STEPHENVILLE – Bowl experience has been a theme among Tarleton Football’s recent additions to the coaching staff, and that was prevalent once again with their latest signing.
The Texans announced on Thursday that they have hired Jake Stone as their new outside linebackers coach, a longtime Tulane Football member who helped the team reach four bowl games in his postgraduate career.
Stone spent the last 11 years with the Green Wave and was part of Tulane’s incredible turnaround season in which they went 12-2 in 2022. They won their first ever American Athletic Conference Football Championship and then capped it off with a Cotton Bowl victory against USC.
“Jake’s a really sharp young coach who’s been well trained,” head coach Todd Whitten said. “Jake comes highly recommended and has learned a great deal from [Tulane head coach] Willie Fritz, someone I’ve been friends with for many years. I think Jake is going to be a really good addition to our coaching staff.”
Stone spent the last three seasons as the Green Wave’s defensive analyst, from 2020-22. He was a graduate assistant for four years prior, serving three seasons from 2017-19 as the defensive GA and 2016 as the recruiting GA. Before that, he was a student assistant with the team for four years during his undergraduate career.
“My wife Chelsea and I are both incredibly excited to be joining the Tarleton family,” Stone said. “Upon my arrival to Stephenville, I have found everything about the university and the surrounding community to be first class. I’d like to thank Dr. Hurley, Mr. Reisman, Coach Whitten and Coach Nix for giving me this unbelievable opportunity.
“It is clear to me that there is a high standard and level of expectation that comes with the privilege of wearing the Tarleton Texan logo,” he continued. “I am ready for the challenge that is ahead of us. I can’t wait to get to work as I strive to help the Tarleton football program reach new heights, both on and off the field.”
Stone helped Tulane reach unprecedented heights this past season, as the Green Wave turned a 2-10 2021 campaign into a forever memorable 12-2 season in 2022. Defensively, Tulane had the 32nd best scoring defense at the NCAA Division I FBS level, allowing just 22.2 points per game. That was the second best mark in the AAC. In terms of yardage, Tulane was 37th nationally in pass yards allowed per game (208.1) and 46th in total defense (360.4).
With the help of Stone, the Green Wave defense has consistently been a top-five unit in the AAC. In addition to top-five numbers across the board last year, Tulane most notably finished second in sacks (2.8 per, tied-31st in the FBS) in 2021, first in sacks in 2020 (3.2 per, tied-13th in the FBS), fourth in takeaways in 2020 (19, tied-19th in the FBS), and first in sacks in 2018 (3.2 per, eighth most in the country).
Since beginning his postgraduate career on the coaching staff in 2016, Tulane made it to four bowl games, winning the Cotton Bowl over USC in 2022, falling to Nevada in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in 2020, a win over Southern Miss in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in 2019, and a win over Louisiana-Lafayette in the AutoNation Cure Bowl in 2018.
The Cleveland native earned three degrees at Tulane; a Bachelor of Science in Management, a Master’s of Liberal Arts and a Master’s of Business Administration.
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