The 2009 season will be the first at Lake Forest for Jim Jones and his third as an assistant coach at the collegiate level.

Jones was a graduate assistant at the University of Virginia each of the last two seasons. The Cavaliers were 14-11 in those two years and appeared in the Gator Bowl following the 2007 season.

As a a player Jones was a starter his final two seasons (1999-2000) at the University of Notre Dame and was an All-Independent Selection by Collegefootballnews.com. He went on to the NFL and was a member of three different organizations (Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Washington Redskins) from 2001-06.

Jones majored in sociology and received his bachelor's degree in May of 2000 from Notre Dame's College of Arts and Letters.