Tag: Daronte Jones

Giants interviewed Daronte Jones for vacant defensive coordinator job

The New York Giants have interviewed Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones for their vacant defensive coordinator job.

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen had hoped the team would hire a defensive coordinator by the end of last week but that did not come to fruition.

As we enter the final Super Bowl stretch, the Giants remain without a replacement for Wink Martindale and appear no closer to finding one. Many of their top targets have chosen different teams to hitch their wagon to, leaving New York to explore the barren wasteland of what remains.

At the time the Giants should have been announcing their new hire they were instead conducting another interview — this time with Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones.

The 45-year-old Jones has an extensive coaching history dating back to 2001 when he served as a graduate assistant for Lenoir–Rhyne. He’s also coached at the high school and D1 levels, and spent a season up north in the CFL.

In 2016, Jones landed his first NFL job, serving as the assistant defensive backs coach for the Miami Dolphins. He also spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals and LSU Tigers sandwiched in between stints with the Vikings.

Giants head coach Brian Daboll personally interviewed Jones during Senior Bowl week, where Jones was serving as defensive coordinator for the National Team.

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Vikings DBs coach Daronte Jones interviews for Giants DC job

Losing Jones would be a tough blow for the Vikings, but he has earned the opportunity to both interview and become a defensive coordinator

During the Reese’s Senior Bowl, the Minnesota Vikings had multiple coaches on the National team’s defensive staff and it seems to already be paying dividends for the coahces.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones interviewed for the New York Giants vacant defensive coordinator position.

Pelissero also mentioned that the interview took place in Mobile, AL where the Senior Bowl is held which makes sense considering the entire league heads down there each year.

Losing Jones would be a substantial blow to the Vikings, as Jones is an integral part of what they do on defense and gets credit for helping to develop Josh Metellus, Camryn Bynum and more.

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Vikings assistant Daronte Jones named Senior Bowl defensive coordinator

Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones will be the defensive coordinator for the National team at the Reese’s Senior Bowl

For the second consecutive season, the Reese’s Senior Bowl is bringing in assistant coaches to elevated positions for the week of practice. Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Daronte Jones will be the defensive coordinator of the National team under New York Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich who will be the head coach.

The Senior Bowl sent out a press release detailing the “Coach Up” format of the game.

This is the second year the Senior Bowl is implementing a “Coach Up” format where coordinators and assistant coaches are placed into elevated or different roles from the ones they currently hold with their respective clubs.  Head coaches and general managers from all non-playoff teams and Wild Card round participants had the opportunity to nominate assistant coaches and those candidates were then selected by a group comprised of league office executives and representatives from the General Managers Advisory Committee.  In total, at least one coach from all 18 teams that submitted nominations were chosen for this year’s game.

Jones getting the selection is an honor as he was nominated by his peers. He is well respected and has the opportunity to call the defense and help run practice for the week. He will also have an inside track on getting to know the prospects on a closer scale for the NFL draft in April.

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Jay Ward happy to rejoin Daronte Jones, Jaquelin Roy with Vikings

Ward will be greeted by some familiar faces in Minneapolis.

Former LSU safety [autotag]Jay Ward[/autotag] is heading up to the frigid north after he was taken by the Minnesota Vikings, who took him in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft on Saturday.

Ward won’t be alone in Minneapolis, though. When he arrives, he’ll be greeted by a pair of familiar faces. His selection pairs him up with his college teammate [autotag]Jaquelin Roy[/autotag], who was selected by the team just seven picks after Ward.

“I heard somebody say J-Roy just got picked, so to reunite with him, we’re back,” Ward told the media after the draft. “I played with him for three years. I know what he can bring to the table, and he definitely isn’t going to let you down. He’s a great player.”

The move also reunites him with his former defensive coordinator in [autotag]Daronte Jones[/autotag], who was hired by the Vikings as a defensive backs coach after one season in Baton Rouge. Things have now come full circle as Jones will serve as Ward’s position coach at the next level.

“First of all, I’d like to thank God for putting me in this position and thank [General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah] for taking a chance with me and reuniting me with Coach Jones,” Ward said. “This is a decision he won’t regret.

“I love Coach Jones. It’s always bigger than on the field with him, and we had a close relationship at LSU. We were tight. I’m glad I can reunite with him and he can keep molding me to be a better player.”

He’ll join a team that features veteran safety Harrison Smith, and he’ll be rejoining another former teammate from the 2019 squad in [autotag]Justin Jefferson[/autotag].

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Vikings select LSU DT Jaquelin Roy on Day 3

The Vikings doubled up on LSU players, taking Roy in the fifth round.

A short time after taking defensive back [autotag]Jay Ward[/autotag], the Minnesota Vikings turned to Baton Rouge again to pick LSU defensive tackle [autotag]Jaquelin Roy[/autotag] in the fifth round with the 141st pick.

The Vikings traded up 17 spots to take Roy.

Both Ward and Roy will be reunited with former LSU defensive coordinator [autotag]Daronte Jones[/autotag], who coaches defensive backs in Minnesota. Roy was LSU’s fourth selection of the draft.

The Vikings are betting on Roy’s size and athleticism, which continually flashed in college even if there was a lack of consistency.

Roy declared early after arriving at LSU as a blue-chip recruit in 2020. He’s been a fixture on the defensive line the last two years and was one of the SEC’s most productive defensive tackles last fall.

Roy has drawn a few comparisons to Dalvin Tomlinson.

Despite being a fifth-round pick, being on the defensive line gives Roy a chance to earn a spot in a rotation.

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BJ Ojulari says his versatility will give him a leg up in the NFL

Ojulari played in multiple schemes while at LSU and demonstrated his ability to drop back into coverage at the “JACK” position this past season.

[autotag]BJ Ojulari[/autotag] is one of the top edge rushers in the 2023 NFL draft class, and the former LSU player could potentially hear his name called on the first night. If that happens, Ojulari thinks his versatility will have played a major role.

During his three seasons at LSU, Ojulari had the opportunity to play in several different defensive schemes. This past season under first-year defensive coordinator [autotag]Matt House[/autotag], Ojulari played in the Tigers’ “JACK” role, which allowed him to rush off the edge but also drop into coverage as an off-ball linebacker.

In an interview at the NFL Scouting Combine this week, Ojulari said his ability to fill different niches on defense makes him valuable.

“Yeah, so in coach House‘s defense I played more of a ‘JACK’ outside linebacker, dropping, being able to show my versatility in the drop, being able to rush as well and create plays behind the line of scrimmage,” he said. “But, any defense I feel like can flourish. Whatever the coaches and the coaching staff decide I’m gonna do, I think I’m gonna be very good at it.”

Ojulari contrasted House’s scheme with former defensive coordinator [autotag]Daronte Jones[/autotag]’. Ojulari played his first two seasons under Jones, and he said that his former coordinator’s strategy focused more on getting behind the line of scrimmage.

“Coach Daronte’s defense is more, like you said, destroying blocks, creating a lot of movement,” Ojulari said. “If you go watch the Alabama game, we created a lot of pressure, a lot of movement on the line of scrimmage, and that allows us to be freed up and be able to create tackles behind the line of scrimmage.”

Ojulari saw his production drop a bit in 2022, in large part due to the emergence of [autotag]Harold Perkins[/autotag] as an absolute menace coming off the edge. Still, he’s coming off a good season and should impress at the combine this week with his athletic profile.

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LSU’s Matt House a coordinator to watch, per On3

House brings a lot of experience to the table, both in the SEC and as a Super Bowl-winning assistant in the NFL.

The Tigers needed a change on defense this offseason.

After failed experiments at defensive coordinator in back-to-back years in [autotag]Bo Pelini[/autotag] and [autotag]Daronte Jones[/autotag], new LSU coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] brought in Matt House from the NFL ranks to fix this defense’s ills. House comes from the Kansas City Chiefs, where he spent the last three seasons as a linebacker coach. He also has SEC play-calling experience at Kentucky.

House has some veteran talent to work with on defense, both in terms of returning players and guys added via the transfer portal. Given these tools and his experience, On3’s Mike Huguenin listed him among the coordinators to watch in college football this fall.

The skinny: LSU’s defense the past two seasons? Well, “bad” is a nice way to put it, so there is some urgency as House – who had been the Kansas City Chiefs’ linebacker coach – takes over as part of Brian Kelly’s new staff. House has experience in the SEC (he was coordinator at Kentucky in 2017 and ’18), and has to know improvement against the run is the top priority. House will use a 3-4 front, and former On3 Consensus five-star recruit Maason Smith should be a breakout star up front. He and Jaquelin Roy should be a dynamic duo in the middle, and Ali Gaye and B.J. Ojulari can bring heat off the edge. Even with the loss of tackle-machine LB Damone Clark, the front seven should be much better than it was last season. Interestingly, for a program that gets acclaim for being “DBU,” the secondary by far is the biggest concern; House and new defensive back coaches Kerry Cooks (safeties) and Robert Steeples (cornerbacks) need six(!) experienced transfer DBs to play well.

There certainly are some questions surrounding the secondary, which will mostly feature new additions starting. However, the defensive line and linebacker groups feature more familiar faces.

With games against offenses the likes of Alabama, Tennessee and Ole Miss, House certainly has his work cut out for him. But given his experience both in this league and as a part of a Super Bowl-winning team in the NFL, expectations are understandably high.

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Pair of former LSU coordinators heading back to the NFL

Jake Peetz and Daronte Jones, who each spent the 2021 season in Baton Rouge, are returning to coaching positions in the NFL.

In an attempt to bounce back from the frustrating 5-5 season in 2020 that followed a 15-0 national championship run, former Tigers coach Ed Orgeron hired a pair of coordinators from the NFL ranks: Jake Peetz (offense) and Daronte Jones (defense).

However, Orgeron was fired after another disappointing finish in 2021, and new coach Brian Kelly opted not to retain either coordinator. Both have landed on their feet, though, back in the NFL.

Peetz is heading to Los Angeles to serve as the quarterbacks coach on Sean McVay’s Rams staff, according to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Jones is returning to Minnesota to serve as defensive backs coach, the role he held before his one season in Baton Rouge.

Before that role, Jones spent two seasons as the cornerbacks coach with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Peetz came from Carolina where he was the quarterbacks coach under former LSU passing game coordinator Joe Brady, who was hired there as the offensive coordinator following the championship season. Peetz was the running backs coach for the Panthers before that following stints as an offensive assistant at Alabama and the quarterbacks coach for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Peetz has experience working with McVay; both coached for the Washington Commanders in 2014.

Things didn’t work out for Peetz and Jones in their one season with the Tigers, but it seems both have landed on their feet with solid jobs in the league.

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Kevin O’Connell adds three more assistants to Vikings coaching staff

Kevin O’Connell has been a busy man!

Everything is coming together for Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell as he continues adding to his growing coaching staff.

On Monday, the team confirmed the hiring of Wes Phillips as offensive coordinator and Matt Daniels as special teams coordinator, which have both already been reported on.

However, they also announced they were bringing back Daronte Jones as the defensive backs coach, along with the hiring of Ben Kotwica as an assistant special teams coach and Mike Smith as the outside linebackers and pass rush specialist.

These are exciting times for a Vikings team looking to kick-start a new era under their Super Bowl-winning head coach.

Jones served as a defensive backs coach for the Vikings during the Mike Zimmer era in 2020 before being offered a job as defensive coordinator for LSU. After a one-and-done season, he’s back in purple and ready to resume his role with the team.

Kotwica’s last job was a two-year stint with the Atlanta Falcons as special teams coordinator before he was ultimately fired in 2020. It’s important to note that he was with the Washington Commanders at the same time O’Connell was there as the quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator. So there’s clearly some familiarity there with the Vikings head coach.

And Smith, the former Green Bay Packers outside linebackers coach, is joining O’Connell with the added responsibility as a pass rush specialist. So the opportunity for a promotion after coaching the same position for the last four years had to be enticing for the former NFL linebacker.

We’ll see if it all pays off in the 2022 season.

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Instant Analysis: Five takeaways from LSU’s loss to Kansas State

Instant takeaways from the 42-20 loss in the Texas Bowl.

What was a ugly season for LSU came to an ugly end Tuesday night in the Texas Bowl.

Kansas State jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back. It was not a good night for LSU in any phase of the game.

But to be fair, with all the roster issues LSU is experiencing, nobody expected it would be. The offense never found any rhythm, the defense couldn’t get off the field, and even special teams gave up some big returns.

On the other side, Kansas State had it clicking. Quarterback Skylar Thompson had one of the best games of his career and running back Deuce Vaughn once again went over 100 yards. On defense, Kansas State was able to force some turnovers that set up a couple scores as well.

It wasn’t just LSU’s roster that was shorthanded, but their coaching staff was too. LSU had to rely on analysts and graduate assistants to have a full staff in Houston tonight.

In a lot of ways, this was an end of an era for LSU as they will now try and put a lot of the ugliness of the last two years behind them. Next time they take the field, they will be led by Brian Kelly.

For now, let’s take a look at some takeaway’s from tonight’s loss.