 In 1980, following the dispute at the end of the 1979 which saw the then Carlton coach Alex Jesaulenko resign in sympathy with the sacking of then Carlton President George Harris, Carlton appointed Jones as coach.Although the team performed well during the regular season — e.g., in round one of 1980, Jones' first match as coach, Carlton soundly beat the highly favoured Collingwood, at Victoria Park 19.18 (132) to 13.16 (94) — and reached the semi-finals, its performance in the final series was far below that required by the club; and, so, after interviews were held with Jones, Ron Barassi, and David Parkin, Carlton chose to appoint Parkin in place of Jones.Jones held no grudge, and served for many years on the Carlton Committee.