Clarion Athletics

Shaq Jones, a Philadelphia native with experience playing in the PSAC, enters his first year as an assistant coach with the Golden Eagle football program in 2023. Jones will work with the team’s defensive backs.
 
Before coming to Clarion, Jones previously spent a year at Thiel, where he coached the safeties on the football team as well as sprinters and hurdlers for the track & field teams. The year before, he served as the defensive coordinator, defensive backs coach and assistant track & field coach at Lincoln High School in Philadelphia.
 
Jones is no stranger to the conference, having spent two seasons as a safety at IUP from 2018-19. He appeared in 23 games for the Crimson Hawks, recording 89 total tackles, five tackles for loss, one interception, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. Jones earned Second Team All-PSAC West honors in 2018 after recording 51 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss and a pick. He transferred to IUP after signing with Eastern Michigan in 2017. Jones previously played at Iowa Western C.C. from 2015-16, earning First Team All-ICCAC honors as a linebacker in 2016. Jones recorded 138 tackles, 17.0 tackles for loss and four interceptions in two years.
 
As a high school athlete, Jones was a three-time team captain at Imhotep Charter in Philadelphia. He was a two-time first team all-league and all-city selection, and was named a 2014 Offense-Defense All-American. Jones helped Imhotep to a state runner-up finish in 2013 and a league title in 2014.