Mike Jones, the head coach of the highly successful Eastern
Michigan University men's swimming and diving program from
1967-88, passed away Nov. 4, after a short hospital stay.
He died from multiple organ failure. He was 75.
"Eastern Michigan University is deeply saddened by
the loss of Mike Jones," EMU Director of Athletics
Derrick Gragg said of Jones' passing. "Coach
Jones is certainly a legend in the world of intercollegiate
swimming and one of the cornerstones of EMU's athletic
success in the past 40 years."
 |
ON DECK:Mike Jones (right) keeps a
watchful
eye on his swimmers while
monitoring his stop watch.
Jones, who
coached EMU's men's swimming and
diving
team, from 1967-1988, died Nov. 4.
Jones coached
five national championship
teams at the NAIA and
NCAA College
Division ranks, as well as nine consecutive
Mid-American Conference championships.
|
A 1955 Eastern Michigan University graduate, Jones returned
to his alma mater in 1966-67 as an assistant men's swimming
coach to then-head coach Bill Lewis. Jones moved up to
the head coaching post the next year when Lewis left to
become the head coach at his alma mater, Miami (Ohio) University.
Once Jones took over the head coaching reins in 1967,
the rest was history as Jones led his teams to unprecedented
heights in the intercollegiate swimming world until his
retirement after the 1987-88 season.
During his EMU coaching career, Jones led his teams to
a 177-50 dual-meet record (.779 percent) and a 103-12 mark
(.896 percent) in league duals. Jones directed his EMU
men's team to the National Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics (NAIA) national championship in his first four
seasons at the helm.
After the then-Hurons moved up to the NCAA College Division
ranks in 1971, Jones once again led his team to the national
championship, their fifth in a row.
EMU joined the Mid-American
Conference in 1971 and the Hurons recorded a second, two
thirds and a fourth-place finish from 1972-73 through 1976-77,
before the Jones magic returned in championship performances.
Eastern won its first MAC championship in 1977-78 and,
after a fifth-place finish in 1978-79, the Green and White
ran off nine consecutive league titles before Jones retired
as head coach after the 1987-88 season. He was named
MAC Coach of the Year nine times and Co-Coach of the Year
once in his 16 years in the league. His EMU teams
won 48 dual meets in a row when he left coaching.
Jones, who was a physical education professor, received
numerous awards in his coaching career, including having
Feb. 27, 1971, proclaimed "Mike
Jones Day" by the state of Michigan Legislature. He
received the Master Coach Award from the College Swimming
Coaches Association of America for his achievements in
coaching and was named to the EMU Athletic Hall of Fame
in 1985. He also was selected as one of the U.S.
Olympic Swim team's assistant coaches in 1970.
In 1989, the Olds/IM Pool on the EMU campus was officially
renamed the Michael H. Jones Natatorium in his honor.
The Jones Pool is an Olympic-sized 50-meter pool with spring
(1 meter and 3 meter) and platform (5 meter, 7 meter and
10 meter) diving boards. It is the home to the EMU Swimming
and Diving teams and numerous state and local swimming
and diving competitions.
Jones was proud that several of
his swimmers followed his example and became high school
and collegiate swimming coaches themselves.
While he wasn't coached by Jones, former EMU swimmer Russ
Sampson (1991-1995) said the former coach,
who kept an office near the pool after he retired, had
a major affect on his life. Sampson currently coaches swimming
at Clarence High School, located just outside Buffalo,
N.Y.
"He was a great storyteller," Sampson said during
a memorial reception at the Jones Pool Nov. 7. "He was
one of the best motivators of anyone I've ever met. He
was unbelievably charamatic and genuine. He
made you feel like you were the only person in the room."
Jeff Leonard, who swam with Jones' sons at Milan High
School and later against Jones' EMU teams while swimming
for Kent State, said he felt as though he lost "a
kindred spirit." He said Jones was the kind of guy
who could continually talk about swimming on a six-hour
road trip, just as Leonard could.
"He had high standards for himself. He was the kind of
guy you could have as a hero and you would never be let
down. I would have liked to have swam for him," Leonard
said.
Like many who knew Jones primarily through conversing
with him during his daily workouts at the Rec/Im, John
Barr Jr., marveled at the physical condition Jones kept
himself in.
"I always saw him doing leg extensions and he was on the
treadmill a lot. He was very fit," said Barr, who received
his bachelor's and master's degrees from EMU.
Barr said it was interesting to learn that Jones was so
nervous for his first date with his future wife, Judy,
that he wrote her name on his hand so he wouldn't forget.
That story was told by Jones' pastor at the funeral service.
Prior to returning to EMU as a coach, Jones was the head
swimming coach at Hazel Park High School from 1960-66 where
he led that school to great success.
His Hazel Park teams recorded a 50-39 dual-meet record
and he was named the Coach of the Year in the SMA in 1965
and, in 1966, was singled out as the Michigan Amateur Aquatics
Coach of the Year.
Jones, a Detroit native, graduated
from Ferndale Lincoln High School in 1951. He received
two master's degrees, one in guidance and counseling and
another in physical education, and his bachelor's degree
in secondary education, all from Eastern Michigan University.
After retirement, he resumed his second love, golf, and
rarely missed a day on the links.
He is survived by his wife, Judy, sons Kyle and
Jay, and four grandchildren.
The memorial service was Nov. 7 at Nie Family Funeral
Home in Ann Arbor. A memorial reception followed at the
Jones Natatorium in the Olds/Robb Rec/IM. In lieu of flowers,
the family asks that contributions be sent in Jones' memory
to the Michael H. Jones Men's Swimming Endowment at Eastern
Michigan University. Checks should be made payable to the
"EMU Foundation-Mike Jones Swimming Endowment" and
can be mailed to the EMU Athletic Development Office, 799
N. Hewitt Rd., Ypsilanti, MI 41897. To sign the guestbook
or to leave a memory, please visit his personal page at
www.niefuneralhomes.com — Ron
Podell contributed to this report.
