After An Extensive Search, Alabama A&M Names Elliot Jones Head Baseball Coach

Alabama A&M University has announced the hiring of its next head baseball coach – one who arrives with plenty of coaching experience at the NCAA Division I level.

Elliot Jones, a native of Shreveport, Louisiana, will take over for the Bulldogs in the 2020-21 season becoming the 2nd head coach in the last two years for the baseball program. Jones has always had a passion for coaching, but Alabama A&M is the first opportunity he has received to run his own collegiate program.

The Athletic Department had some top notch candidates apply for the position and then conducted interviews via phone and video conferencing.

After completing the interviews, it became very clear that Jones was the best person to lead the Bulldogs baseball program into its next phase. Jones has experience coaching at various levels of baseball and I believe is ready to become a head coach that will continue and expand the success which the program needs to compete at the top in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). “We are extremely excited for the hiring of Mr. Elliott Jones to lead our baseball program,” Director of Athletics Bryan Hicks stated. “His enthusiasm and  commitment to the overall development of student-athletes will prove valuable for our program. He has had a wide range of experience within our league, and his passion for the game of baseball will motivate  our student-athletes for excellence.

Jones’ background in baseball is extensive at the DI level. His collegiate baseball career started at Southern University, coached by legendary former head coach Roger Cador, as a first baseman from 2012 to 2014. During his playing career he had a career batting average of .308 with the Jaguars. As a student-athlete, Jones was selected to the all-conference academic team for two seasons and also selected to the all-tournament team for the SWAC Conference.

Baseball has been Jones’ ticket to become the head coach at AAMU. He is now the youngest baseball head coach in the SWAC at 29 years old. After his college playing days, Jones took on the role as a assistant coach under Roger Cador for four seasons and then a single season under current coach Kerrick Jackson where he work with hitters, outfielders and catchers. Jones spent two season at Grambling State University under head coach James Cooper from 2018-2020.

Considered a top recruiter, Jones’ recruiting is an area where he feels his past experience will help pay off. He’s built connections throughout Louisiana in the larger metro areas around the state, but he will be reaching out to local high schools to find talent for future teams. And one key attribute he looks for is a high level of character.

The program will honor all scholarships awarded under previous head coach Manny Lora who was let go by the athletic department for disciplinarian reasons. The NCAA did not charge a year of eligibility to any players last season after the schedule was cut short in mid-March from the Covid-19 virus. Finding the right type of players could be a key component in a season of unknowns. After the Spring 2020 campaign was cut short, there is still uncertainty about what the upcoming season will look like. The main thing is hopefully they will get a chance to compete.

The search to replace Lora, who was fired this past March, was long. Candidates that had interest in the program included two former HBCU Baseball head coaches, former Stillman College and current assistant at Eastern Kentucky University Julius McDougal and Kevin Ritsche, former coach at Winston Salem State, current coach at his alma mater The College of St. Scholastica in Minnesota.

Jones stated he is “extremely grateful to Mr. Hicks and Alabama A&M University for putting me in this position. I look forward to developing relationships with fans, faculty, staff, alumni and families of future Bulldog student-athletes in order to continue to improve the Bulldog baseball brand.”

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