James Jones joined the Northern Colorado Football's coaching staff in January 2011 as the Bears' special-teams coordinator and defensive line coach. His appointment immediately paid dividends as redshirt-freshman Devontae Chapple earned a spot in Jones' first year on the College Sports Journal All=Freshman All-America team for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.

Jones held the defensive line coaching position at Dartmouth the last two years after coaching tight ends for the Big Green in 2008. He was also a member of the Dartmouth staff in 2005, coaching the defensive line.

While at Dartmouth, he had two First-Team All-Conference selections in Anthony Garguilo (2005) and Charles Bay (2010). He also helped the Big Green improve from 116th in the FCS in sacks in 2009 to 15th in 2010, thanks in part to Bay who led the Ivy League in quarterback sacks. Dartmouth also improved from 117th in 2009 to 49th in 2010 in rush defense, an improvement of 68 spots.

He left Dartmouth in 2006 to become coach of tight ends and assistant coach of special teams at Kansas State. In 2007, he was defensive line coach and special teams coordinator at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Ky.

Jones has more than a decade of college coaching experience. Prior to Dartmouth, he was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Prairie View A&M University in Texas. In 2003, Jones was the defensive line coach at Texas Southern University in Houston, following a three-year stint at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y.

Jones was the strength and conditioning coordinator while at Wagner (2000-02). He was also defensive line coach (2000, 2002), defensive coordinator (2001) and special teams coordinator (2000).

In 1999, Jones was the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Cornell after spending the 1998 season at Morehouse College in Atlanta as the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.

As a graduate assistant at Bowling Green in 1997, Jones worked with the defensive line while also working with the defensive coordinator. As an undergraduate at Texas Southern in 1996, Jones coached the defensive tackles.

Jones received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Texas Southern in 1998 and completed a master’s degree in education at Wagner in 2002.

Twice Jones has had works of his published by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). First, his piece entitled, “A Defensive Code of Divine Guidance” was printed in American Football Monthly in December 2001, and most recently his work entitled, “Defensive Line Winning Edge” was included in the AFCA’s 2009 Technical Manual.

He and his wife, Shondrela, have two sons, James IV and Weslyn, and a daughter, Jzunie.