Benyard Jones
Assistant Coach
First Season
(Indiana, 1998)

    Benyard Jones, who spent the previous two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Division II Arkansas Tech, is in his first year with the Youngstown State staff as the defensive line coach.
    Jones spent the last three campaigns with the Wonder Boys, including the final two as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Prior to taking over duties as the coordinator he served as the defensive line coach in 2006.
    In his career he has had two stints with the ATU program. He served on the staff a total of eight seasons from 2006-08 and 1999-04 for coach Steve Mullins. In between, he spent a season (2005) as the defensive and special teams coordinator on the FCS level at Butler for Coach Kit Cartwright.
   During his first tenure with Arkansas Tech, he spent four years as the defensive line coach and two as the offensive line coach. He also handled strength and conditioning, travel coordinating and academic advising for the program. Upon his return in 2006, he served as the school's Associate Athletic Director and NCAA Compliance Coordinator while maintaining his duties as the strength and conditioning coach.
    Jones was a standout defensive tackle at Indiana as a collegiate. He was a three-year letterman (1995, 1996, 1997) as a defensive tackle for the Hoosiers. He was a two-year starter and was in the lineup for the final 22 games of his career. He began his career playing for Coach Bill Mallory and as a senior was a captain on Cam Cameron's first Hoosier squad in 1997. That season, he played under YSU Head Coach Jon Heacock who was IU's defensive coordinator at the time.
    A native of Kankakee, Ill., he earned a bachelor's degree in General Studies in 1998 from IU and is close to completing his master's degree in Elementary Education from Arkansas Tech.
    At Kankakee High School, he earned two football letters and all-conference and all-state honors as a center and defensive tackle. He also earned four letters in wrestling.
   Benyard is married to the former Terri Hankton of Russellville, Ark. The couple has a daughter, Shakayla.