Daronte Jones (duh-RAHN-tay), who was the Vikings defensive backs coach in 2020, returns to Minnesota in 2022 after serving as the defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach at LSU last season. Entering his sixth season in the NFL, Jones previously spent two years with the Cincinnati Bengals as the secondary/cornerbacks coach from 2018-19 and with the Miami Dolphins as the assistant defensive backs coach from 2016-17.
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.
While leading the Vikings defensive backs in 2020, the team ranked top 10 in the NFL in interception, and Jones helped S Harrison 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 the University of 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 the University of Hawaii, adding the title of assistant head coach in 2014. Jones helped improve Hawai'i'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, Maryland, 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 University in North Carolina. Jones played four seasons as a defensive back at Morgan State before earning his bachelor's degree in 2001.
