RICK JONES

SCHOOL: Greenwood THE SCOOP: Greenwood’s 2017 state finals appearance was its 10th in 14 seasons under Jones. … Jones took over the Bulldogs program in 2004 after spending the previous nine years at Oklahoma power Broken Arrow. … Jones has won 295 games in his 29-year career. … Greenwood entered its last three state championship games (20152017) undefeated. The Bulldogs fell to Pine Bluff in 2015 and Billy Dawson’s Russellville in 2016 before snapping its title drought in 2017 with a 52-14 drubbing of Pine Bluff. DID YOU KNOW?: Jones is an avid reader and estimates 700-800 books sitting on shelves in his office. … A former history teacher, Jones considers himself a history buff, and among his favorite podcast listens is Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. … Jones also listens to Freakonomics Radio, Keith Grabowski’s Coach and Coordinator and a number of audio books while traveling or walking an hour each day to stay in shape. “This year was a lot of fun,” Jones said. “It’s really a lot of fun when you have a great bunch of kids to work with that are driven and hard-working. They were hungry. We had fallen short the previous two years, but we didn’t really focus on that. We played 13 games and the closest game is 16 points, and I’ve never been a part of anything like that before. The thing that stands out is they were really, really determined to get the job done.” — Scottie Bordelon • @ NWAScottie