A Michigan native, he played college football at Ferris State University as a running back and wide receiver.

[2] From 1987 to 1989, Jones was an intern for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL), assisting the staff of head coach Ray Perkins.

The new head coach of Rutgers at that time, Doug Graber, had previously worked as the defensive coordinator for the Buccaneers, and was familiar with Jones.

[4] Two years later, Jones took a job as offensive coordinator at Wilkes University, helping to guide the team deep into the Division III playoffs.

[6] In 1998, Jones arrived at Central Michigan, where he coached tight ends for one year, running backs for two more, and was the offensive playcaller from 2002 to 2004.

[10] In a 2013 interview with Cityview magazine in Knoxville, Jones listed Perkins, Graber, DeBord, Rodriguez, and Kelly as influences on his coaching career.

[13] On November 6, 2007, CMU beat its chief rival, Western Michigan, at its home field of Waldo Stadium for the first time since 1993.

[14] He guided CMU to the MAC title at Ford Field in Detroit against Miami (Ohio), and led the team to its second consecutive Motor City Bowl.

In 2008, a 31–24 loss to Ball State on November 19 derailed the Chippewas' MAC title hopes, but CMU earned a trip to a third consecutive Motor City Bowl.

He led the Bearcats to a 9–3 regular season record in 2012, leading them to the Belk Bowl in Charlotte to play against Duke University.

[26] Twenty days prior to the bowl game, on December 7, 2012, Jones announced to the team that he would be resigning to accept the job as head coach at the University of Tennessee, after declining offers from Colorado, Purdue, and others.

[27] He was required to pay $1.4 million to buy out his Cincinnati contract extension, signed on January 23, 2012, that went through the 2017 season.

[30] Jones made his coaching debut on August 31, 2013, in Neyland Stadium against the FCS Austin Peay Governors, resulting in a 45–0 Tennessee victory.

[31] Tennessee earned its 800th victory in program history and became only the eighth school in the nation to reach that plateau after Michigan, Texas, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Alabama.

[37] To conclude the 2015 season, Jones's Vols defeated the Northwestern Wildcats by a score of 45–6 on January 1, 2016, in the Outback Bowl.

[40] The following week, the Vols defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in dramatic fashion via a game-ending Hail Mary pass by quarterback Joshua Dobbs.