Veteran Coach Frank Jones Happy to Return to Coaching Ranks at East Hamilton

Chattanooga-(WDEF-TV) The East Hamilton basketball team is 9-2 this season, and they’re in first place in their district under new head coach Frank Jones.
Jones is not new to the Chattanooga basketball scene.
He started coaching at Kirkman High School in 1978.
Jones spent the last few years in school administration before coming out of retirement to lead the Hurricanes.

Frank Jones is back on the hardwood at East Hamilton for the first time since stepping away as the head coach at Howard in 2000.
Said Jones:”They say God does things in mysterious ways. I’ve gone full circle. I’ve done a lot of things throughout the school district and everything. It has just brought me back to something that I really love to do. Everybody is surprised that I have decided to go back into coaching. So I just tell them that I’m just the Moses of the basketball league right now.”
The biblical Moses certainly saw many changes, and Jones has seen plenty of changes to the game of basketball since his return.
Said Jones:”Back when I was playing, we stressed more fundamentals. It’s more now that kids be able to play one-on-one basketball. It’s a different dynamics to it now.”
And like any good coach, Jones is adjusting to the new dynamics.
Said Jones:”I try to make them all-around players in spite of how tall they are or how small they are. I focus on them being skilled in all areas of the game.”
Jones has a skilled team at East Hamilton.
Tuesday night, they pulled off a 63-58 overtime win over undefeated Walker Valley.
Said Jones:”Of course I didn’t expect this game to be this tight. (chuckles) It does bring back some of the excitement and fun and the competitive spirit. It brings that back otu of you.”
You need that competitive spirit as a coach, but there are other coaching attributes just as important to Jones.
Said Jones:”I’m a minister at my church, so I’m coaching life also for the kids. As a coach, you deal with young men and their lives. So not only are you coaching them on the floor, but you are trying to also coach them in the game of life.”