Oklahoma looks to have completed its search for a permanent wide receivers coach. After Cale Gundy’s resignation in the summer, the Sooners promoted L’Damian Washington to interim wide receivers coach. He did an admirable job, but the belief was Oklahoma would look for a more experienced name to take over this offseason.
According to Matt Zenitz of On3, the Sooners are replacing Washington with Texas Tech wide receivers coach Emmett Jones.
Jones’ served as the Red Raiders’ passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach under first-year head coach Joey McGuire.
Jones has years of collegiate coaching experience to go along with his high school coaching experience in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. After his playing career, which included time at Texas Tech and UTEP, Jones stepped into the coaching ranks. He served as head coach at South Oak Cliff High School, posting a 30-8 record at the helm.
Some of Emmett Jones' credentials for the #Sooners:
– Massive DFW ties with over 13 years in the Texas HS ranks
– Helped guide Antoine Wesley, Dylan Cantrell, Derrick Willies and T.J. Vasher to the NFL during initial Tech stint.DFW recruiting angle is obviously gigantic here. pic.twitter.com/81PlurYAT4
— Josh Helmer (@JoshOnREF) January 10, 2023
He coached receivers at Kansas from 2019-2021 before making his way back to Lubbock to be a part of McGuire’s staff.
Despite a revolving door at Texas Tech with its quarterbacks, Jones helped guide the Red Raiders this past season to the best passing offense in the conference. Three of his receivers accounted for 500 or more receiving yards.
His ability to develop and his connections in the high school ranks in the DFW area make him a great fit for the Sooners’ offensive staff. He’ll have his work cut out for him as he and Jeff Lebby will have to mastermind a plan to replace the 66% of receiving production they’ll lose now that the season is over.
From Oklahoma’s official press release on the hiring
OU HEAD COACH BRENT VENABLES ON EMMETT JONES:
“Couldn’t be more excited to welcome Emmett, his wife, Marlo, and their children, Emily and Emmett, to the OU family. Emmett is a great teacher of the game with a track record of positional development at the highest level. He’s produced some great collegiate players who have gone on to the NFL and he’s been around some of the brightest minds in college football in Kliff Kingsbury and Lance Leipold, and of course Joey McGuire this past year at Texas Tech. He’s been incredibly successful wherever he’s been, including in the high school ranks in the Dallas area. He’s a coaching giant in Texas high school football.
“Emmett’s been a connector at every stop. He’s personable and relational. He’s tough and demanding. Everywhere he’s been he’s made those places better. And everyone who’s had a chance to be coached by him or work with him has nothing but incredible things to say about his character, his coaching acumen and his relationship-building ability. What I love about Emmett is he recognizes the University of Oklahoma’s brand and the stage we’re on, and wanted to be a part of it. He jumped at the opportunity to join this program and that means a lot. Many of our coaches know him and have been around him personally and professionally, and they all have incredible things to say about him and his family. The Jones family’s got juice and energy and will really fit in well in the Norman community.”
EMMETT JONES ON JOINING THE OU STAFF:
“The University of Oklahoma’s tradition and the chance to work with Coach Venables made this an opportunity that was too hard to turn down. Also, I’d been researching and paying attention to Coach (Jeff) Lebby ever since I was back at South Oak Cliff and he was coaching running backs at Baylor. So I kept my eyes on him throughout his journey and especially at Ole Miss and this past year at OU. I feel like working with him — one of the brightest minds in the game when it comes to offensive schemes — will help me to continue to grow in this profession. And same thing with being able to soak up knowledge from Coach Venables.
“Oklahoma expects championships. I want to be around champions and I want to win multiple championships. I’ve coached in a couple of games in Norman and the game day atmosphere is incredible. Even going back to my time as a high school coach, players in our program got really excited to be recruited by Oklahoma. I remember how our guys would really perk up when they received information from OU. Just having a chance to be a part of that is like a dream come true. And in order for me to leave Texas Tech, I felt the situation would have to be perfect for me somewhere else. Oklahoma fit. It answered every question, crossed every ‘T’ and dotted every ‘I.’ And it’s not far from Dallas. It was just a no-brainer.
“I’m a passionate coach, I’m all about relationships. I love to pull in and reach young men, love to be that person they want to be around. I coach hard, but I truly believe you have to establish deep relationships with these young men. That’s something I feel like I specialize in. When it comes to the receiver position, I feel like I’m one of the best if not the best. I always try to enhance the position, try to find ways to set trends when it comes to development and challenging guys. OU is getting a family man, a team guy who loves being around the players. I’m all about toughness and hard work, and the players are getting a coach they’re going to love being around, one who will represent the program with the utmost respect in every form and fashion.”
VENABLES ON L’DAMIAN WASHINGTON, WHO WAS ELEVATED IN AUGUST FROM OFFENSIVE ANALYST TO INTERIM WIDE RECEIVERS COACH:
“We’re trying to keep L’Damian in an enhanced role. He jumped right in the ‘A’ gap and did a fantastic job of making us better in our first season, improving our players and our offense. He’s been bold and courageous and has been connected to both players and staff. I’m very thankful for his contributions and we’re fighting like heck to keep him here. He brings tremendous value to our staff, our locker room and that position group.”
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