While he has been away from the coaching scene in Barrow County for 13 years, Phil Jones will always have strong ties locally.
The former Winder-Barrow High School head football coach and athletic director has been involved in the collegiate coaching ranks since leaving the local scene and his Shorter University Hawks will be part of a historic contest Thursday in the Georgia Dome.
Shorter is now in its sixth season of fielding a football program. Jones has guided the Hawks since day one and has seen tremendous growth not only in the NAIA program, but the university as a whole in that time.
“It has just been a blessing to all of us,” Jones told the Barrow Journal. “Our school has been able to grow and that has been in part because of the football program. This year we had 183 kids report to practice. That is a huge number to manage, but it’s also a great indicator of how the program has grown in such a short time.”
The Hawks enter Thursday’s game against Georgia State at 0-1 after falling to West Alabama last week. While Jones said he has heard talk from his players about competing in the Georgia Dome, the coaches were unable to concentrate fully on the Georgia State Panthers until this week. Thursday’s game will be the first in program history for Georgia State, led by coach Bill Curry.
“The game will be special for us as well,” Jones said. “This will be great exposure for us. It will be a very tough contest. Hopefully, Georgia State won’t be what they will eventually become in this first game.”
Playing up is nothing new for Shorter.
In addition to last week’s game against Division II power West Alabama, in 2008 the Hawks competed against Western Carolina, a Division I-AA team like
Georgia State.
While Shorter lost that contest to Western Carolina, the game actually set the tone for that 2008 season, Jones said.
“We went on to win our conference title,” the coach said. “We learned so much about our team in that game. Hopefully, the same thing will happen when we play Georgia State.”
Some of the Shorter University players competed in the Georgia Dome while in high school, Jones said, but for others it will be a new experience.
Program wise, Jones likes where the Hawks are.
“We are right on track,” the coach said. “We are able to recruit the type of players who can come in and really help. People know more about us now.”
The back-to-back games to start 2010 will be a tall challenge for his players but one Jones knows they will live up to.
“It’s probably the toughest thing we’ve ever asked them to do,” he said. “However, we couldn’t pass up either opportunity. These games are great for us and give us great exposure as we continue to build our program.”
After leaving WBHS in the summer of 1997, Jones began a new chapter in his career as he moved to coaching at the collegiate level. His stops include the University of Georgia, SMU, Gardner-Webb and now to his current home at Shorter University.
As head coach at Winder-Barrow from 1984-1996, Jones had a high level of success. The Bulldoggs advanced to the playoffs eight times as his teams compiled a record of 81-58-2. In 1993, Winder-Barrow advanced to the Class AAA Final Four. Jones also earned Athletic Director of the Year honors in 1993.
