#HSFT17: Stop No. 60 – Starkville Yellowjackets

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — There’s a new sheriff in town.

Starkville welcomed Chris Jones as their new head coach back in January and it has been a welcome change for the Jackets football program.

Jones isn’t your prototypical football coach. Not only will you see him running drills, but you’ll actually see him in drills competing with his players, wearing cleats.

Those little things helped Jones lead Kemper County to their first State Title last year, but his daughter Alex can speak more as to the kind of coach he is.

“He is passionate about football, he loves it, Alex says. “He always says keep your eye on the prize. I think his goal is to make it to the Championship and win.”

“I think she has it figured out,” father Chris says. “That’s the plan. We’ll see how it goes. Ultimately, that’s our goal is to play in December.”

And Starkville High wants to be in the State Title hunt.

The Yellowjackets have all the talent to get it done in Coach Jones’ first season at the helm, but the head coach will depend heavily on his signal caller like he did in his previous jobs. That means junior Malik Brown will be relied upon to lead at Starkville.

“No matter what league you play in, every league is quarterback driven,” coach Jones said. “In order to make things happen, you need a quarterback to get it done. I feel like we have a good one. He will be good at some point. He’s getting a better feel for the system. He’s my kind of guy. He can run and throw. He will have a good year I feel.”

It was last year that still bothers the Jackets this off-season.

Starkville had all the talent to be a sure fire Title team but failed to make the playoffs after winning it all in 2015. Last year’s disappointing end to the season has the Jackets chomping at the bit to return to their previous form.

“First of all, this is Starkville. Playing in November and December is a normal thing,” Jones said. “Couple years ago, they won a State Championship and we have a couple guys left over from that team and they know what it takes to get there.

“They understand the bitter taste for not making it and that’s the talk all off-season is Championship. It’s great to have guys speaking the same thing the coaches are. We’re all on the same page with great work, great attitude and great effort. We will get there.”

Starkville will begin the season in our Carl Hogan Toyota Game of the Week on Friday at Noxubee then wrap up the month of August with their home opener against Oxford in the Little Egg Bowl.