Officially, and for all intents and purposes, Chris Jones is the Edmonton Eskimos’ defensive co-ordinator for the 2014 season.
The words come from Jones’ boss himself, Eskimos general manager Ed Hervey, almost 24 hours after Twitter helped take Eskimos fans on a ride as to the fate of that coaching role this year.
An ABC affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama reported on Tuesday that Auburn University’s Phillip Lolley had been hired as the Eskimos’ defensive co-ordinator. News of the hire was first reported by coachingsearch.com, who cited a source as saying that Lolley would be the Eskimos’ D.C.
While a phone call to Jones went unanswered on Wednesday, Hervey and Eskimos vice president of communications and marketing, Allan Watt, did call to confirm that Jones will be the defensive co-ordinator this season. Hervey also said that there were no plans to make an announcement regarding Jones’ coaching staff in the near future. The team is still searching for a linebackers coach.
Lolley, 59, has been with the Auburn Tigers in varying capacities since 1999. The last two years, he was the Tigers director of external relations. His on-field coaching experience with the Tigers centres on several years as defensive backs coach (2000 to 2003 and 2009 to 2011).
Lolley does have a connection to Jones. As head coach at North Jackson high school (Lolley coached for 22 years at the high school level in Alabama), he gave Jones his first coaching job, hiring him to run the defensive line in 1992. The two have stayed in touch over the years and Lolley has pointed players toward Jones and the Canadian Football League on occasion. Defensive back Tray Blackmon had a seven-game stay with the Calgary Stampeders in 2009, when Jones was the team’s defensive co-ordinator, on a reference from Lolley.
