Greg Jones will be the new Ray-Pec High School head football coach. Jones has been a top football coach in the Kansas City metro area, receiving awards and accolades over a period of more than 20 years. Most recently, he coached the past three years at the collegiate level.
The School Board approved the hiring in a special meeting tonight.
Ray-Pec Chief of Staff Dr. Al Voelker said “I believe we’ve hit a home run with Coach Jones. He’s a dedicated professional and a proven winner.”
Jones said he is looking forward to the new position.
“I am fired up to be the head football coach at Ray-Pec!,” Jones said. “Being in a one-high school district is something special; it's awesome when everyone in the community is a Panther! I'm also humbled to follow in the footsteps of Coach Young, Coach Kruse, and Coach Martin. My staff and I will work relentlessly to build on what they have started.”
Jones will replace Coach Sean Martin, who is retiring at the end of this school year. Martin followed Tom Kruse, who was the head coach for 20 years. Before him, Bruce Young was the long-time head football coach at Ray-Pec and was among the first to be inducted into the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
For the past two years, Jones was the defensive coordinator at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. During the 2022-2023 year, he was a defensive analyst at the University of Oregon, serving as the assistant safeties coach.
From 2017-2022, Jones was the head football coach at Liberty North High School. In those five years, the team won two conference championships and two district championships. During his last three years as coach, the team finished as a state quarterfinalist, state semifinalist, and state runner-up.
From 2006 to 2017, Jones was the head football coach at Kearney High School, amassing an 119-23 record over 11 years. The team won nine district championships and six conference championships. The team won two state championships in three state championship appearances.
His earlier coaching and teaching jobs included one year at Ray-Pec High School as an assistant football coach and head track coach.
He was inducted into the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2023, received the Simone Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022, was inducted in the Missouri Coaches Hall of Fame in 2021, and was named the Liberty North High School Teacher of the Year in 2019-2020. He won the award as KC Suburban Coach of the Year seven times.
Jones earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education, with an emphasis in physical education, health and coaching, from Northwest Missouri State University. He was a scholarship athlete for four years in football and track. He also received his master’s degree in education from NWMSU. While working on his master’s degree, he was a graduate assistant, coaching the linebackers and defensive line for the Bearcats.
He received his educational specialist degree from William Woods University.
Jones and his wife, Angie, have been married for 31 years and both graduated from NWMSU. Their oldest daughter, Megan, lives in Arkansas and is a senior manager of sales for JB Hunt. Their son, Kody, is a doctor in his first year of surgical residency at the University of Chicago. Their youngest daughter, McKenna, is in her first year as a nurse at the University of Kansas Medical Center.