Michael Anthony Jones (born April 14, 1960) is an American former

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

player and coach. He played professionally as wide receiver 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 seven season with five different teams: the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

(1983–1985),

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

(1986–1987),

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

(1988),

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

(1989), and

(1989). Jones played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

and returned to his alma mater to serve as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

from 2010 to 2014.

Playing career

Born in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, Jones graduated from Riverside High School in Chattanooga. He played

. Jones then had a seven-year career as a

wide receiver from 1983 to 1989, playing with the

and the

Coaching career

Jones began his pro coaching career as an assistant coach with the

Rhein Fire Rhein may refer to: Places * Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no) * Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland Ships * SM ...

of NFL Europa. As an assistant, he spent five years with the Fire in two spells, reaching the

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

on four occasions. From 1998 to 2000 he was the team's wide receivers coach, with the Rhein winning the league championship in 1998 and 2000. Jones spent the 2001 season as an assistant with

Galen Hall Galen Samuel Hall (born August 14, 1940) is a retired American college and professional football coach and player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football. Hall was previously t ...

Orlando Rage The Orlando Rage was an American football team based in Orlando, Florida as part of the XFL, begun by Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Federation and by NBC, a major television network in the United States. History The team's colors were sc ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

. After a one-year hiatus, Jones returned to the Fire as

in 2002. The Fire returned to the World Bowl in 2002 and 2003, losing to German rivals

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. Following Galaxy head coach

Doug Graber Douglas Graber (born September 26, 1944) is a former American football coach. He graduated from Wayne State University (1966) in Detroit, Michigan. He began his coaching career at St. Frances Cabrini Elementary School and High School in Allen Par ...

's resignation following the 2003 season, Jones was named Graber's replacement. In his four seasons as Frankfurt's head coach, Jones guided the team to the World Bowl three times, winning

World Bowl XIV World Bowl XIV, officially known as Yello Strom World Bowl XIV, was the 2006 championship game of the NFL Europe League. It was held at the LTU arena in Düsseldorf, Germany on Saturday, May 27, 2006. The game was between the defending World Bowl ...

in 2006. The league subsequently folded following the 2007 season. On November 28, 2007, Jones was named head coach of

Team Alabama The All American Football League (AAFL) was a proposed professional american football minor league. The league, which was to combine a professional pay structure with the requirement that all players be college graduates, had originally been sch ...

of the

All American Football League The All American Football League (AAFL) was a proposed professional american football minor league. The league, which was to combine a professional pay structure with the requirement that all players be college graduates, had originally been sch ...

. However, the league's inaugural season was postponed for financial reasons. On February 2, 2009, Jones was named the receivers coach for the

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

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL).

Personal life

Jones is married and has three children; his son Chandler Jones played college football at

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

and later went on to the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

References

External links

East Central CC profile

Tennessee State profile

Toronto Argonauts profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Mike 1960 births Living people American football wide receivers Frankfurt Galaxy coaches Minnesota Vikings players New Orleans Saints players Rhein Fire coaches Tennessee State Tigers football coaches Tennessee State Tigers football players Toronto Argonauts coaches Orlando Rage coaches High school football coaches in Florida Junior college football coaches in the United States Sportspeople from Chattanooga, Tennessee Coaches of American football from Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople