Donna names Thomas Jones next head football coach, athletic coordinator

DONNA — The Donna ISD School Board unanimously approved a motion to hire Thomas Jones as the next head football coach and athletic coordinator at Donna High School during a board meeting Tuesday in Donna.

Jones is a 2005 graduate from McAllen High and a Texas A&M alumnus who was a walk-on defensive lineman with the Aggies for two seasons. He most recently served as assistant head coach and special teams coordinator at Edinburg Economedes this past season, helping lead the Jaguars to their first playoff appearance since 2016.

Donna ISD approved the hiring of Thomas Jone to be the next head coach and athletic coordinator at Donna High School. (Photo by Christian Inoferio/Special to RGVSports.com.)

“I’m just beyond excited for this opportunity to get to work with the kids and the community at Donna High School and get the Donna Redskins back where they need to be,” Jones said. “I’m from the Valley. Donna, when I was growing up, was always a powerhouse and a team you didn’t want to play, and my background is to get us back to that.”

Prior to 2024, Jones was an offensive line coach, special teams coordinator and co-offensive coordinator during eight seasons at PSJA North. Jones started as an assistant at PSJA Southwest before making stops at McAllen Rowe and McAllen Memorial.

“I look back on all the people I’ve worked under — Jesse Reyes at PSJA Southwest when I was a young coach, Paul Reyes at Rowe giving me a shot on varsity, Bill Littleton at McAllen Memorial giving me an opportunity to learn and grow, Coach (Marcus) Kaufmann taking me as a coordinator (at PSJA North) and working closely with him for eight years and understanding how to build one of those programs, and Coach (Raul) Salas giving me an opportunity at Economedes to be his assistant head coach and run things on a daily basis; and a big shoutout to all the other coaches I’ve ever worked with. I always do my best to learn as much as I can from everybody,” Jones said.

The head football coach and athletic coordinator position at Donna High opened in September after former head coach Mike Gonzales resigned.

Donna finished the 2024 campaign with a 2-8 overall record and has made the playoffs three times in the last 10 seasons.

Jones, who played on the offensive line at McAllen High under coach Tony Harris, has helped build tough teams during his coaching career that put an emphasis on toughness in the trenches. He intends to do the same at Donna High.

“It’s about building trust in the program, get the kids and coaches together and get everybody going on the same path and believing in what I believe in — hard-running football and a hard-hitting defense,” Jones said.

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