Legends of Doak Campbell Stadium: LB Marvin Jones

Widely considered to be the greatest linebacker to ever play college football, former Florida State legend Marvin Jones was a menace to opposing offenses.

Teams could send all eleven men to stop him, and he would just smile a Grinch smile at you and keep on coming.

A three-year starter for coach Bobby Bowden, Jones had a rare combination of strength and speed that struck fear into the mindset of every offensive coordinator on the Seminoles schedule. With his hard-hitting style of play, Jones forced most, if not all, teams to abandon their rushing attack between the tackles.

The legend of Doak Campbell Stadium at linebacker came to be in 1990 when Jones was recruited by Bowden out of Northwestern High School in Miami. As a freshman, Jones racked up 133 total tackles on his way to earning third-team All-American honors. Jones followed that up with 125 tackles as a sophomore, and was named a Consensus All-American for a Seminoles team that went 10-2.

In 1992, Jones helped Florida State to an 11-1 record with a dominant junior season of 111 tackles and was once again named Consensus All-American. On that team, Jones played with such stars as quarterback Charlie Ward, fellow linebacker Derrick Brooks and defensive back Terrell Buckley.

It was also in that season, against Miami, Jones presented fans with “the hit,” a hard hit that Jones laid on Miami receiver Larry Jones that sent him airborne and horizontal.

Jones posted nine games of 10 or more tackles in 1992. As a result, Jones hoisted every significant award for a defender, including:

As expected, Jones declared for the 1993 NFL Draft. That is significant when you consider that he left for the pros roughly eight months before the Seminoles won a national title at the end of the ’93 season.  

The New York Jets selected Jones fourth overall, the highest pick for a Florida State player at the time. He played 11 seasons in the NFL, all with the Jets.

Jones’s No.55 jersey at Florida State has been retired, and he was inducted into the Florida State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2022, Jones was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Going into the 2026 season, there is another “Jones” that will suit up for the Seminoles. Southern Miss transfer linebacker Chris Jones (no relation) arrives in Tallahassee after posting 135 stops for the Golden Eagles, a chip off the old block of the great Florida State linebacker who will be looking to keep up with the Joneses.

Join our ROUNDTABLE community! It's free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members. Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!