Michael Anthony Jones (born April 15, 1969) is 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 wi ...

coach and former

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, ...

who is the wide receivers coach for the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He played college football at

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

from 1987 to 1990. He played 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 ...

(NFL) for 13 seasons from 1991 to 2002 with his longest tenure as player with the Oakland Raiders. He played for three teams: the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, 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 from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, but is best known for making the game-saving tackle in

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis ...

. He then served as the head coach of the

Lincoln Blue Tigers The Lincoln Blue Tigers are the sports teams of Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. The Blue Tigers participate at the NCAA Division II level in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA). Lincoln competed in the MIAA fr ...

(2011–2016).

College

Jones attended college at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

, where he played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

. He set the school record for most career receptions by a running back with 72.

Playing career

Jones was undrafted in the 1991 NFL Draft, but signed with the Raiders as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

, and switched to the linebacker position. Between his rookie and second seasons as a Raider, Jones played for the

Sacramento Surge The Sacramento Surge was a professional American football team that played in the World League of American Football (WLAF) in 1991 and 1992. The team played its first season at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, and the second season in Hornet Stad ...

of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally ...

where he was the starting middle linebacker for the Surge team that won 1992

World Bowl II World Bowl '92 (also referred to as World Bowl II) was the second championship game of the World League of American Football (WLAF), played on Saturday, June 6, 1992 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 43,789 witnessed the matchup betw ...

. He was the Raiders leading tackler in the 1995 and 1996 seasons. Perhaps what Jones is remembered most for is what he did during the final play of

, which became known as

The Tackle Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis R ...

, when he tackled then-

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

receiver Kevin Dyson at the one-yard line to preserve a Rams victory. During the 1999 regular season that year, he recorded one sack and four

interception 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 ...

s, which he returned for 96 yards and two

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

. He also recovered two fumbles, returning them for a combined 51 yards and one for a touchdown. Jones was cut by the Rams following the 2000 season as part of a salary cap purge of high priced veterans. Jones then signed with the Steelers. Jones finished his 12 seasons with nine sacks, eight interceptions, 132 return yards, five fumble recoveries, 94 return yards, and four touchdowns (two interceptions and two fumble recoveries) in 183 games.

Coaching

After retiring as a player, Jones spent six seasons coaching

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, part ...

Hazelwood East High School Hazelwood East High School is one of three high schools in the Hazelwood School District, St. Louis County, Missouri, the others being Hazelwood West High School and Hazelwood Central High School. It is at 11300 Dunn Road in Spanish Lake, Missour ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. He led the team to a state title as 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 assoc ...

in 2008. In 2010, he coached the linebackers at Southern University in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

. He was the head football coach at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. Jones is now the head coach at St. Louis University High School. Jones was also on ''

NFL Top 10 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 ma ...

s "Top Ten One Shot Wonders" at #10.

Head coaching record

*Jones was fired by Lincoln prior to the fifth game.

References

External links

Lincoln profile

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Mike 1969 births Living people American football linebackers Lincoln Blue Tigers football coaches Los Angeles Raiders players Missouri Tigers football players Oakland Raiders players Pittsburgh Steelers players Sacramento Surge players Southern Jaguars football coaches St. Louis Rams players Players of American football from Kansas City, Missouri African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople High school football coaches in Missouri Birmingham Stallions (2022) coaches Ed Block Courage Award recipients