NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- It's been three weeks since Mike Jones was re-introduced to Monarch Nation. Jones wasted no time getting to work as he looks to have the same success as a coach that he brought to Old Dominion as a player.
The head coach is settling in while putting the foundation in place for his vision of the program. He's been away from Norfolk since his playing days came to an end in 1997, but is having no trouble with the transition back to the 757.
"It's the easiest thing in the world, being able to say that I'm home, being able to walk around and see things that I'm familiar with, but then also to see the improvements and the changes," Jones said Friday. "We are all just amazed as to what this campus has become."
During his introductory news conference, Jones cited his 30-day plan and 90-day plan, followed by another 90-day plan. His initial month is off to a fast start as his coaching staff is in place and will all be in Norfolk in the coming days. He's also received his first commitment out of the transfer portal and hopes to nail down a couple more players in the coming week. Taking over the ODU program before conference tournaments wrapped up gave him a jump on being able to get things done.
"There's no way I have this staff assembled right now if we had to wait," he noted. "There's no way that the connections and the plan we had for the portal opening and were able to put that together had we had to wait. The blessing of being able to get a head start on this was something that we fully took advantage of and I'd say we're right on schedule with where we want to be."
Jones is still riding high after being named the head coach at his alma mater. He was Oliver Purnell's first recruit and Purnell was the first former ODU player to return as the head coach of the program. Jones has become the second and has plenty of trusted basketball people in his corner to help him succeed. He referenced Purnell and Jeff Caple as two friends who contacted him when the hiring process started and plenty of resources are in Norfolk, as well.
"To still have Jeff Jones here to be a sounding board, to still have Coach (Blaine) Taylor here to be a sounding board is truly amazing," he said. "I just don't think you could've painted a better picture with the circumstances to give us the opportunity to be hopefully a great program pretty quickly here."
How quickly? Jones did not want to promise anything, but all the work he and his staff are doing in the early going of his tenure are all geared towards the goal of creating a program that's dancing in March.
"I believe in visualization," he noted. "For the last week or so, I've visualized sitting behind a podium with an NCAA logo at my back because we're in the tournament and that's what we're working towards."
The head coach said that the process of which players will return from this past season's team is still ongoing.
To view our interview with Mike Jones in its entirety, click on the video under the headline.
