USC Football: Trojans Announce Former TCU Coach as New RB Coach

The Trojans have hired a new RB coach.

USC football head coach Lincoln Riley announced Monday that the program has hired a new running backs coach, former TCU RB coach Anthony Jones Jr.

Welcome @AnthonyJonesFB! ✌️ pic.twitter.com/DByJE1IC0y

— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) March 5, 2024

Jones takes over the position for former Trojans running backs coach Kiel McDonald. After spending two seasons at USC, McDonald left to become the Los Angeles Chargers' new running backs coach under Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh. Under McDonald in 2023, the Trojans tied for ninth in the FBS with 33 rushing touchdowns.

Riley announced the new hire while welcoming their new coaching staff addition to the team.

"Anthony Jones Jr. is a talented coach that will certainly contribute to our climb as a program. We welcome the Jones family to USC and look forward to having them as Trojans!"

— Lincoln Riley,

via USC Communications.

Jones brings plenty of experience as a college football RB coach. Jones coached TCU from 2022-2023 after a four-season tenure with Memphis from 2018-2021 where he was both the RB coach and recruiting coordinator. Before Memphis, Jones worked as a high school football coach.

During his most recent stop at TCU, Jones was part of the coaching staff that led the Horned Frogs to the CFP national championship game. 

More specifically, Jones led an offense in 2023 that rushed for 154.3 yards per game while averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He worked with upcoming NFL Draft Prospect Emani Bailey, who rushed for 1,209 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry.