{"id":6654,"date":"2016-01-21T15:22:24","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T15:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/?p=6654"},"modified":"2016-01-21T15:22:24","modified_gmt":"2016-01-21T15:22:24","slug":"tony-hughes-is-new-jsu-head-football-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/2016\/01\/21\/tony-hughes-is-new-jsu-head-football-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Hughes is new JSU head football coach"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Charles A. Smith\/University Communications<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

University Communications<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jackson State University\u2019s Director of Athletics Wheeler Brown announced the hiring of Tony Hughes as the football program\u2019s 19th head coach during a Monday morning press conference in the Lee E. Williams Athletic and Assembly Center Hall of Fame Room.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a great day to be a Tiger,\u201d Brown said. \u201cCoach Hughes brings over 31 years of experience to the position, and we expect great things from him and from our football program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hughes, a Mississippi native, comes to Jackson State from Mississippi State University, where he spent seven seasons as a key member of the Bulldogs football coaching staff. Hughes is known as one of the top recruiting coordinators in the nation. In 2015, 247Sports.com tabbed him as one of America\u2019s top 10 recruiters after Mississippi State hauled in one of the nation\u2019s top 16 classes, according to recruiting services. In the spring of 2013, he was named assistant head coach.<\/p>\n

According to Rivals.com, the 22 National Letters of Intent MSU received on 2015 Signing Day made up the Bulldogs\u2019 best since 2003. Fifteen of the signees hailed from Mississippi. Local recruiting will be a top priority for Hughes at Jackson State. He plans to focus on recruitment within a 150-mile radius of the university.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will recruit players from the state of Mississippi and the local Jackson area,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cI believe that there are enough players in the state. If we recruit right and evaluate right, every year we will field a great football team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as this press conference is over with, I\u2019ll be on the phone making some calls to get us some football players in here.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Working formula: honesty and respect<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m telling you right now that I don\u2019t have a magic wand in my pocket. I don\u2019t have a crystal ball. I can\u2019t predict how many wins we will have, but I know hard work, discipline and toughness. I know that formula works. When we put those ingredients together as the basic foundation of our program \u2013 honesty, treating women with respect and not using drugs and weapons and not stealing from each other \u2013 you will see a team that you are very proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all of us working together, we can achieve success as we move forward. I\u2019m proud to be here today and excited to be here today.<\/p>\n

In addition, Hughes has a knack for identifying players from Mississippi that go on to become NFL prospects. This is true of first-team All-American linebacker, Benardrick McKinney, who was once a two-star high school quarterback in Tunica before being drafted by the Houston Texans in 2015.<\/p>\n

While at Mississippi State, Hughes developed the Bulldogs\u2019 safeties corps into one of the Southeastern Conference\u2019s hardest-hitting units. Hughes is known for a hard-nosed defense. Following the 2014 Orange Bowl season, two of his safeties signed NFL free agent contracts, including his son, Jay \u2013 a testimony to his development of Mississippi\u2019s talent at the Division I level.<\/p>\n

In 2006, Hughes was named one of the Top 25 college football recruiters in the nation by Rivals.com. His first two years at the University of Mississippi were spent tutoring defensive backs while spending quality time with tight ends.<\/p>\n

He spent two seasons at Louisiana Technical University and spent 10 years coaching at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Miss., where he served as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach. Hughes coached eight players who later went on to the NFL.<\/p>\n

Before working at Hinds, Hughes\u2019 first full-time coaching position on the collegiate level was at the University of West Alabama, 1992-93. Hughes coached seven years in the Mississippi high school ranks, serving as offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Hattiesburg High School, 1988-91. He spent two seasons as the defensive secondary coach and boys track coach at South Natchez High School in 1986-87. His first high school coaching job was at Philadelphia High School in 1985.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From the Marine Corps to the gridiron<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hughes served his country in the United States Marine Corps, 1981-84, and received an honorable discharge. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Southern Mississippi in 1984, working with defensive backs. He played football and ran track at Forest High School, 1974-76, and played defensive back at St. Paul\u2019s College, 1976-77, and was a defensive back for the Southern Miss Eagles, 1977-78.<\/p>\n

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology in 1980. He is an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), serving as a member of the Mississippi FCA State Board of Directors in 1999; president of the Mississippi FCA Coaches Council in 1998; and vice president of the Mississippi FCA Coaches Council in 1997.<\/p>\n

Hughes is married to the former Marion McCaleb of Meridian, Miss., and the couple has two sons, Jamison and Jay. Jay had the prestigious honor of being the only SEC football player to represent the league at the 2015 NCAA Convention.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University Communications Jackson State University\u2019s Director of Athletics Wheeler Brown announced the hiring of Tony Hughes as the football program\u2019s 19th head coach during a Monday morning press conference in the Lee E. Williams Athletic and Assembly Center Hall of Fame Room. \u201cToday is a great day to be a Tiger,\u201d Brown said. \u201cCoach Hughes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6654","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-campus-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6654\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}