Whiteface enters the 2026 season with high expectations after returning every starter from last year's 10-3 quarterfinal team, and first-year head football coach Jeff Jones isn't looking to reinvent the program; he's focused on building on the foundation that's already in place.
Jones is from Rankin, Texas and graduated from Texas Tech University. From there, he went on to coach in predominantly West Texas schools such as Hart, Crane, Garden City and Marfa where he received his first head coach and athletic director job.
Jones will be entering his 28th year coaching and 13th for six-man football.
In 2024 Jones was hired at Whiteface as an offensive coordinator and head track coach then in 2025, Whiteface promoted him to head football coach and athletic director.
“For them to trust me with this program, which has been pretty proud these last couple years, I’m excited and looking forward to it this year,” Jones said.
Jones has two sons, Jordan and Rylan. Jordan is an assistant football coach at Whiteface and Rylan will be entering his senior year playing football for his father.
Jones says ever since 2015, Rylan was a ball-boy while Jordan was playing, so since then he has always had one or both sons on the field with him, but this being Rylan's senior year is something special.
“It’s cool, I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Jones said. “A lot of coaches spend more time with their teams than they do with their families, so to get that time back by doing something we all love to do is a lot of fun.”
In 2025, Whiteface went 10-3 and undefeated in district play. Whiteface went onto the quarterfinal round of playoffs, where Jones said they took a hard loss to his hometown, Rankin.
Jones says he does not plan on changing anything when it comes to practices or the system Whiteface football has, but will keep Whiteface winning through hard work.
“Everything seems to be working just fine and the kids are bought into it,” said Jones.
Whiteface has every starter from last year returning this year, which is rare. Jones said he is trusting them to lead the younger players.
“They’ve always been pretty good leaders, but now they’re senior leaders,” Jones said. “They led in some good ways over the past couple years, but now it’s time. We’re bringing back some valuable pieces and I think they’re starting to realize it’s their last season, so they need to make it special.”
Looking at Jones' X account, he frequently discusses the challenges that Texas public education continues to face.
In one post, Jones posted a screen shot by Our Schools Our Democracy, a non-profit organization that aims to “protect the fundamental rights of all Texans to a free, public education through research, education, outreach, and advocacy,” according to their Facebook.
The Facebook post claimed that 76% of Texas voucher applications came from families whose children were not enrolled in a Texas public school and that less than 1% of Texas public and charter school families have applied for vouchers.
Jones captioned his X post with “I’m shocked! So much for helping ‘struggling public school children’. These are also being used for specialized sports schools. (Greg Abott) lied to us (surprise, surprise).”
When asked about his heavy interest in Texas public education, Jones said he believes there are a lot of things that need to be fixed and that education valuable for the future.
“I don't see myself changing my mind either,” Jones said.
Both of Jones' parents were public school teachers and his wife is a teacher’s aide for Whiteface.
“I am very outspoken about education; it raised me,” said Jones. “I think when kids see how invested we are in education in the school, it can go a long way with how they perform on tests.”
Jones says he expects his athletes to simply be good human-beings on and off the field and in many ways, being a student-athlete is a job.
“We’re just trying to put out the best community members possible once they get out of here,” Jones said.
When asked what Jones wants fans talking about once they leave a Whiteface football game, he said it would be how much effort the kids give from the first whistle to the last and the camaraderie the players have.
“I want them to say ‘there are a lot of great young men out there; they’re playing the game for what it’s worth,’” said Jones.
The Whiteface Antelopes will kick off their season at the 22nd annual Jayton Gridiron Classic tournament on Aug. 30 against May at 8 p.m The showcase features some of the top class 1A teams in the state across nine action-packed games.
“There are some people out there that don’t think we can get this done, so we’re ready to make our statement this year,” Jones said.