OAK LAWN, Ill. – Northwest offensive line coach Jim Jones is scheduled to be honored this weekend by his high school alma mater, becoming one of the latest inductees into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Harold L. Richards High School.

Jones will take part in the induction ceremony, which is scheduled for Sunday in his hometown of Oak Lawn, Illinois. 

A decorated athlete at H.L. Richards, Jones earned numerous honors and accolades throughout his high school career, including first team all-state selections for both offense and defense by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and the Champaign News-Gazette. He was also named Player of the Year by Star Newspapers in 1995 and selected to the Super 25 All-Area team.

Jones was recruited by several Division I programs, but ultimately chose to play for coach Lou Holtz and the University of Notre Dame. From 1996-2000, Jones played in 24 career games with 21 starts as left guard under coach Bob Davie in his final two seasons with the Fighting Irish. He played a key role in helping the Fighting Irish rank 14th nationally in rushing and 17th in passing efficiency during the 2000 season and helped lead Notre Dame to a 9-2 record and the 2001 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Jones was an All-Independent selection by Collegefootballnews.com at seasons' end and was selected to play in the Rotary Gridiron Classic All-Star game in Orlando.

After receiving his degree in sociology in December 2000, Jones went on to play in the National Football League for six seasons, spending time with the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins and world champion Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2001-06 seasons. He was twice named the Steelers' Player of the Game during the 2004 season.

Following his NFL career, Jones spent two seasons as a graduate assistant with the offensive line at the University of Virginia, where the Cavaliers compiled a combined 14-11 record and appeared in the 2008 Konica Minolta Gator Bowl. After giving up 33 sacks in 2007 (2.54 sacks/game), the Cavaliers improved significantly by giving up just 16 during the 2008 season (1.33 sacks/game).

After spending the 2009 season at Lake Forest College as the offensive line/tight ends coach, run-game coordinator and athletic recruiter, Jones arrived at Northwest for his first stint under Ricky Woods. In his first stint with the Ranger football program from 2010-12, Jones' offensive line helped pave the way for the nation's third-ranked offense in 2012 (434.1 ypg), fifth-ranked offense (485.4 ypg) in 2011 and 10th-ranked offense (413.6 ypg) in 2010. 

Northwest averaged 198.5 yards on the ground in those three years, rushed for 200 or more in 15 games and eclipsed 500 yards of total offense 11 times. The Rangers exploded for a season-high 439 yards rushing in a 66-41 win over Holmes in 2011, the third-most rushing yards in single-game school history.

Backed by a pair of First Team All-MACJC selections and NJCAA First Team All-American Donald Hawkins, the offensive line allowed just four sacks in 2011 in 648 plays from the line of scrimmage and 11 in 709 plays during the 2012 season behind Second Team All-American Austin Douglas. 

Jones departed Northwest for Pearl River Community College in 2013, only to return to Northwest as part of Jack Wright's staff, helping the Rangers to a pair of postseason appearances in 2014 and 2015, where Northwest won the NJCAA National Championship in a 66-13 defeat of Rochester. The Rangers boasted the MACJC's leading rusher in 2014 and 2015 in NJCAA Offensive Player of the Year Justin Crawford, a free agent signee of the Atlanta Falcons. Kevin Perkins ranked fifth in the conference in rushing last year with 884 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Jones has remained on the Rangers' staff since Benjy Parker was appointed head coach following the 2015 season. In that time, Northwest has earned two more trips to the postseason and back-to-back MACJC runner-up finishes. Jones' offensive line was outstanding in 2017, allowing just nine sacks in 832 plays from scrimmage and paving the way for the NJCAA's fifth ranked total offense (485.5 ypg) and 11th-best scoring offense (37.3 ppg). The Rangers rolled up over 500 yards of offense five times and dropped 66 and 61 points on rival East Mississippi.

Overall, Northwest has ranked in the Top 25 in the NJCAA in rushing in all but one of Jones' seven seasons and has rushed for 2,000 yards in three consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. Quarderman Sloan and Tywun Walters, both Division I signees, became the first running back duo to rush for 1,000 yards in the same season in 2016. 

Additionally, he has helped develop 20 players who've moved on to the four-year level after Northwest, including 14 to NCAA Division I programs. Two-time NJCAA All-American Damien Lewis (LSU), Tairek Johnson (USM), Donald Hawkins (Texas), Terry Johnson (Louisiana), Terrance Malone (Arkansas), Chase Johnson (Arkansas State), Chris Phillips (Southeastern Louisiana), Jermaine Jones (Southeastern Louisiana), Keenen Davis (UT Martin) and J.R. Burns (Murray State) are some of the most prized signees during his tenure.