That’s what I love about Coach Josh Jones. despite being absolutely hated on this website. He is genuinely involved in the community, especially with the youth teams. The 8th-grade Bearden Boys middle school football team recently won the MAC Championship, which is a league for middle school teams, and he threw a huge party for them out of his own pocket. He attends every game, shows up for every practice, and engages with parents to connect them with camps that can help their kids improve their skills.
He goes above and beyond, supplying jerseys, creating fundraisers for new helmets, and he lets them practice and play on the high school field, which, in years past, hasn’t been allowed, especially for practice. It's not just the middle school team, he also supports the youth tackle and flag football teams. They used to practice in various locations and have games scattered around, but he changed that. Now, they can use the facilities at Bearden High School for both practices and games.
Coach Jones utilizes his connections with NFL players he knows from coaching youth football to bring them in for talks, giving the players a chance to meet stars like Amari Rogers and Tee Higgins. The kids love it, but some people on the website like to claim it’s recruiting, which just isn’t true. The kids simply love playing for him and having him as a coach because he really is like a second father to them. And unfortunately, for many of these players, he’s the closest thing they have to a father figure. He also connects them with camps where college coaches start recognizing them, helping to get them on the path to being recruited. If they want to call that recruiting, then fine—don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Additionally, for the MAC team, he’s been trying to get the gold balls from the championships that the teams won in 2019, 2021, and 2024 into the high school facilities so that all the youth kids can pass by and see them every single day. That visibility will encourage them to strive for greatness. Maybe other coaches should get off their behinds and start doing what he’s doing, which is practically being down at the high school football field every day, all day.