Member Biography

Howard Jones was a staunch competitor, yet an untiring believer in fair play who became Yale's first paid coach. A star end for the Elis at the turn of the century, Jones returned to coach Yale in 1913 and was given $2,500 annual salary. Lack of talent drove him toward greener pastures a year later, and he would eventually enjoy great success at Iowa and Southern Cal. In 16 seasons at USC, Jones coached seven Pacific Coast Conference Championship teams, four National Champions and won each of the five Rose Bowls his Trojans played. The brother of Hall of Fame coach Tad Jones, his mind was never far from football - so much so, he often ignored traffic lights, lost socks and keys, and forgot appointments. Football prevailed in his life and he coached it with a sense of sportsmanship rarely matched. For example, moments before a USC-Stanford game, Jones visited the Stanford locker room and discovered Cardinal All-America halfback Bobby Grayson was nursing an injured knee. Jones returned to the USC quarters and instructed his players to avoid hitting Grayson in the crippled leg. They never did. All told, Jones' career record was 194-64-21, percentage .733, for 29 years at Syracuse, Yale, Ohio State, Iowa, Duke and Southern California.