Old pro Jones at home on Falls High sidelines
NIAGARA FALLS — No, it wasn’t a re-enactment of a scene from a movie, but anyone with an imagination and a mischievous side could easily pick a scene from the “Star Wars” or “Godfather” franchise and insert Ken Jones in a character’s place.
Was Jones a victim of the Jedi mind trick in the Cantina by Niagara Falls High School football coach Don Bass? Does he feel like Michael Corleone at all, because just when he thought he was out of the coaching business for good, he was pulled back in?
Whatever Bass said to persuade Jones to don his coaching cap one more time, it worked, as Jones has been one of the keys toward the Wolverines experiencing a reversal of fortune on the football field this season. He coordinates the Wolverines’ offensive line blocking schemes and also works with the defensive line.
Jones is loving life on the sidelines again. He has been part of an effort that has helped the Falls secure its second Section VI Class AA playoff berth since the merging of old Niagara Falls and LaSalle high schools in 2000.
“I’m glad I did come back,” said Jones, the former Buffalo Bills guard who has worked for the school district for 18 years in special education. “I love working with kids. They’re good listeners and good guys you can coach.
“It’s just I wish I had them a few years ago so stuff I’m teaching them now they would already know and could work to the next level. But for what I’ve taught them in this one short year, they’ve grasped real good. As far as I’m concerned, there are few aspects I’d like to be a little bit better, but for the most part they’re playing real well.”
Jones is an old LaSalle High School football head coach and assistant. He briefly served as an assistant earlier this decade at the new high school. True to his offensive lineman roots, he’s managed to keep a low profile in these parts, even though he played 11 of his 12 National Football League seasons with the Buffalo Bills.
Jones, whose wife is from Niagara Falls and whose daughter is a freshman at the University at Buffalo, loves to hunt during the autumn months, but he changed his mind about the coaching thing last spring after being approached by Bass.
Call it fate. Call it an incredible coincidence that both Jones and Bass were among the district employees who took a bunch of kids to check out various BOCES programs. Call it whatever you want. Bass, an assistant on Jones’ LaSalle staff during the 1990s, saw an opportunity to chat with a quality football man and popped the question.
“Why don’t you come back out?” recalled the 56-year-old Jones of his conversation with Bass. “I said, ‘You know Don, I’ve been out of it for seven or eight years now and I’m not getting any younger and I like to do things different in my older age.’ Then he got to talking more and more, and I said, ‘I might think about it.’ I thought about it and here I am.”
“I think his knowledge base is so great,” Bass said of Jones, “being a college All-American [at Arkansas State in 1976] and playing 12 years in the NFL. Going from blocking for O. J. [Simpson] to blocking against L. T. [Lawrence Taylor], you realize he’s done the gambit. He’s been a bottomless pit of knowledge. . . . The fact that he’s who he is makes it even easier for the kids to respond to him. It’s almost priceless.”
Jones played from 1976 to 1986 with the Bills before closing his career with the New York Jets in 1987. He played with two Hall of Famers — Joe DeLamielleure and O. J. Simpson — during his time with the Bills.
He played against the likes of Joe Klecko (two-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler), Mark Gastineau (three-time All- Pro, 74 career sacks) and Hall of Fame linebackers Andre Tippett and Taylor. One doesn’t survive against those pass-rushing greats without knowing a thing or two about proper technique and opposing player tendencies.
It is his tricks of the trade that he’s been trying to share with members of the Wolverines, who entered Saturday’s game at Lockport needing a win to earn a home playoff game instead of hitting the road to face either News No. 1 Large School Lancaster or defending state Class AA champion Orchard Park. (See Sports Sunday o r www. buffalonews.com/highschool/ for results)
“He’s made us smarter,” Falls senior right tackle and defensive end Billy Gee said. “He’s taught us how to react better off the ball. . . . From his years in the NFL he knows how to adapt the plays. He’s helped us out a lot.”
It looks like Jones will continue to help out the program. He plans to return next season to help the Falls strengthen its program, so that the school won’t just be known as a basketball one.
“I enjoy working with kids,” he said. “I think in the long run a bunch of us sports guys are just big kids at heart. We just get a little bit older.”
Old-Timers Hall call
The Niagara Falls Old Timers Sports Hall of Fame will induct its 42nd class Saturday in the Como Restaurant on Pine Avenue. There are a handful of tickets remaining for the event in which the organization honors those age 55 and over who have contributed to athletics in their community either as athletes, coaches, managers, organizers, sponsors or volunteers. Tickets can be purchased by calling Robert Brady at 297-0432.
Members of the 2009 induction class are: William Bobo, Robin Burns, John Hayes, Phil Kontrabecki, Andrew Syruws, Melvin Metzler, John Ormsby, Harold Shippy, Mike Ventry Sr., Ernie Krell, Neil Gruppo, Paul Klock and Art Fabiano.
Hall treasurer Bob Brady will receive this year’s Pep Di- Ramio Award, an honor given to a member of the hall’s board of directors.
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments