New Coaching staff almost complete

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Daronte Jones begins his second season with the Miami Dolphins after he was named assistant defensive backs coach on Feb. 12, 2016. In Jones’ first year with the team, he helped the Dolphins win 10 games and earn a playoff berth for the first time since 2008. The team won nine of its final 11 games and ranked No. 15 in the NFL in passing defense (238.5 passing yards allowed per game) and tied for fourth in turnovers (21) during that span. The turnovers were critical in Miami’s turnaround and the team had a seven-game streak, for Week 9 to Week 15, where they forced at least one turnover in each game for a total of 19 turnovers in the seven contests. It was the most turnovers forced by a Dolphins defense in a seven-week span since 2004. Cornerback Tony Lippett led the team with four interceptions, which tied for 11th in the NFL, in just his second NFL season despite playing wide receiver in college.

Jones served the 2015 season as the defensive backs coach at Wisconsin. In his lone season there, he helped the Badgers lead the nation with just seven passing touchdowns allowed. Additionally, Wisconsin’s defense ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 7 nationally in passing defense, allowing just 173.2 passing yards per game. Safety Michael Caputo earned All-Big Ten honors with 65 tackles (36 solo) and two interceptions.

Prior to Wisconsin, Jones spent three seasons as the secondary coach at Hawaii and added assistant head coach responsibilities 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. Cornerback Mike Edwards was an All-Mountain West selection with 43 total tackles (38 solo), 15 passes broken up, five tackles for loss and two interceptions in 2012. Jones spent the 2011 season as the defensive backs coach for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League and was a cornerbacks coach for UCLA in 2010. Jones was the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Bowie State for five years (2005-09) where his defense finished in the top three nationally in three of his five seasons.

He previously served as the defensive coordinator at two Louisiana high schools – Jeannerette High School (2004) and Franklin High School (2003). He also spent one season coaching safeties at Nicholls State (2002) and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Lenoir-Rhyme (2001). Jones played four seasons at Morgan State before graduating in 2001. He is a native of Capital Heights, Maryland. His first name is pronounced DUH-rawn-tay. LESS -

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