TOO GOOD TO REFUSE
Deal with Browns was quick: Jones
REGINA It was an opportunity too good to pass up that contributed to Chris Jones’ sudden departure from the Saskatchewan Roughriders to join the Cleveland Browns.
“You want to get in the ground floor in the first year of a contract with a head coach,” Jones told Postmedia News from Cleveland on Wednesday.
“You don’t want to be there when there is a guy who has been there for four or five years because you never know that it might be one year and done.”
The news broke Tuesday that Jones was leaving the Riders after three seasons as the vice-president of football operations, general manager, head coach and defensive co-ordinator to join the Browns as a senior defensive assistant.
The move came about after the Browns promoted Freddie Kitchens from offensive co-ordinator to head coach on Monday.
Kitchens and Jones have ties that go back to 1997 when Kitchens was the quarterback with the University of Alabama and Jones was a graduate assistant with the Crimson Tide. At the time, Kitchens lived in an apartment above the one that Jones occupied.
The Browns contacted Jones on the weekend and asked him to visit Cleveland for an interview. Jones informed Craig Reynolds, the Riders’ president and CEO, of the opportunity and he was interviewed on Tuesday. It all came together quickly after that.
“I came in for the interview and they offered me a job,” said Jones, who was named the CFL’S coach of the year after the 2018 season.
Jones wasn’t aware about the pending opportunity with the Browns when on Jan. 8 he agreed to a contract extension that would keep him with the Riders through the 2020 season. He had heard that there was a lot of interest in him from NFL teams.
With that in mind, Jones signed with Don Yee, a Los Angeles-based agent, to handle any dealings with possible NFL suitors. Yee is the representative for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and New Orleans coach Sean Payton.
“(Yee) reached out and he learned that there were some teams that had done some research on me so we knew there was some interest,” Jones said.
“This situation in particular seemed that they had really done their homework and that they were genuinely interested in me joining them. I was able to join them in a senior capacity and I look forward to seeing what I bring.”
Jones had previously negotiated his own CFL deals. He went in a different direction when dealing with a league like the NFL. Jones remains friends with former NFL head coach Bill Parcells, who recommended that Jones contact Yee.
“I did it in the CFL because I had all of the information,” Jones said. “The NFL is three or four times larger and you’re dealing with a larger amount of money, so you need somebody with experience.”
Jones agreed to a two-year deal with the Browns and will work closely with Steve Wilks, the former Arizona Cardinals head coach, who was named Cleveland’s defensive co-ordinator on Tuesday. Jones expects to be involved in other aspects of the team, including offering his thoughts on CFL personnel.
He leaves behind a coaching staff that has essentially been together since 2014 when Jones assembled them after being hired as the head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos. Two years later and after a 26-20 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks in the 2015 Grey Cup game, he joined the Riders.
“They are like family, but it’s a great opportunity,” said the 51-year-old Jones.
“My exiting doesn’t mean they aren’t going to have great success. We have a very good football operations group and coaching staff. I would assume there are a lot of people moving up in the organization so it allows them some growth. They are family to me. They know I love them and I’m going to miss them dearly.” Saints head