Daronte Jones (duh-RAHN-tay) enters his fourth season with the Minnesota Vikings as defensive backs coach and his second as passing game coordinator. He brings more than two decades of overall coaching experience to Head Coach Kevin O'Connell's staff, spanning the high school, collegiate and professional ranks.
Prior to joining the Vikings for a second stint with the team in 2022, Jones spent one season with LSU in 2021. He originally entered the NFL coaching ranks with the Miami Dolphins as assistant defensive backs coach (2016-17) and spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals as secondary/cornerbacks coach for two seasons (2018-19).
During his first season as the Vikings defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator, Jones helped the defense improve from their 31st overall ranking in 2022 to 16th in 2023, and lead the NFL with 21 forced, with defensive backs accounting for 14.
Under Jones' guidance, Vikings S Camryn Bynum and Josh Metellus achieved career numbers in 2023. Bynum posted career highs in tackles (137), passes defensed (nine), forced fumbles (three) and tied his career-best mark in interceptions (two). His 137 total tackles led all Vikings defenders and were the most by a DB in the league in 2023. Metellus started a career-high 17 games, after combining for just three starts from 2020-22, lining up at more than 10 different positions on defense. He recorded single-season career highs in tackles (116), tackles for loss (seven), sacks (2.5) and forced fumbles (four).
Jones also oversaw the development of third-round draft pick Mekhi Blackmon during his rookie season in 2023. Blackmon appeared in 15 games, making three starts, and tallied 41 tackles, including three for loss, one interception and a fumble recovery. He was the only rookie to tally at least eight passes defensed, an interception and a fumble recovery during the 2023 season.
In 2022, Jones coached a secondary that finished third in the NFL in passes defensed (87) and tied for 10th in the league for interceptions (15). Jones coached CB Patrick Peterson, who recorded the sixth-most passes defensed (15) and the eighth-most interceptions (five) during that season. He also coached S Harrison Smith to five interceptions, tying his single-season career-high.
Jones became the defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach at LSU for the 2021 season, helping LB Damone Clark earn second-team All-America honors, be selected as a finalist for the Butkus Award and win SEC Defensive Player of the Week twice on the season. During his time at LSU, Jones coached Derrick Stingley Jr., who was selected third overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
While leading the Vikings defensive backs in 2020, the team ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in interception, and Jones helped Smith tie his career high with five interceptions.
With the Bengals, Jones aided in the development of young players, including CB Darius Phillips, a late-round draft pick who led Cincinnati with four interceptions in 2019 despite only playing in eight contests.
Jones previously worked two seasons with the Miami Dolphins as an assistant defensive backs coach. In 2017, Jones helped S Reshad Jones to a team-high 122 tackles and a berth in the Pro Bowl. In his first season as a professional coach in 2016, Jones helped coach a Dolphins defense that recorded 16 interceptions, third-most in the NFL. Miami also ranked fourth in the league in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert on only 36.15 percent of attempts.
Prior to the NFL, Jones served as defensive backs coach at Wisconsin in 2015, as the Badgers led the nation with just seven passing touchdowns allowed. Wisconsin's passing defense ranked second in the Big Ten and seventh nationally, allowing 173.2 pass yards per game. From 2012-14, Jones served as the secondary coach at Hawaii, adding the title of assistant head coach in 2014. Jones helped improve Hawaii's passing defense by 62.1 yards per game, as the Rainbow Warriors went from 85th nationally in 2011 to the 11th-best passing defense in 2012.
The Capital Heights, Md., native also had earlier coaching stops with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in 2011 as the defensive backs coach and with UCLA in 2010 as the cornerbacks coach. Jones was named assistant head coach/defensive coordinator at Bowie State from 2005-09. His defense finished in the top three nationally in three of his five seasons.
Prior to his time at Bowie State, Jones served as defensive coordinator at two Louisiana high schools — Jeanerette (2004) and Franklin (2003). He also spent the 2002 season coaching safeties at Nicholls State after beginning his coaching career in 2001 as a graduate assistant at Lenoir-Rhyne in North Carolina. Jones played four seasons as a defensive back at Morgan State before earning his bachelor's degree in 2001.
