OBITUARY

T (James C.) Jones

JANUARY 10, 1931 – SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

T.Jones (James C Jones), 89, born on a farm in Childress, TX, passed away on September 15, 2020. He is survived by his wife of 44 years and the love of his life, Phyllis Jones, formerly of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; son, Micheal J Jones of Austin; Son-in-law Chip Waldroup of Austin and wife MaryFrances and Grandchildren in laws Tracey Waldroup and Samantha Waldroup.

He was predeceased by his daughter Minette Waldroup of Austin. T was the son of the late Wallace and Frances (Pilcher) Jones. He was one of 6 children, 2 of whom still survive, twin sisters Jane Riggs ( of Clifton, TX) and Julia Davidson (and husband David of Dallas, TX) and many nieces and nephews; predeceased by his three brothers Wallace Jones, Jr,, Max Curtis Jones, and Charles Ray Jones. Already a future Texas High School Hall of Famer, T proudly played college football for the University of Texas and was the starting quarterback for two seasons in the early 1950’s. He was named MVP for the SW Conference in the 1952 season and led the Longhorns to a Cotton Bowl victory over Tennessee. After college, he was a U.S. Army veteran serving honorably in the Korean War. After the military, he coached UT football as an assistant on Darrell Royal’s first UT coaching staff. He left athletics for almost 20 years and worked as a businessman and banker. But athletics lured him back again, and he served as associate Athletic Director at UT. Later Texas Tech came knocking and T finished his career as Athletic Director at Texas Tech University for both men and women’s sports –at the time a first–serving 8 years before retiring in 1993. T was inducted into the Halls of Honor at both schools and is highly regarded nationally in NCAA sports.

A good cook, a good golfer and a keen friend, T loved the past 20 years in Horseshoe Bay. He helped start the Horseshoe Bay Sports club now known as the Rudy Davalos Sports Club. Getting people together to share a meal and a good laugh were trademarks. His handwritten notes were legendary for his calligraphy and gracious words.

He and Phyllis were regulars at supper clubs and outings with HSB friends. That same giant hand that expertly handled the football was regularly thrust forward in greeting by T to all he met. He was kind and fair to all. T will be missed immeasurably. He gave us a target to shoot for. Rest easy now friend.

Memorial service is planned for Friday September 25th at 1pm at the Church of Horseshoe Bay; 600 Hi Ridge Road, Horseshoe Bay, TX. Service will be live-streamed and may be accessed at: www.church-hsb.org A tab on the website will appear with T Jones Memorial Service.

• DONATIONS

• Darrell K Royal Fund for Alzheimer’s Research 

• Sharon Dykes Alzheimer’s Foundation 

Roxane Gardner

September 18, 2020

To the family and to his loving wife,
I never met T but I knew him through Wayne and Ann Ratisseau. I’m so sorry for your loss. I wish I had been able to have met him. T sounds like he will be sorely missed and never forgotten.
Press On…Roxane Gardner

Bill Melton

September 18, 2020

Sincere condolences on T’s passing.

He was a great Texas Longhorn player and Coach, MVP of the Cotton Bowl Classic and an outstanding Athletic Director at Texas Tech.

He was also a friend and he and I Announced the 1965 Texas vs Texas Tech football Game on Austin’s new Channel 42.

May God Bless T and the Family.

Sam and Ann Clark

September 18, 2020

“T” was a great person. He will be missed by many. May GOD be with the family and comfort them during this sad time.
Sam and Ann Clark

Carol Marshall-Hanson

September 17, 2020

I am so sorry for your loss. I am honored to have known T, and will always cherish the wonderful photos he took of “Festus.” (chocolate lab).

FROM THE FAMILY

Oh my goodness, I am so sorry to hear about T, however I knew he was getting very weak of late.

Thank you Billy for keeping us informed. Prayers for Phil and family. Diane Akers

Billy, another outstanding job chronicling T. Jones life at UT and TT.  I did not really know T but he was “around” during my time at UT.  I believe he left after the ’62 season and I came in ’64.  As your material notes, he was working for a bank in Austin and would occasionally be seen at practice or in the locker room.  From my world he then disappeared but reappeared years later as the AD at TT.  I could never quite figure out the entire UT/TT connection with T, David and Spike – but the material you put out this morning was excellent in explaining all of that history. 

 Gene Powell

President

 Wm. E. Powell & Co., Inc.

T-Jones – Articles by Lubbock Avalanche , TexasSports.com, and TLSN

Article Below was written by Bill Little for Texassports.com

09.15.2020 | Football

Longhorn Legend and college athletics icon “T” Jones passes away

A former star quarterback at UT, member of the Texas Athletics Hall of Fame and Longhorn assistant coach, Jones was 89.

• By Bill Little

Texas Media Relations

The legend is simple, and the story is true.

James Carroll Jones lived almost 90 years with a nickname that was a single letter:

“T”

Some thought it came from his time as a “T” formation All-Southwest Conference quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. Others, thought it was “T” as in “T” for Texas. His birth certificate, dated January 10, 1931, simply reads “Baby Boy Jones.” The moniker had a simpler origin, however. His older brother, Charles, used to proudly point to his young sibling and say “Tee the baby!”

And for the rest of his life, that’s who T Jones was.

The journey ended Tuesday, when Jones’ long battle with assorted maladies of aging ended at his home in Horseshoe Bay, where he had lived with his wife, Phyllis, since he retired as the athletics director at Texas Tech in 1996.

It is, however, impossible to quantify the impact of Jones’ career in athletics in the Southwest. He took the phrase “first class” to another level. Whether it was in his time as an All-SWC football player, or as an assistant coach to an aging Ed Price and a young Darrell Royal, or as a banker or businessman or as the powerful associate athletics director at Texas or the AD at Texas Tech, Jones “just made you proud of who you were,” as a longtime friend once said. As the athletics director in Lubbock, he was a strong force in the stabilizing of the Southwest Conference and the creation of the Big 12.

Whether it was building buildings, designing classic logos or impeccable pen and ink signatures, Jones reflected class.

A career which began as a star high school player in Childress, Texas, carried “T” to membership in the Halls of Honor of both Texas and Texas Tech and the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame. It included honors and records, but most of all, it included lifelong friendships that were marked with respect and caring.

He was named the SWC’s Most Valuable Player in 1952, when he quarterbacked the Horns to a 9-2 season, a conference title and Top 10 ranking. He helped Texas cap that year with a 16-0 victory over No. 8 Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl. In two seasons as UT’s starting quarterback, he was 14-3.

After his playing career, he fulfilled his military obligation to the Korean War effort, and in 1956 he joined the coaching staff of Ed Price as an assistant. He was retained by Darrell Royal when Royal took the Texas job in 1957, and stayed with the staff through the 1962 season, after which he spent 18 years in banking and private business. In 1980, he returned to college athletics as an assistant athletics director at Texas, and in 1986, he was named athletics director at Texas Tech.

He was the last surviving member of Royal’s first coaching staff at Texas. That bond even carried on in his personal life. In 1969, when Royal’s team was winning its second National Championship, the coach’s TV show was sponsored by City Bank, where Jones was VP for marketing. It was produced by a public relations company where Phyllis Todd worked. And for 44 years until Tuesday, the stunning blonde lady and the handsome former quarterback were happily married.

The word “gracious” never had a better showcase. In the end, “T” Jones was a man of integrity. He was tenacious, funny, bright, kind and generous. He was every bit as much at home in a ballroom in New York or at Dirty’s grabbing a burger.

He was a man who had your back, and at the same time stood beside you. Never was that more evident than with his good friend DeLoss Dodds, who in 1981 was chosen for the athletics director’s job which many thought was destined to become Jones’.

But where there could have been bitterness, there was camaraderie. Where there could have  been jealousy, there was respect, and a genuine love.

That doesn’t happen very often, certainly not often enough. But “T” was a man who stood for what he believed, and he never waivered in that. And that is why those of us who worked with him, find it difficult to say goodbye. Because saying goodbye is too often a sad time.

It is healed only by the memories, and the celebration, of a time that is to be cherished. 

It is, after all, a salute to a life well-lived.

            ##

The family has suggested that memorials may be made to the Darrell K Royal Fund for Alzheimer’s Research, or the Sharon Dykes Alzheimer’s Foundation, c/o First Capital Bank, 6811 Indiana Ave., Lubbock, TX 79413. Services are pending.   

   

   T. Jones, former Texas Tech AD, dies at 89

© Provided by Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Jones

Images added from Billy dale’s longhorn archive

T. Jones, former Texas Tech AD, dies at 89

Don Williams  1 day ago

T. Jones, as Texas Tech athletics director from 1985 to 1993, hired popular coaches Spike Dykes, Larry Hays and James Dickey and helped put the Red Raiders in position when the Southwest Conference collapsed to be a part of the Big 12.

When football coach David McWilliams bolted Tech after one season to return to Texas, his and Jones’ alma mater, Jones took the blowback.

But he elevated Dykes as a replacement, gave him a 10-year contract a few years later and watched the popular coach build goodwill and other sports flourish.

Jones died Tuesday after a multi-year battle with cancer, close family friend Jim Sexton said. Sexton, having spoken with Jones’ family, said he passed away at home in Horseshoe Bay. He was 89.

“T. did more for Texas Tech by turning the program around when he came here than any past AD we’ve ever had,” said Sexton, a near-lifelong Lubbock resident and Tech basketball letterman from 1951-54. “He was just a great guy, a great guy.

© Texas Tech Athletics Texas Tech athletics director T. Jones celebrates with Lady Raiders basketball players. The Lady Raiders won the national championship in 1993, which was late in Jones’ eight-year tenure as Tech AD. [PROVIDED BY TEXAS TECH ATHLETICS]

“T. Jones turned our program around, and he really installed a will to win out there that we didn’t have.”

The University of Texas athletics department also confirmed Jones’ death.

Former Tech player, coach and AD Gerald Myers called Jones “a really high-principled guy.”

“He was just a good person — integrity, honesty. He dealt with people in a straightforward way, and he did a good job when he came here. He did do some good things, and that was pre-Big 12 days. We were in the Southwest Conference, and he didn’t have the budgets that we had after we got into the Big 12.”

Jones hired Hays in 1987 and got lights installed at Dan Law Field, laying the foundation for a golden era of Tech baseball. And late in Jones’ tenure, the Lady Raiders basketball team won the department’s first NCAA championship in 1993.

Perhaps more important, he oversaw a football program that had suffered six consecutive losing seasons when he was hired to one that became more competitive.

“He took over at a real critical time,” Myers said, “and had our sports up to the level that we were attractive enough to get in the Big 12.”

Jones became Tech athletics director in August 1985 while the Red Raiders were struggling under Jerry Moore. The streak reached seven straight losing seasons that fall, and Jones fired Moore and brought in McWilliams, then a Texas assistant.

McWilliams led Tech to a 7-4 regular season in 1986, but resigned after the regular season to become head coach at Texas, bringing the wrath of Red Raiders fans down on Jones. However, his promotion of Dykes worked out.

Dykes led the Red Raiders to a 9-3 season in 1989, and even after they sagged back in 1990, Jones endorsed his coach with a 10-year contract and reaped stability. The Red Raiders shared the Southwest Conference championship in 1994 and went to the Cotton Bowl.

“I think a lot of people were down on T. for hiring a Texas guy that came one year and left,” Myers said, “but he probably made one of the biggest hires that anybody made when he hired Spike, because Spike pulled everybody together.

“Everybody liked Spike and his teams were good, and that was a really important period in our history of athletics, because Spike had football winning more than we lost. Our crowds were up. Our attendance was up, and that was one big factor in going to the Big 12. It was all about football.”

Jones also hired Dickey and, though he wasn’t still around to see it, Dickey led the Red Raiders to a 30-2 season and Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 1996. In promoting Dickey to head coach in 1991, Jones asked Myers to step down, ending the latter’s 20 1/2-season tenure as coach.

“I had a good relationship with T.,” Myers said. “I liked him and I thought he was fair. He had to reassign me, but I deserved to be reassigned. We had about four or five bad years right there. I didn’t resent T. for moving me over into … He made me an assistant athletic director, but I liked T. He was good. You knew where you stood with him.”

James Carroll Jones was born Jan. 10, 1931, in Childress. He was the Texas Longhorns’ starting quarterback in 1951 and 1952 and all-Southwest Conference the latter year. He later served as a Longhorns assistant under Ed Price and Darrell Royal.

He was inducted into the Longhorns’ Hall of Honor in 1978 and the Tech Hall of Fame in 2004.

“He was a great, great college quarterback at Texas,” Sexton said. “And he was a plus, plus, plus for Texas Tech all the way. It was hard for people to believe that one of the Longhorns could come in here and be that loyal to Texas Tech.”

After Jones left Tech, Sexton said, “he was always, always very curious how Tech was doing. He’d call me about ballgames that Tech played. He was a Texas Tech fan and loyal to Texas Tech just as much as he was to Texas.”