Lawrence McCeney "Biff" Jones (October 8, 1895 – February 12, 1980) was an

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

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as a head coach at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU), the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

, and the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, compiling a career record of 87–33–15. Jones 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 vote ...

as a coach in 1954.

Coaching career

Biff Jones graduated from the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in 1917, and served as an artillery lieutenant in France during the rest of World War I. He returned to West Point in 1926, where he served for four years as head coach of the football team, then was assigned by the army to

to coach the

LSU Tigers football The LSU Tigers football program, also known as the Fighting Tigers, represents Louisiana State University in college football. The Tigers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) an ...

team, beginning with the 1932 season."Biff Jones to Leave Nebraska for West Point." ''Chicago Tribune''.January 24, 1942. Accessed March 10, 1942 At LSU, Jones was head coach for three seasons, and led the team to a

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

Championship in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

. He resigned after the 1934 season after a heated exchange with noted LSU supporter, Louisiana

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Huey P. Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

. In the last game of the season, Long was displeased after the team had lost two straight games and was trailing at halftime to

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Long decided to give a motivational speech to the team at halftime, but was turned away by Jones at the locker room door. The ensuing argument ended with Jones declaring to resign, effective at the end of the game. LSU won the game 14–13. The army then assigned him to serve as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners football team, where he served during 1935 and 1936. This assignment ended when the military transferred him to a new position that had no connection with football. Jones retired from the Army with the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 1937, intending to concentrate on his football coaching career. "Lawrence 'Biff' Jones." National Football Foundation Member Biography.Accessed March 10, 2016. In 1937, he left the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

to coach their rival, the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

, replacing coach Dana X. Bible. Jones remained at Nebraska for five years a tallied a 28–14–4 mark. He led Nebraska to its first

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

, the

1941 Rose Bowl The 1941 Rose Bowl was the 27th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Wednesday, January 1. The undefeated and second-ranked Stanford Indians of the Pacific Coast Conference defeated the # ...

, and also coached the second-ever televised college football game. Jones left Nebraska when he was recalled up to service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Death

Biff Jones died February 13, 1980, at his home in

Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place (Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland) that straddle the northwest border of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Several settlements in th ...

. His wife had died in 1978."Lawrence (Biff) Jones, 84 Football Star, Coach Dies." ''Washington Post''. February 13, 1980.
Accessed March 10, 2016.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Biff 1895 births 1980 deaths American football tackles Army Black Knights athletic directors Army Black Knights football players Army Black Knights football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Oklahoma Sooners athletic directors Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers athletic directors Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees American military personnel of World War I United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army officers Coaches of American football from Washington, D.C. Players of American football from Washington, D.C.