From Player to Mentor: Fred Jones Finds a New Home at Toledo

TOLEDO, Ohio - When Fred Jones looks back on his football career, he remembers more than the games, championships and lessons learned on the field.

He remembers the people.

"The coaches in my life, they were mentors. They were like father figures," said Jones. "My coaches were the ones taking me home sometimes, guiding me through and making a difference."

Those experiences helped shape Jones' path into coaching. Now, as Toledo's running backs coach, he hopes to be that same kind of mentor for the next generation of student-athletes.

"Fred's ability to develop multiple players and have those players ready when their numbers are called has contributed to our overall success running the football," said Toledo head coach Mike Jacobs. "He is one of the best relationship builders I have been around and has put together one of the deepest running back rooms in the G6."

For Jones, coaching was never necessarily the original plan.

Growing up near Augusta, Ga., Jones played his first organized football at Greenbriar High School. After a strong senior season in which he was named county player of the year and earned all-region honors, he continued his career at Tusculum College in 2007.

Jones was a slot receiver in a true Air Raid offense, with injuries eventually moving him to running back, a position that introduced him to a different side of the game at the line of scrimmage. He learned protections, slide calls and how to understand what defenses were trying to do.

Tusculum went on to win a conference championship, and during Jones' junior season, the offense ranked No. 1 in the nation. While he was learning football, Jones was also trying to figure out what he wanted to do after college.

He initially planned to pursue occupational therapy after shadowing an occupational therapist, but he changed majors several times. Eventually, his girlfriend at the time—and now his wife, Shannin—asked him a simple question: Why not coach?

The idea made sense. Jones had experienced firsthand the impact a coach could have beyond the football field.

"I want to be that person for the next generation," he said.

He changed his major to physical education, with the goal of becoming a certified teacher and coaching at the high school level. Instead, his path quickly led to college football.

Jones began student coaching at Tusculum in 2012. A year later, former Tusculum defensive coordinator Kevin Weston took the head coaching job at Clark Atlanta and brought Jones along as a graduate assistant. Jones had already gained experience running the weight room and helping with film, and he continued building his coaching career from there.

More than a decade later, Jones finds himself in Toledo—12 hours from the Georgia home where he had spent his entire coaching career before joining the Rockets. The move north represented a significant change, but the opportunity was one Jones couldn't pass up.

Toledo is the first program he's encountered with such a long football history and tradition. At previous stops (Clark Atlanta, Reinhardt and Mercer), Jones had been part of programs where coaches and players were helping establish or build tradition.

Toledo was different.

"You've got history to uphold. The tradition is here," said Jones. "You've got people who've been around forever. It's one of those places where, if you get a chance to coach here, it's a no-brainer."

Jones had spent his entire life in Georgia, so preparing for a Toledo winter required some new equipment.

"I need real coats," he joked. "I need snow boots."

The bigger adjustment, however, has been embracing everything that comes with starting over in a new place. That newness includes coaching in the Glass Bowl, where Jones was eager to experience the atmosphere and the generations of Toledo fans who have made the stadium part of the program's identity.

For a coach who entered the profession because others made such a lasting impact on him, the opportunity carries significance beyond football. Jones has spent his career learning from coaches, building relationships with players and helping develop young men.

Now, in a new city and a new program, he has another opportunity to do what inspired him to become a coach in the first place.

To be there for the next generation.

From Player to Mentor: Fred Jones Finds a New Home at Toledo

Related News

Related Videos

Footer