USC Football: Analyzing Anthony Jones Jr.'s Player Development Track Record

Let's take a look at the resume of TCU's former running back coach.

Big news this week out of Southern California. First reported by Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports, USC is set to hire Anthony Jones Jr. as their next running backs coach. Jones Jr. is joining a staff that many around college football consider an extremely intriguing staff, top to bottom, especially considering USC recently lost their best recruiter, Dante Williams, to the University of Georgia. "

Anthony Jones Jr. is a talented coach that will certainly contribute to our climb as a program," said head coach Lincoln Riley.

Jones Jr. had spent his past two seasons as TCU's running backs coach and their running game coordinator, both roles he will take up at USC. During his tenure with the Horned Frogs, he coached eventual third-round NFL draft pick Kendre Miller to a 1399-yard season. Miller was rated a 3-star prospect coming out of high school in 2018. He was the 1599th best prospect in his class, according to the 247 Sports Composite. 

Before TCU, Jones Jr. spent six years coaching running backs at the University of Memphis. He helped both running backs Tony Pollard and Darrell Henderson get drafted in 2019 in the fourth and third rounds, respectively. He also took Kenneth Gainwell, who was fairly under-recruited coming out of high school in 2018 and ranked 1,614th in the country in the 247 Sports Composite, to the fifth round of the 2021 NFL draft. 

Riley has been public about his desire to build a staff of coaches who he thinks are proven talent developers. This, to Riley, is an important part of the Trojans USC recruiting pitch. Joner Jr. also served as Memphis' recruiting coordinator. All signs point to Jones Jr. checking all the boxes on Riley's wishlist.