In the early 1970s, Jones was a much sought-after basketball and baseball player looking at colleges. He didn’t know much about football because his high school couldn’t afford a football program, but he’d started studying the game at the encouragement of his brother-in-law, and he liked it. At Tennessee State, he became a two-time All-American defensive lineman. The Tigers only lost two games and won the black college football national championship in 1971 and 1973. Jones ranks third in school history in sacks in a season (12) and fifth in career sacks (38). Here he remembers an early visit to the school.
“So by going to Tennessee State, I will always be indebted to HBCUs. That’s why I go out of my way to recruit for them. That’s why I’m glad when I was in school you had to stay four years. It took four years for me to develop. HBCU schools are the best to me because they give opportunities to people like me. I had heard rumors that Tennessee State would try to roughhouse you and run you off because they didn’t want anybody there that didn’t want to be there and pay that price to be there. They were very proud to be a Tiger during those days. They won a lot of football.