequatchie County High School Sequatchie County High School (SCHS) is a public high school in Dunlap, Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United ...

, in order to return to a defensive position with the Toronto Argonauts.

Toronto Argonauts

On September 21, 2021, the

announced they had hired Chris Jones as a defensive consultant.

Edmonton Elks

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 renamed

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division (CFL), West Division and plays their home games at Commonw ...

. After a disappointing 2022 season in which the team won only four games and lost 14 the Elks lost their first six games of the 2023 season. With Jones on the hot-seat Elks president

Victor Cui Victor Cui () is a Canadian sports executive who most recently was the president and CEO of the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League from 2022 to 2023. Cui was previously the co-founder and CEO of ONE Championship (ONE), a mixed martial ...

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. 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 the 2024 season, Jones was fired on July 15, 2024.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

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 the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

, replacing the dismissed Mark Washington who had been the team's

Personal life

Jones has a son from his first

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

and two

daughters A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state, condition or quality of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show re ...

with his second wife.

CFL head coaching record

References

External links

CFL coaching record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Chris 1966 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Calgary Stampeders coaches Chattanooga Mocs football players Cleveland Browns coaches Edmonton Elks coaches Hamilton Tiger-Cats coaches Las Vegas Gladiators coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches Saskatchewan Roughriders general managers Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football coaches Tennessee Technological University alumni Toronto Argonauts coaches UT Martin Skyhawks football coaches High school football coaches in Alabama People from South Pittsburg, Tennessee Sportspeople from Marion County, Tennessee