Incoming football coach ushers in new era

By: Liana Alford

Staff Writer

“With the exception of my two children, [football] means everything,” Hudson Valley Community College’s new head football coach, Don Jones said. “It means absolutely everything.”     

“[Learning that I received the position] was a mixture of excitement,” Jones said. He was excited to get to work and start improving the football team as a whole.  

Jones is not new to the world of football. He has been coaching for 12 – 13 years, at both the high school and junior college levels. Jones coached at Dartmouth College and Delaware State, both of which are Division I schools. He has also had the opportunity to coach at Division II and Division III schools.

Before coaching, Jones started his football career as a football player. Being on the other side of the ball allowed him to relate to his players not only from a coaching perspective but also as a student. He understands the responsibilities of doing classwork, homework and practicing, as well as balancing those tasks.

For Jones, playing football has given him an understanding of the players physical and mental state. His experiences allowed him to push his team past their expectations, as well as past where they believe their line of limitation ends.

“You understand what your men are going through, but you also understand that they can persevere and push through,” he said.

Keith Clark, an Offensive Line Coach at Dartmouth, was a former coworker of Jones. Clark explained that Jones was detailed and helped give a good perspective from an athlete’s point of view.

“He meshed well with our staff and players, held the players accountable and was able to relate with them on providing us with a look at the opposing team,” Clark said.

Through his football player insight and experiences, Jones had not only been able to fine-tune his coaching but also help his players perform at their best. This allowed them to reach that point where they can be more successful than they could have imagined.

Jones explained the importance of understanding what qualities make a good coach.

“You have to love the sport of which you coach,” Jones said. “So, for me, you have to love football,” he continued. “You have to love the sport that you’re in, and you have to have an understanding as to how far you can push your players.”

Over the course of Jones’ coaching career, he has gained an understanding of what it takes to win on various levels. In 2015, while employed with Dartmouth, he competed in the Ivy League Championships and won. Jones also won a conference championship and attended the Graphic Edge Bowl winning twice, once with Iowa Central Community College.

Jones has been fortunate to have been involved in various programs that are successful. Those programs allowed him to establish a culture for what it takes to win.  

“Working with those young men gives you an opportunity to see this is how the culture should be,” he said. “This is how your players should respond [and] this is how you should practice.”

Clark explained why Jones was a great candidate for the head coaching position.

“We were fortunate to be able to hire him with the experience level he had,” he said. “Don worked very hard and I knew that his “grinding” mentality would afford him more opportunities as his career progressed.”

Jones’ burning desire to win and love for football, drives him to aim for success.  Jones actively tries to help each player better themselves, not only on the field but throughout life.