South Alabama's Jones stepping down after football season

MOBILE, Ala. - South Alabama coach Joey Jones is resigning, effective after the season finale.

Athletic director Joel Erdmann made the announcement Monday. Erdmann says Jones ''is the father of our football program'' and has put it on solid footing.

Jones is the only coach in the history of a program that fielded its first team in 2009. He was hired a couple of months after South Alabama's December 2007 announcement that it would start a football program.

Jones has posted a 52-49 record in eight-plus seasons and led the Jaguars to two bowl games. He won his first 19 games after the startup.

South Alabama is 4-7 and coming off a 52-0 loss to Georgia Southern.

Jones will coach the Jaguars at New Mexico State on Dec. 2.