NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee State Head Coach Rod Reed announced Sunday night that Co-Offensive Coordinator Mike Jones and Running Backs Coach Larry Williams will not return to the coaching staff in 2015.
Jones, a Tennessee State alum , handled play-calling duties from the press box for the last five seasons until he was supplanted by Co-Offensive Coordinator Jeff Parker in week nine.
With Parker calling the plays, the Tigers averaged 450.2 yards and 31 points per game, up from 378.5 and 26 under Jones.
Jones’ coaching career includes head coaching duties with the Frankfurt Galaxy (2004-07). While in Germany, Jones’ teams appeared in three championship games, winning one in 2006. The same season he was named NFL Europe Coach of the Year.
He later coached in four World Bowl games as Offensive Coordinator with the Rhein Fire (1998, 2000, 2002-03), winning two in 1998 & 2000.
Jones also coached in the short-lived XFL.
The move ends Williams’s two-year stint with the Tigers after his unit did not produce a 1,000 yard rusher for the first time in three seasons.
Williams did coach Tim Broughton who ran for 1,146 yards in 2013, but Big Blue could not find a consistent back this past season as Tom Smith led the squad with just 385 yards.
Before TSU, Williams spent his previous five seasons at Miles College as running back and special team coach.
At Miles College, he helped the Golden Bears win their first SIAC Western Division Title, SIAC Championship Game and Division II SIAC Championship in 2011.
Reed broke the news at a team meeting Sunday afternoon and a search for Jones’s and Williams’s replacements will begin immediately.
