Ronnie Joe Jones (born October 17, 1955) 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. He is the head football coach for Northwestern Oklahoma State University; a position he had held since 2023. Jones has served on coaching staffs at numerous colleges and

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) teams. A native of Sunray, Texas, Jones graduated from Sunray High School in 1974. He went on to receive a bachelor's degree from Northwestern Oklahoma State University and a master's degree from

Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of high ...

. While at Northeastern, he began his coaching career. In 1984, he joined John Cooper's staff at the University of Tulsa as strength and conditioning coach and moved with him to Arizona State University a year later. In 1987, he joined

Buddy Ryan James David "Buddy" Ryan (February 17, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). During his 35-season coaching career, Ryan served as the head coach of the ...

's coaching staff with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

. After two stints with the Los Angeles Rams and

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

in 1991 and 1992, respectively, Jones rejoined Ryan as

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, ...

s coach for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

in 1993. As Ryan became head coach for the Arizona Cardinals, he selected Jones as his defensive coordinator. In 1995, Arizona ranked last in total defense in the NFL, giving up 26.4 points and 356.5 total yards per game. Ryan and his complete staff were fired subsequently. Heading back to the collegiate ranks, Jones became defensive coordinator at the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

under coach

Charlie Bailey Charlie Bailey may refer to: * Charlie Bailey (American football) Charlie Bailey (born July 20, 1940) is a former American football coach. He was hired as the head football coach at the University of Memphis in December 1985, where he put togethe ...

. In 2000, Bailey was replaced by

Gary Nord Gary Nord (born June 12, 1957) is a former American football player and coach. Nord was the head football coach as the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) from 2000 to 2003, he compiling a record of 14–34. He led the 2000 UTEP Miners footba ...

, so Jones went on to coach the

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

for the Buffalo Bills. Bills owner

Ralph Wilson Ralph Cookerly Wilson Jr. (October 17, 1918 – March 25, 2014) was an American businessman and sports executive. He was best known as the founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills, a team in the National Football League (NFL). He was one of the fo ...

was unimpressed with Jones's work with the team and demanded Jones's firing after one season; when head coach

Wade Phillips Harold Wade Phillips (born June 21, 1947) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL. He has served as head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys. He has also ser ...

refused, Wilson fired them both. Jones became head coach at

Ottawa University Ottawa University (OU) is a private Baptist university with its main campus in Ottawa, Kansas, a second residential campus in Surprise, Arizona, and adult campuses in the Kansas City, Phoenix and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. It was founded in ...

, a small NAIA school in

Ottawa, Kansas Ottawa (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Kansas, United States. It is located on both banks of the Marais des Cygnes River near the center of Franklin County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the c ...

. Jones was the 27th head coach for the Braves and he held that position for the 2001 season. The Ottawa Braves, coming of a 9–0 season in 2000, finished 6–4 under Jones, who then left for

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on S ...

. Despite making the bold statement that West Texas A&M would win an

NCAA Division II national football championship The NCAA Division II Football Championship is an American college football tournament played annually to determine a champion at the NCAA Division II level. It was first held in 1973, as a single-elimination tournament with eight teams. The tourna ...

under his guidance, Jones amassed only a 5–27 record as Buffaloes head coach.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ronnie 1955 births Living people American strength and conditioning coaches Arizona Cardinals coaches Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Houston Oilers coaches Los Angeles Raiders coaches Los Angeles Rams coaches National Football League defensive coordinators Northeastern State RiverHawks football coaches Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers football coaches Ottawa Braves football coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches UTEP Miners football coaches West Texas A&M Buffaloes football coaches High school football coaches in Texas Northeastern State University alumni Northwestern Oklahoma State University alumni People from Dumas, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas