Jamal Jones' mission to help athletes goes beyond sports.

Published online on Friday, Oct. 03, 2008

Fresno State safety Moses Harris was feeling awful. He had just gotten chewed out at a team meeting for blowing a play in the Rutgers' game Sept. 1.

After the meeting, he sought refuge at his locker, where he discovered a note someone left to cheer him up.

Scribbled on the note were the apostle Paul's words in the book of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 -- "Praise be ... to the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles."

Harris choked on the words. "He knew I needed it," Harris remembers. "It really encouraged me."

"He" is Jamal Jones; he's the football team's life coach but is also available to all Fresno State athletes. As part of his job, Jones, 27, a former Bulldogs fullback himself, tries to always be there for players. Sometimes, he just listens. Other times, he offers advice. And he has been known to sit in courtrooms with players in deep trouble.

Jones is extra busy on game days, such as today. He will lead the players' chapel in the morning at the team's hotel. And he will be on the sidelines at Bulldog Stadium at 7 p.m. when the team plays Hawaii.

"It is very positive," says Bob Fraley, who recently retired as Fresno State track coach. "You never know when an athlete is going to walk in or come up to you and want to talk."

Help needed

The football team has long provided a chaplain, who officiates at chapels on the mornings of home and road games because the players wouldn't otherwise have a chance to attend a place of worship on weekends.

Brad Bell, a former Bulldogs defensive end, was the chaplain from 1996 to 2006, but he was also busy with his duties at The Well Community Church, a Fresno congregation he started in 2000.

After several high-profile criminal incidents involving Fresno State athletes, Bell and others proposed the football team add a life coach who would be available daily to players.

In 2006, Jones was named the life coach. Jones is the Fresno State campus representative for the Central Valley chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a nonprofit interdenominational ministry that reaches out to young athletes worldwide.

Although Jones spends long hours with the football team -- he's at every game and nearly every practice, meeting, meal and weight-training session -- he also is available to athletes from other sports. For example, Jones attends the Bulldog Life dinner/Bible study Monday nights in the Duncan Building near Bulldog Stadium, which is open to all athletes.

Bell says the football team is "really trying to create a holistic program that includes not only the physical things and academics, but also the practical and spiritual side for the athletes."

Many NCAA Division 1 football programs provide chaplains, often affiliated with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. But it is unclear how many programs have expanded the role to life coach.

Neil Marthedal of Easton sits on the fellowship's national board; he thinks the expanded role is a positive step Fresno State is taking in light of past problems involving athletes.

"With these athletes, whether it's football or any other sport, it's not about just their sport -- it's about life," he says. "They are being trained and prepared for life, how to handle life in all its ups and downs. Sports has its ups and downs. Every week is a game, and it prepares them for real life.

"Our goal would be to have a life coach for every sport."

'Get the prize'

Jones, who is single, grew up in Oakland, the son of a preacher, the Rev. Christopher Jones, and a mother, Teresa Jones, who prayed every day for family members.