Bones Jones: Linebacker wreaks havoc for unbeaten Hoosiers

It was only a few months in to defensive coordinator Bryant Haines’ tenure at Indiana that he saw fit to bestow a nickname on linebacker Isaiah Jones.

“Bones” Jones, Haines began to call the London, Ohio, native. It’s a reference to Ultimate Fighting Champion star Jon “Bones” Jones, an ultra-physical mauler.

“(Defensive line) coach (Pat) Kuntz comes walking through and is like, ‘Bones Jones!’ ” Jones said. “I was like, ‘Where did you hear that?’ And he goes, ‘Oh, that’s all Haines refers to you in the meeting room as.’ I was like, ‘Alright, Bones Jones it is.’

“I like it. I think it’s got a nice ring to it.”

Such nicknames – think “Mean” Joe Green or Dick “Night Train” Lane – are often reserved for stars, players about whom the mere mention conjures images of toughness and physicality,