Rick Jones was a pitcher in the Valley Baseball League in the mid-1970s, pitching for the Waynesboro Generals and New Market Rebels. Jones played his collegiate baseball at UNC-Wilmington.
Following his playing career Jones went on to accumulate 1,094 wins as a college head coach.
Jones coached at Ferrum College when it was a two-year school and posted a 102-32-1 record. He then coached at Elon for five seasons when it was an NAIA program, finishing with a 174-61 record and making three NAIA tournament appearances in his five seasons.
Jones then landed a Division I job when he joined Jim Morris’ staff at Georgia Tech. After four years at Georgia Tech, Jones took over as the head coach of the Tulane Green Wave.
In 21 seasons at Tulane, Jones posted an 818-445-2 record. His teams made 12 NCAA regional appearances and three super regionals. He led the Green Wave to the College World Season in 2001 and 2005. In 2005, Jones was named the National Coach of the Year.
Jones retired in 2014 and in 2023 Tulane retired his No. 10 jersey.
Jones was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in 2017. He has also been inducted into the Tulane Athletic Hall of Fame, the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame and Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.