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, 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

in 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) for eleven seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. Jones 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 ...

for the

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

and was recognized as a consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

twice. He was selected 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

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 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 ...

for the

Cedar Rapids Titans The Cedar Rapids Titans are a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They are current members of American Indoor Football. The Titans first joined the Indoor Football League (IFL) as an expansi ...

in the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

(IFL) and served as head coach of the

Omaha Beef The Omaha Beef are a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Omaha, Nebraska. The Beef plays their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston, Nebraska, Ralston. The Beef competes in the National ...

in the

Champions Indoor Football Champions Indoor Football (CIF) was 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 Tulsa ...

Early life

Marvin Jones was born in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

.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. The school has struggled with test scores. It has had successful football and track programs and numerous alumni became professional ...

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

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

for the Northwestern Bulls.

College career

While attending

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

(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, ...

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 List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(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 ...

'' 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 Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

as part of its 2022 class.

Professional career

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

. He played for the Jets from to . 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 tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

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 bu ...

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 h ...

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 football (gridiron), professional American football team based in Brooklyn, New York City, New York (state), New York. They were a charter member of the Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL), which was t ...

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 le ...

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 Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

of the

American Arena League The American Arena League (AAL) is a professional Indoor American football, 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 (Ca ...

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's brother Fred Jones and nephew Fredrick Jones both played football at Florida State as well. 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. Charter Oak State College is part ...

, 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 and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...

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 College Football Hall of Fame inductees