McCluer North grads Keith Jones Jr. and Jacoby Jones give back with free youth football camp

FLORISSANT, Mo. – Keith Jones Jr. was feeling nostalgic on Saturday morning at McCluer North High School.

A defensive assistant coach with the New England Patriots, Jones graduated from McCluer North in 2012 after an accolade-filled high school career as a three-sport athlete for the Stars.

Jones was back on the same field Saturday with his younger brother, Jacoby, a 2017 North grad who went on to play at the University of Texas and is heading into his second season as a defensive lineman with the Orlando Guardians of the XFL.

The Jones brothers returned to McCluer North to give back to the community. The pair hosted The Jones Way Foundation Trench Camp, a free camp for offensive and defensive linemen in high school and middle school.

“It’s just an amazing feeling just to be able to bring something back positive to the community of Florissant and just North County period,” Keith said. “I really want to make a plan just to start giving back to the community, as far as the community that we grew up in, and so I want to make this an annual thing and keep it going for years to come.”

“It feels good to do this with my brother to be able to give back to where we came from and our careers started right here at McCluer North,” Jacoby said. “It’s all about the youth and the ones coming after us. We wanted to be able to give them the game and give them the knowledge that we probably didn’t have at the time we were here. We want to see them go to college. We want to see people go pro.”

Keith said the idea for the camp came a few months ago during a phone call with his young brother. They knew they didn’t have much time to get it together for this summer, but were able to pull it off thanks to hard work from their family and friends.

“Everybody that’s in the Foundation has been working so hard – my mom, my dad, my sister, my girlfriend,” Keith said. “They’ve all just been working so hard to get stuff together for the camp and they just made it an amazing time to get towards this goal. Now today is just coming full circle.”

The brothers wanted to give back to the community and help impart whatever wisdom they could from their unique football careers to the next generation of St. Louis area youth.

Keith Jones Jr. earned all-state honors in football and track and field and was a member of two state championship basketball teams at North before moving on to a successful college career at UT Martin, where he was a second-team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection as a defensive lineman as a senior.

His playing career continued with three seasons in the Indoor Football League, where he was named first-team All-IFL and won a league championship while playing for the Iowa Barnstormers.

An injury led Jones to seek opportunities in college coaching, which turned into stints at Missouri Southern, Arkansas State and Arkansas as a graduate assistant coach before an internship with the New England Patriots turned into an NFL coaching fellowship role as a defensive assistant coach.

Jones thanks God for his opportunity to be in this position.

“It’s been a fun journey so far,” Keith said. “The journey’s not done. It’s not done at all. But so far it’s just been a fun journey. We’re just trying to keep things going in the right direction.”

Jacoby is hoping to eventually follow in his older brother’s footsteps in the coaching world, but not before seeing how far his playing career may take him.

Jacoby’s journey took him from McCluer North to Butler Community College, where he established himself as one of the top edge rushers in junior college football, to the University of Texas, where he played three seasons.

Jacoby called the opportunity to play in the XFL for the Orlando Guardians “a dream come true” and he led the team with 3.5 sacks in his debut season this spring.

“Just still grinding, still processing, still learning,” Jacoby said. “I’ve still got a long career ahead of me. I’m still trying to maintain and grow, as a person, as a player, as a coach, as a mentor and as a leader to teach these young guys and teach them the things I didn’t know when I was young.

“That’s what me and my brother are doing. I’ve learned from my brother also. He’s coaching with the Patriots. I look up to him. He’s showed me things. He’s taught me stuff.”

Both Keith and Jacoby talked about how proud they are of what the other has accomplished in the years since they suited up for the Stars at McCluer North High School.

“It’s been amazing just to see him grow up, from a little kid to a young man,” Keith said. “It’s amazing. He’s got a story he’s still writing. He has a son now – I got my nephew – so he’s got a lot of goals in front of him. But it’s just amazing to see him evolve.”

Jacoby said he’s watched his older brother work "from the ground up" to where he is now.

“I’m proud of him and the things that he’s doing and has accomplished,” Jacoby said. “I know his career is going to go farther.”

On this day, on the same field where they both wreaked havoc on opposing offenses, both the brothers could be proud of what they’ve accomplished, working to give back to the next generation and also working to accomplish much more in the future.