New Safeties Coach Jason Jones Attracted to Indiana by Allen's Passion for the Game and His Players
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Image: Sammy Jacobs
Written by Amanda Pavelka (@amandapavelka3)
With the promotion of former safeties coach Kasey Teegardin to special teams coordinator, Tom Allen did not have to search long to find a viable replacement that would help breed success in his fourth year at the helm of Hoosier football.
The first time Jason Jones and Tom Allen met was in the Dallas area. They crossed paths quite a bit on the recruiting trail in 2012, and in 2013 the two ended up working together— Allen as linebackers and special teams coach and Jones at the head of defense alongside Kane Wommack’s father, Dave, at Ole Miss. It did not take long for Jones to figure out what Allen was about.
"One of the things when I worked with Coach Allen, the biggest thing you learn is that he is passionate. He's passionate. Every day when he comes to work, he's full of energy. You see him on the practice field, he's bouncing around, and like Kevin (Stewart) said, he'll get excited. I've seen him grab guys, tackle them, jump on their backs and coaches and things like that. He brings that energy every single day.” Jones said.
Jones’s clearest memory of how Allen connects with his players came at Ole Miss when one of the linebackers was struggling with things and Allen was there to help the young man through his troubles.
“I've seen him really pour into the lives of his players,” Jones recalled. “When we were together at Ole Miss, we had a linebacker that was a good player that was struggling with some things and I've seen Coach Allen just put his arm around him and bring him into his office and just work with that young man. His whole life changed from the time he got in as a freshman until the time he left as a senior. So that's one of the biggest things that I remember.”
Jones talked about Allen being an impactful football coach, but he himself has an extensive record of success in his 17 years of experience— as a staff member of five conference championship teams, 14 bowl games, two New Year’s Six games, and a Fiesta Bowl championship.
His player development skills were proven in his most recent role as cornerbacks coach at Florida Atlantic University for the 2019 season. Jones coached the Owls that led the nation in interceptions with 22, nine of which FAU CB Meiko Dotson tallied to share the top spot for most interceptions by an FBS player in 2019.
So far, Jones has assisted in developing four Jim Thorpe Award semi-finalists, and a Bronko Naguraski Award finalist, including Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Senquez Golson.
When the coaching position opened up in Bloomington, it was obvious that Jones had the talent and character Allen was looking for to lead the safety corps.
“I have so much respect for Jason,” Allen said. “I was fortunate to work with him for two seasons at Ole Miss. He has worked in the SEC and the Big 12, and he was a part of one of the top defenses in the country last year. Jason’s a great football coach and is the kind of husband, father and man I want in this program.”
The feeling was mutual:
“As a coach, when you have an opportunity to work for not only a good football coach, there's a lot of good football coaches, but when you have that opportunity to work for a great man that's going to win football games and there's also going to be a family atmosphere where your kids are going to be allowed to come to practice and be around the players and be around the team and your wife, it's like a win-win.”
Jones is reunited with several familiar faces in Bloomington— including IU defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Grant Heard, senior director of recruiting Lee Wilbanks, and director of player personnel and high school relations Dwike Wilson, all of whom date back to Jones’ time at Ole Miss.