ASHLAND – After 13 years at the helm of the Ashland University men’s golf team, Darrin Jones is retiring as head coach.
Jones, 40, said several factors played into his decision to step down from the job. One major factor is his family – his wife and two kids.
“For example, my daughter has played AAU basketball the past two seasons and I’ve been to a total of two tournaments,” Jones said. “I love coaching college golf and I love my guys. My guys are like second sons to me, but my kids are still my kids.”
Besides coaching at AU, Jones also works full-time as an ER nurse at an Elyria hospital. He is planning on returning to school to become a nurse practitioner in the near future, requiring time he didn’t have as AU’s men’s golf coach.
The college golf game has changed and gotten more competitive during Jones’ 13 years at AU, which has changed his job requirements.
“The job went from being a casual part-time job you had some fun with to being year-round, 40 or 50 hours a week,” Jones said. “I would be lying in bed at 1 o’clock in the morning flipping through emails of recruits and looking at swing videos trying to find that one last diamond in the rough.”
After the season ended, Jones sat down with AU Athletic Director Al King about the future of the program. It was at that meeting that Jones realized it may be time to step down.
“When we finally finished talking about it, I was like, ‘You know what, it may be best if I don’t come back. Maybe my tank is on empty,’” Jones said.
His wife and kids told him they supported him, whatever his decision was going to be.
“I always wanted to step away at the right time and I finally came to the realization there is no right time,” Jones said. “You always feel like you’re leaving kids behind and you’re disappointing kids, kids you made a commitment to.”
The coach was afraid of the response he would get after announcing his decision to leave, but was pleasantly surprised.
“I was blown away by the positivity,” Jones said. “That made it so much easier for me. If there had been negativity I would have sat back and had some regret. But the fact that those guys appreciated me and the time I put in, I can’t say enough about that.”
As a youngster, Jones split time between Florida and Ohio, learning the game of golf at an early age. After graduating high school, he planned to walk-on and play golf at The Ohio State University.
“I got there and found out they didn’t have walk-on tryouts. As an 18-year-old kid I really planned that well,” Jones said.
With his dreams of becoming a Buckeye golfer crushed, Jones dropped out of college and went back to Florida with hopes of playing golf professionally. After playing in some smaller tournaments, he quickly realized that his game wasn’t at the level it needed to be to compete at that level.
“That realization hit me really quick,” Jones said.
He quickly rebounded though, landing jobs as assistant golf pro at several locations in Florida, including Disney. Eventually, Jones made his way back to the Buckeye state, working as the assistant pro at the Ashland golf course. Jones was friends with the previous AU men’s golf coach and had worked with some of the golfers at the golf course. When the coach decided to leave AU, he asked Jones if he was interested in the position, an offer he quickly accepted.
Jones continued to work as a golf pro while coaching at AU. About six years ago, Jones decided to step away from being a golf pro to pursue a nursing career, a job which he said was a perfect fit for him.
Jones said what he will miss most about coaching is the relationships he formed with the students he coached.
“The memories to me that are the most important are the interactions with the guys. Times at practice, times on the road, as opposed to actual tournaments,” Jones said.
He coached a total of 19 All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference players, along with seven All-America Scholars. One golfer, Joe D’Andrea, earned a GLIAC Commissioner’s Award in 2009.
From 2008-2014, Jones’ players made seven straight NCAA Division II postseason appearances – five team and two individual. Most recently in 2014, the Eagles advanced to the super regional. The best team finishes for a Jones-coached squad were fifth in 2008 in the Great Lakes Regional and seventh-place finish in 2011 in the Midwest/South Central Regional in Georgetown, Ky.
“I’d like to thank Darrin for all he has done for the AU men’s golf program.” King said. “He’s made some incredible sacrifices over the years for this athletic program and the men’s golf program. Those looking in from the outside probably don’t realize everything he’s done. He’s held a full-time job and coached the men’s program. Darrin stretched every hour, day and month to the fullest.
“Darrin expanded our men’s golf program and took it places it hadn’t ventured before. He expanded recruiting and developed a team that was competitive year in and year out. His student-athletes had positive experiences and got to compete around the country against the best competition that NCAA Division II golf has to offer.”
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