Eddie Lewis Jones, Jr. (born January 11, 1988) is a former

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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and was signed 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2011. Jones has also been a member of the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

High school career

Jones was considered one of the nation's best defensive linemen coming out of

Kilgore High School Kilgore High School is a public high school located in the city of Kilgore, Gregg County, Texas, United States and classified as a 4A school by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). It is a part of the Kilgore Independent School District ...

in 2006. Jones made all-state honorable mention as a sophomore, and was named District 17-4A Defensive Newcomer of the Year with 84

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

(six for a loss), six sacks, eight passes broken up, three forced

fumbles 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 ...

, and two fumble recoveries. As a junior Jones was named first-team all-state by The Associated Press and Texas Sports Writers Association, and was selected as the District 17-4A MVP. His junior year stats were 131 tackles (ten for a loss), 11 sacks, 11 passes broken up, and one forced fumble. He helped Kilgore to the 2004 4A State Championship and a 16–0 record, and had 11 tackles and two sacks in the title game win over Dallas Lincoln. In his senior year Jones was named first-team 4A all-state by The Associated Press and the Texas Sports Writers Association, a Parade All-American, and first-team All-USA by USA Today. He was selected again as the District 17-4A MVP after helping Kilgore to an 11–2 record with 95 tackles (11 for a loss), 11 sacks, six passes broken up, four forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, and a blocked punt which he returned for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. Jones' career high school stats include 310 tackles (including 27 tackles for a loss), 28 sacks, 25 passes broken up, eight forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries, 30 pressures and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. An all-around athlete, Jones lettered for the Kilgore basketball and baseball teams for three years.

College career

At Texas, Jones was a five-year defensive end who

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his first year in 2006. As a redshirt freshman in 2007, Jones appeared in 11 games at defensive end and on special teams, helping UT to sixth in the nation in rushing defense. As a sophomore in 2008, Jones played in all 13 UT games at defensive end and on special teams, helping UT rank first in the Big 12 and 18th in the nation in scoring defense and third in the nation in rushing defense. Jones appeared in all 14 UT games during his junior year in 2009 at defensive end and on special teams, helping UT rank 12th nationally in scoring defense and third in total defense. His junior stats included 23 tackles (16 solo and seven for a loss), five sacks, one interception (which he returned for a touchdown) and forced one fumble. In 2010, Jones played in all 12 UT games during his senior year at defensive end and on special teams. He started eight games, and was an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection by the Associated Press, while helping the UT defense rank sixth nationally in total defense and passing defense. He had 52 tackles (32 solo and ten for a loss), six sacks, and one forced fumble. For his UT career, Jones appeared in 50 games, logging 111 tackles (71 solo and 24 for a loss), 13.5 sacks, two interceptions, three passes broken up, and two forced fumbles. He also had five special-teams tackles (three solo). While at UT, he graduated with a degree in youth and community studies and began working towards a second degree in physical culture and sport.

Professional career

New York Jets

After going undrafted in the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

, Jones was signed by the

on August 9, 2011. He was waived September 2. Jones was signed to the team's

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on September 28. Jones was promoted to the active roster on October 8, 2011, after linebacker Bryan Thomas was placed on injured reserve with a torn Achilles tendon. He was released on October 11 but was re-signed to the practice squad two days later. He was released on October 31. Jones was re-signed to the practice squad on November 21. He was released on November 28.

St. Louis Rams

Jones was signed to the St. Louis Rams' practice squad on November 29, 2011. Jones was released two days later to make room for quarterback Tom Brandstater.

Second stint with the Jets

The Jets signed Jones to a reserve/future contract on January 9, 2012. He was waived on May 22, 2012.

Coaching career

Hyde Park Baptist (TAPPS)

In 2013, Jones began his coaching career as a Defensive Line Coach at Hyde Park Baptist Football.

Blinn Junior College

In 2015, Jones was hired as the Linebackers coach at Blinn Junior College. In 2016, Jones was promoted to Defensive Coordinator & Special Teams Coordinator for the Buccaneers. From 2017 - 2019 Jones Served as Co - Defensive Coordinator and Special Teams Coordinator for the Buccaneers.

Tarleton State University

On February 18, 2019, Jones was hired by Tarleton State as their Defensive Line Coach with duties on Special Teams. In his debut season at Tarleton, Jones made an immediate impact by coaching a pair of defensive linemen to All-American status. He helped guide the Tarleton defense to its second straight undefeated regular season and Lone Star Conference (LSC) Championship and went to the NCAA Division II playoffs. Under Jones’ leadership, Tarleton defensive lineman B.J. Jefferson was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Year and Jordan Wells was tabbed the LSC Defensive Lineman of the Year. Both went on to earn All-America accolades and Jefferson became the highest finisher in school history in the Gene Upshaw Award list. Jefferson was the national runner-up for the Gene Upshaw award. Jefferson and Wells were both named nominees to for the Cliff Harris Small College Defensive Player of the Year award. In 2021, when Tarleton State moved up to Division I, Jones became the outside linebackers coach and assisting special teams coach and in 2022 he was the running backs coach. He left Tarleton State to work as a prison guard in February 2023.

References

External links

TarletonTexas Longhorns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Eddie 1988 births Living people People from Henderson, Texas Sportspeople from Rusk County, Texas American football defensive ends Texas Longhorns football players New York Jets players St. Louis Rams players Kilgore High School alumni Sportspeople from Kilgore, Texas People from Kilgore, Texas