Mount Pleasant, MI - Central Michigan University named
West Virginia wide receivers coach Butch Jones as its new head football coach
on Friday.
Jones, who takes over for interim coach Jeff Quinn, previously spent seven
seasons on the Chippewa staff as an assistant coach before leaving for West
Virginia in 2005. The hiring marks Jones' first head coaching job at any
level.
'It's an honor and a privilege to be the head football coach at Central
Michigan University,' Jones said. 'It's a program that now has national
prominence, and along with that, a program that has the support of the
administration, faculty, students and alumni.'
A Michigan native, Jones served as CMU's tight ends coach in 1998 and wide
receivers coach in 1999. He then spent the next three seasons as running backs
coach before departing for West Virginia, where he spent the 2005 and 2006
campaigns as an assistant coach.
The 2005 Mountaineers finished with an 11-1 mark, capping their season with a
38-35 victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. They were fifth in the final
Associated Press Top 25 Poll, scoring at least 38 points in five of their last
six games.
'Butch has all the skills to be a highly successful head coach,' director of
athletics Dave Heeke said. 'As we went through the entire interview process,
it continued to become more and more clear that Butch Jones was the right man
for this job. He will provide the leadership necessary to help take our
program to the next level - winning consistently and competing for
championships on an annual basis.'
A 1990 graduate of Ferris State University, Jones was a two-year letterman on
the football team before suffering a career-ending knee injury. He interned
with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1987-90 and started his coaching career as
a graduate assistant at Rutgers from 1990-92.
Jones, 38, left Rutgers to become the offensive coordinator at Wilkes
University from 1992-95 and returned to Ferris State from 1995-97. Two of
those seasons he was Ferris' offensive coordinator, and also helped guide FSU
to two Midwestern Intercollegiate Football Championships.
According to the Detroit News, Jones and Penn State linebackers coach Ron
Vanderlinden were the front-runners for the head coaching position.
Central Michigan, fresh off its first Mid-American Conference title since
1994, ended the regular season with a 10-4 record, including 7-1 in the MAC.
The Chippewas defeated Ohio, 31-10, in the MAC Championship Game at Ford Field
on November 30th. The team returned to Ford Field on December 26th, handing
Middle Tennessee State a 31-14 defeat in the Motor City Bowl for the program's
first Division I-A bowl victory.
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