Cardale Jones, Ohio State national champion, joins Staples football staff as quarterbacks coach

Cardale Jones never envisioned being a football coach.

It's a title he's still trying to get used to after joining Matty Jacowleff's staff at Staples as quarterbacks coach this summer.

Part of the fun, of course, is when players find out about Jones' past, a history that features a national championship at Ohio State in 2014.

So how often do the players bring up the championship while working with Jones?

"Every day," Jones said with a laugh. "These guys are insane. They're relentless. Every day, it's another kid coming up to me and saying 'coach Jones, in my free period today, I looked you up on YouTube. I watched you play with this guy and that guy. Man, you were good.'

"I joke with them but honestly, that's what's helped with my transition there and my relationship with those guys. They're wide eyes and open ears and they're listening to every word I'm saying and trying to apply it immediately."

Staples officially announced Jones' addition to the coaching staff on Tuesday.

For Jacowleff, having a former national champ on the staff, someone with that kind of experience and history, has been a dream.

In fact, that's what the second-year Staples head coach thought it was at first.

"I go to bed very early, so I'm asleep by 9 p.m.," Jacowleff said. "I always wake up at like 11:30 p.m. I try not to check my phone, but I did this one night in June and I had a text from a number I didn't have saved and it read 'Hey coach this is Cardale Jones from Ohio State. I'm going to be in the area this summer. I would love it if we could connect.'"

Jacowleff woke up the next morning thinking "why did I have a dream that Cardale Jones texted me?"

The dream became reality, with a lot of miles in between for Jones.

The former Ohio State quarterback was drafted by the Bills in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, and also spent time with the Chargers and Seahawks before playing in the XFL, CFL and Indoor Football League.

Jones has a home in Columbus and a place in Stamford, and works as an analyst with CBS Sports in New York City.

He connected with the Staples football program while working with Brandon Gutman, who along with junior Grant Bozeman, is a contender for the starting quarterback job.

Jones estimated he's been at about 70% of the Wreckers' practices so far, and said he'll be at eight of the 10 regular-season games.

It has been a difficult offseason for Staples with quarterbacks coach Nick Chacho, 32, being diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer during the winter. Jacowleff said the players and coaches have rallied behind Chacho and have held fundraisers.

"You talk about high school sports and high school football, and every team breaks it down to family, and we've got to be there for someone in our family when they need our help," Jacowleff said. "The most important thing to us was to put our team and our program in a position where we could support one of our own."

Jacowleff also spent time going to clinics, watching film and talking to mentors about quarterback play and technique so he could help Chacho at that position.

When Jacowleff was contacted by Jones, the former Ohio State QB wanted to make sure he was on the same page with the program.

"He wanted to sit down and talk through our playbook, the verbiage that we use, just to make sure that he's coaching in the same way that we coach," Jacowleff said. "He said 'if I'm doing this, I want to do a good job and do right by you guys as a team.'"

Then summer practices started, and Jones became more involved with the program and its plays.

"He always started our conversations with 'Are you open to feedback?'" Jacowleff said. "I'm sitting here going into my second year as a head coach and we have a former NFL quarterback and a national champion at Ohio State and he's offering feedback. I certainly could use that."

So far, it's been an ideal match for the program, the players and Jones, who is still getting acclimated to the title of coach.

"I've been liking every minute of it," Jones said. "Matty has done a great job at developing an unbelievable staff and I can't say enough great things about the kids. I never viewed myself as a coach. It's still funny getting used to them calling me coach. The kids are great, they're eager to learn, and they're respectful. I think that's what's making this process so enjoyable."