Khari Jones loves his quarterback company, and early next year he will love his Misery.
The former CFL pivot and head coach is back in football in B.C., this time as offensive coordinator with the UBC Thunderbirds. The T-Birds open their season Thursday (6:30 p.m.), squaring off against the Manitoba Bisons at Thunderbird Stadium.
Jones, 54, took theatre classes during his collegiate days at UC Davis, and acting has been a side hustle for him ever since. His next foray into that world comes in February, when he stars in a production of Misery alongside his wife Justine at the Langley Little Theatre.
The couple met in college through acting and started dating when they were doing a play together in 1994. They are taking on the main roles in Misery, which is based on a Stephen King book about a romance novelist who is held captive in a secluded cabin by a crazed fan after she rescues him from a car crash in the middle of winter.
You only need to have seen a couple of clips from the 1990 film adaptation featuring Kathy Bates and James Caan to understand how intense things get.
“It might be a little weird,” Jones said of working with his wife on such a story, laughing all the while. “Every night, there will be some bad things done to both of us. So, yeah, it can get wild. But it’s going to be amazing. I can’t wait.
“It’s such a juicy role.”
Drawing up plays for a football field, rather being in a play on stage, is the more pressing issue for Jones now of course.
He signed on originally with UBC to be the quarterback coach, replacing Mason Nyhus, who joined the staff of the Saskatchewan Huskies, which is his alma mater. Jones was bumped up to offensive coordinator when Stevenson Bone left the T-Birds to be head coach of the Alberta Golden Bears.
Jones and longtime UBC head coach Blake Nill have football contacts in common. As well, Jones, his wife and their two daughters have had the Lower Mainland as their home base — regardless of his football job — since his turn as the B.C. Lions offensive coordinator from 2014-17.
The Lions are the team that Jones started his 11-year playing career in the CFL with, backing up Damon Allen in 1997. Jones starred with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after that, including winning the league’s Most Outstanding Player in 2001. He threw for 132 touchdowns in that four-season run in Winnipeg.
Coaching highlights in the circuit include being the head man with the Montreal Alouettes from 2019-2022.
He took last year off from football. He helped take care of a dying childhood friend and he taught classes at Linfield University, a McMinnville, Ore., school where his friend had worked.
When he heard about the opening at UBC, he says he met with Nill but had “no expectations”.
“Blake’s a very genuine guy,” Jones said. “And I was really drawn here with what he’s building.
“It just felt like the right thing. I’m happy to sleep in my own bed. It checked all the boxes at this point in time.
“Part of what’s cool about being at UBC is that you really have to work hard to be in this school, and that’s kind of my background with UC Davis. They have to be great in the classroom, they have to be great on the field, and they put the time in and work at it to do both. I feel like I was well rounded coming out of school and could do different things, and that’s what I see in these kids.”
The Canada West coaches pre-season poll slotted UBC to finish at No. 4 in the six-team loop this season. The T-Birds will be young, having lost 28 players to graduation from the team that finished 5-3 last season and lost in the Canada West semifinals.
The departures include celebrated quarterback Garrett Rooker, but the position could still be UBC’s best. There is Drew Engel, a fifth-year from Texas who has had success pinch hitting for Rooker in the past, and there’s Drew Viotto, a first-year from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., who transfers to UBC after stints at three NCAA schools, the most recent being Missouri State. Viotto played high school in Michigan and was dubbed the “Canadian Cannon,” on his way to being named the 30th best high school quarterback in the U.S. by Rivals in 2023.
“I think Drew has found a home,” Jones said. “We’re pretty fortunate to have him. He’s a solid kid, smart, works hard. The team has rallied around him. And we have Derek, who I’m loving as well. He works hard every day. He’s a captain on this team for a reason. You can just see it. It’s nice to have two guys who I think can get it done at this point. I like our quarterback room a lot.”