Thomas "T.E." Jones - USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame 2021 Inductee

Thomas “T. E.” Jones was a visionary.

He, along with Amos Alonzo Stagg and John L. Griffith helped organize the first NCAA championship in any sport, the 1921 National Collegiate Track & Field Championships.

At the time, Jones was the athletic director and head cross country and track & field coach at the University of Wisconsin, positions he held for 35 years until his retirement at age 70. Before that, Jones spent three years at the University of Missouri, where he was so beloved that there was a petition passed around by athletes at the institution to get him to stay when news of the Badgers’ offer spread around campus.

Jones began his coaching career at Madison High School in Wisconsin after finishing his four-year degree at Iowa Teachers’ College (now the University of Northern Iowa) and taking “special work” in physical training at Harvard University. He didn’t stay in Madison long the first time as the Tigers’ roar beckoned him to Columbia in 1910.

From 1910 to 1912, Jones led Missouri to a number of accomplishments. His teams won three Missouri Valley Conference titles in track & field, captured the Western Conference title in 1911 and also finished runner-up at the meet in his final year on campus. One of his athletes, John Nicholson, competed at the 1912 Olympic Games in the final of the 110 Meter Hurdles.

“Honest Tom,” as he was affectionately known, returned to Madison to much fanfare in 1913 and developed UW into a powerhouse in cross country and track & field over the next 35 years.

The Badgers were particularly strong in cross country under Jones, winning 14 conference titles and posting a 70-18 record in dual meets. That doesn’t even include a pair top-3 finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, which was still in its infancy at the time. UW actually took runner-up honors at the second-ever installment of the meet in 1939 thanks to an individual title from Walter Mehl, who finished second the previous year.

Success carried over into track & field, where the Badgers amassed numerous team titles, 137 total individual titles between the indoor and outdoor seasons (five at the NCAA Outdoor Championships), a 123-47 record in dual meets and an undefeated record in indoor triangular competition with Jones at the helm. Jones also coached Arlie Mucks, a 1912 Olympian in the discus, to the indoor shot put world record in 1916.

After his retirement in 1948, Jones was named to the Team USA coaching staff for the 1948 Olympic Games in London. Team USA captured 11 gold medals, five silver medals and nine bronze medals in Athletics that year.

Jones died on April 30, 1969, at the age of 91.

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