Arkansas State University

Butch Jones was announced as the Red Wolves’ 31st all-time head football coach on December 12, 2020.

Jones not only brought 11 years of head-coaching experience at the NCAA FBS level with him to Jonesboro after previous stops leading the football programs at Tennessee (2013-17), Cincinnati (2010-12) and Central Michigan (2007-09), but he also spent three seasons (2018-20) working as part of Nick Saban’s staff at national-power Alabama.

During Jones’ 13 seasons serving as a head coach, his teams have combined to win four conference championships, play in eight bowl games and finish ranked in the AP Top 25 five times. He has coached a total of 96 all-conference honorees and 27 NFL Draft picks, including All-Pro selections Alvin Kamara, Travis Kelce, Nick Bellore and Antonio Brown.

Last season, Jones saw eight players combine for nine all-conference selections, led by true-freshman place-kicker Dominic Zvada. A Lou Groza Award semifinalist, Zvada broke the Sun Belt Conference single-season record by a true freshman for points by kicking with 81, the ninth-most in school history. Among the nine All-Sun Belt picks were four offensive players, two defensive players and two specialists.

Jones guided 10 players to 11 all-conference selections in 2021, led by Alan Lamar’s first team selection as a kick returner after posting a school and Sun Belt Conference-record 1,333 kickoff return yards.  Among the 11 All-Sun Belt picks were five offensive players who helped the Red Wolves rank 11th in the country in passing yards per game.

Since his arrival in Jonesboro, Jones has made an immediate impact on the recruiting trail. In back-to-back recruiting classes, 2022 and 2023, the recruiting class not only ranked as the best in school history, but was also listed No. 1 in the Sun Belt by both 247Sports and Rivals and among the top-10 in the Group of Five both years.

In 2020, Jones served as the Special Assistant to the Head Coach at Alabama, helping the Crimson Tide post an unblemished 13-0 record on their way to claiming the National Championship. He was also an offensive analyst for the program in 2018 and 2019 as it compiled a combined 25-3 record. The 2018 team played in the CFP national championship game, while the 2019 squad capped off the year with a 35-16 win over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl to finish ranked No. 8 in the final AP Top 25 poll.

Prior to Alabama, Jones spent a five-year stint at the University of Tennessee, collecting 34 wins and leading the Volunteers to bowl wins three times. He inherited a program that hadn’t won a bowl game since 2007 and proceeded to direct the Vols to three consecutive bowl game victories for the first time in over 20 years (1994-96).

While Tennessee didn’t have any Top-25 finishes the five seasons prior to Jones’ arrival, he led the program to a pair of Top-25 rankings in both the final AP Poll and Coaches Poll in 2015 and 2016.  Following the 2016 campaign, which saw Tennessee defeat both Florida and Georgia in the same season for the first time in 15 years, the Vols had six NFL Draft selections taken within the first four rounds for the first time since the 2001 season.

During his time in Knoxville, Jones was one of just three SEC head coaches to post back-to-back seasons with at least nine victories.  Heading into his final season at Tennessee, he had the second most wins by a head coach in the conference behind only Saban.

Focusing on the complete student-athlete, Jones helped mentor over 200 academic all-conference winners and 100-plus academic honor roll recipients while in Knoxville. Under his direction, every academic record in Tennessee history was broken with 85-plus players earning their degrees.  In addition to Tennessee, both Cincinnati and Central Michigan also posted the highest graduation rates and team GPAs in school history while under Jones’ leadership as head coach.

Jones took over the Tennessee program after spending the 2010-12 seasons as Cincinnati’s head coach. The Bearcats compiled a 23-14 record in his three seasons while also winning the Big East title in 2011 and 2012. Jones was named the league’s Coach of the Year after Cincinnati’s 10-win season in 2011, while also earning the same honor from CBSSports.com in 2012 after his squad captured its second consecutive bowl victory and finished in the Top 25.

Jones was also the head coach at Central Michigan from 2007-09, winning 27 contests and leading the Chippewas to the 2007 and 2009 Mid-American Conference (MAC) titles. His three-year stint in Mount Pleasant saw Central Michigan compile a 22-3 MAC record, make three consecutive bowl-game appearances and post a No. 23 postseason ranking in 2009. Jones was the only head coach to lead the program to consecutive bowl games, as well as the first in the history of the MAC to do so in his first three seasons.

Prior to making his second stop at Central Michigan, Jones was the wide receivers coach at West Virginia from 2005-06. While coaching in Morgantown, WVU combined to post a 22-3 record, including a Sugar Bowl win over Georgia and Gator Bowl victory against Georgia Tech.

Jones served as an assistant at Central Michigan for seven years from 1998-2004. During that time, he served as offensive coordinator (2002-04), running backs coach (1999-2004) and as tight ends coach (1998).

He was also the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Ferris State, from 1995-97 and at Wilkes University from 1993-94 while also serving as an assistant at Rutgers from 1990-92. His original entry into the coaching ranks was as an intern with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1987-89.

Jones is a 1990 graduate of Ferris State University in Michigan. Jones and his wife, Barb, are the parents of three sons – Alex, Adam and Andrew.