VANCOUVER – UBC Football has landed a huge addition to the program's coaching staff with former CFL Most Outstanding Player and Grey Cup winning coach Khari Jones heading to Point Grey to become the team's new Quarterbacks Coach.
Following nine years as a player in the CFL, the Hammond, Indiana native embarked on a successful coaching career that saw him advance to become the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, a role he held from 2019 to 2022.
Signing with the BC Lions in 1997, the former quarterback played his most prolific years with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, including his 2001 MOP season. Jones returned to the west coast as the Lions' offensive coordinator in 2014, and he now has the opportunity to coach at home having set down roots in the Lower Mainland over a decade ago.
"
Blake Nill has won, he knows what it takes of course and hopefully I can add to the mix working with the QBs," said Jones who won the 2013 Grey Cup with the Saskatchewan Roughriders as QB Coach. "I don't even know how many quarterbacks I've coached over the past many years so I feel pretty confident in my abilities to help quarterbacks to achieve their goals and be the best for their team; not only on the field, but off the field and all the things that come with it. I'm excited, I'm all about winning, that's the number one thing is to put a winning program out there."
"What's obvious to me is the value of the Khari Jones brand, not only in terms of recruiting, not only in terms of player development, but also for alumni engagement," said UBC head coach,
Blake Nill, who enters his 11
th year with the T-Birds in 2025. "This gentleman has such a strong link to Canadian Football. A former CFL Player of the Year, 15 plus years as a coach, numerous coordinator positions, head coaching positions, and he's a very well respected individual in the football community. UBC is very fortunate to have Khari associated with us now and it's up to me as the head coach to utilize him as best we can to help grow our program."
From Michael O'Connor to
Garrett Rooker, the UBC Thunderbirds have benefitted from some award winning pivots during the
Blake Nill era. Adding the likes of Khari Jones to the coaching staff gives a talented returning group of quarterbacks the best opportunity to entrench themselves as the next great T-Bird while also preparing them for life in the pros.
"I'm excited to work with these athletes and know that I've been in the same position they've been in," said Jones who played his college career at the University of California, Davis, becoming the first Aggies quarterback to throw for over 3000 yards in a season and more than 50 career touchdowns. "From starting out and trying to figure everything out to being a fourth and fifth year guy and ready to go to that next level, I feel I can lend a hand to all of that. Not just being good athletes but being good people, good students, all of those things."
The opportunity to add Jones to the coaching staff came following the conclusion of last season.
"We're always looking to add the right pieces to our program at any point in time," said the three-time Vanier Cup winning head coach. "In this particular case, I was informed in early December I was going to lose my quarterback coach, Mason Nyhus. The University of Saskatchewan was prepared to make a contractual offer to Mason which is a good thing for his development and we were fully supportive of Mason moving back to his alma mater. Immediately, Coach
Shomari Williams and I started discussing candidates…and one of the names that came up was Khari Jones. I met with Khari and his wife, Justine, expressed to them our interest in a long term commitment to him. They felt it's a very positive move coming into the UBC program at this time and we were able to come together and the rest is history."
"I spoke to Blake a couple times and had some really, really good conversations with him," said Jones. "I first met him when he was the head coach with Calgary and I had come in and guest coached with them while I was living there. I just thought this was a nice opportunity. Once we got talking, I got to know him a bit better. I knew Shomari already, (equipment manager) Dave Henderson, (defensive line coach) Noah Cantor, there's just so many people that I know that I'm really excited to be working with. It felt like the right move."
Adding Jones to the T-Birds coaching staff follows a similar path the team took a couple seasons ago when long time offensive line coach Dan Dorazio entered the fold, helping pave the way for UBC's 2023 Mitchell Bowl championship while also guiding Giovanni Manu and Theo Benedet into the NFL.
"My offensive staff is very young. Coach
Stevenson Bone has done a tremendous job as our offensive coordinator in the short tenure he's been here," Nill added. "Offensive line coach Peter Buckley, receivers coach Rashaun Simonise – who actually played for Coach Jones – these are the type of individuals that will grow under Khari's mentorship."
Khari Jones' success as a player and coach in the CFL is well-documented, as is the admiration he has from players, fellow coaches, and others throughout the football community. Jones now has the chance to make new connections at the collegiate level, something he's looking forward to, to say the least.
"When I first got into coaching, that's where I figured I'd end up, that's where I figured I'd be, a college coach. I really loved my experience at UC Davis, I thought it was one of the highlights of my life. I had a really good career in the CFL and I loved it, I loved coaching there, but I'm ready for this challenge. I just love that college atmosphere, there's nothing like it. As soon as we went to the UBC campus, I knew this was the right fit, especially with everything that
Blake Nill has built there. I'm excited about it."
