The Morgan State University Bears are adding a new coach to their team that is quite familiar with playing football in Maryland! Get the full scoop in a new story from sports writer Daniel Oyefusi at The Baltimore Sun below!
Former Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones is joining Morgan State football as the program’s tight ends coach, coach Tyrone Wheatley confirmed Monday.
Jones, famously known in Baltimore for his heroics in the “Mile High Miracle” during the 2012 divisional-round game against the Denver Broncos and an NFL-record-tying 108-yard kickoff return touchdown in Super Bowl XLVII, was with Calvert Hall this past season as its wide receivers coach. He also served as an assistant coach at his alma mater Lane College.
In a phone interview, Wheatley called Jones a “really good young coach” who can “identify and relate to young guys nowadays but also give them the truth.”
Wheatley said he formed a connection with Jones through mutual contacts. They both knew Kingston Davis, a former Michigan running back who was coached by Wheatley before landing at Lane with Jones, as well as director of strength and conditioning Tredell Dorsey, who was at Lane with Jones before coming to Morgan State in November 2020.
Wheatley spoke about Jones’ roots in Louisiana and how they could help build a pipeline from the South to Baltimore. He’s also hopeful that Jones’ local profile will assist the Bears as they try to “dominate the Baltimore County and Baltimore City and Maryland area” in recruiting.
“By him being a Raven, that name resonates in Maryland, especially in Baltimore County,” Wheatley said.
A third-round pick of the Houston Texans in the 2007 NFL draft, Jones, 36, spent three seasons with the Ravens from 2012 to 2014. He was a Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro selection in the 2012 season for the eventual Super Bowl champion Ravens. After the team released Jones before the 2015 season, he spent time with the Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers and then had a short stint in the National Arena League in 2017. In September 2017, Jones signed a one-day contract and retired as a Raven. He was in Cleveland last month to announce the team’s selection of Georgia guard Ben Cleveland with the No. 94 overall pick.
Though he spent just three seasons in Baltimore, Jones has often called the city he helped deliver a championship to home.
“This organization is a family more than anything,” Jones said at his retirement news conference. “The city of Baltimore accepted me. They took me in. It’s love, I appreciate it. Everything has to come to an end, but at least it’s here.”
Wheatley enters his third year at Morgan State, which finished the 2019 season with a 3-9 record, including a 2-6 mark in the MEAC. The conference initially postponed the 2020 season to the spring because of the coronavirus pandemic but then suspended the season after six of the conference’s nine football programs opted out.
The Bears are set to play an 11-game season this fall, beginning at home against Towson on Sept. 4.
