Tag: Emmett Jones

Oklahoma earns second projection in favor of landing four-star WR Bryant Wesco

The Oklahoma Sooners earned a crystal ball prediction for 2024 four-star wide receiver Bryant Wesco.

Oklahoma’s addition of Emmett Jones looks like it could pay off with a new wide receiver commit sooner rather than later. Oklahoma received their second projection in favor of landing four-star receiver [autotag]Bryant Wesco[/autotag].

Parker Thune of OUInsider has officially gotten on board with the Wesco to Oklahoma train with a crystal ball prediction. Coupled with the Rivals FutureCast already locked in for Wesco, it looks like Oklahoma is closing in on the four-star offensive prospect.

Wesco has an offer list that continues to get more impressive by the week. While there is no timetable for a decision, Jones’ effort in recruiting the talented 2024 receiver has not gone unnoticed.

As it stands right now, Big 12 foes, TCU and Oklahoma, seem to be on a collision course for a final showdown to earn Wesco’s commitment. TCU has been in a prime position since last summer, but Oklahoma’s gaining ground fast. They have the added factor of Wesco’s sister being an Oklahoma soccer player. It’s an ace up their sleeve that could look very large when decision time comes.

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Oklahoma offers 2024 4-star wide receiver and Michigan State commit Nick Marsh

Oklahoma continues to build their 2024 wide receiver big board by sending an offer to 2024 four-star Nicholas Marsh.

It seems Emmett Jones and Jeff Lebby have been spending a lot of time figuring out their attack strategy for the 2024 receivers class. With a flurry of new offers and recruiting projections at the position, Lebby and Jones are putting in the work.

They continue to make up for the lost time as their latest wide receiver offer takes them to Michigan. Nick Marsh, a 2024 four-star receiver, is committed to Michigan State. While he is committed, there are still ten months until the early signing period. That amount of time keeps this recruitment very much up for grabs. At the very least, the Sooners have time to make their best recruiting pitch.

Marsh is a 6-foot-3 kid with a knack for straight-line speed that he uses to beat defenders vertically. He wins at the catch point and over defenders far more often than he loses. He fits the typical mold for an outside receiver that Jeff Lebby is looking for with his height.

Nicholas Marsh’s Recruiting Profile

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New wide receivers coach Emmett Jones making immediate impact on recruiting trail

With Oklahoma predicted to land a receiver in each of the next two classes, new wide receivers coach Emmett Jones is off to a strong start.

It didn’t take long for new Oklahoma Sooners’ wide receivers coach [autotag]Emmett Jones[/autotag] to find his footing. Of course, in the world of college football, one has to hit the ground running.

Coming to Oklahoma with a strong reputation in the North Texas high school football scene, Jones has already made his mark on the recruiting trail. In the last couple of weeks, the Oklahoma Sooners have landed recruiting predictions for a pair of wide receivers. One in the 2024 class and the other in the 2025 recruiting cycle.

[autotag]Bryant Wesco[/autotag], who was previously recruited by Cale Gundy and L’Damian Washington, is a four-star prospect in the 2024 cycle and was predicted to land with the Sooners by SoonerScoop.com’s Josh McCuistion. Around that same time, the Sooners earned a favorable crystal ball prediction from OUInsider’s Parker Thune for 2025 wide receiver Gracen Harris.

Wesco’s recruitment has picked up at a tremendous rate since the end of the 2022 season. In January, he received offers from Texas, Colorado, Oregon, Penn State, Miami, Nebraska, Ole Miss and Texas A&M.

[autotag]Gracen Harris[/autotag] is a prospect on the rise. After standout seasons in his first two years of high school, he has received 10 Power Five offers to this point. As a sophomore, he caught 87 passes for 1,374 yards and 10 touchdowns for Ennis and was a first-team all-district selection.

It’s been a strong couple of weeks for the newest assistant coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. Jones still has to close on his wide receiver prospects and help Oklahoma earn those national letters of intent. However, with the way things have kicked off his tenure with the Sooners, Oklahoma’s going to add some fantastic prospects to their future receiver rooms.

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Recruiting profile for 4-Star wide receiver Bryant Wesco

Oklahoma is pushing hard for 2024 WR Bryant Wesco, a four-star receiver out of Midlothian, Texas.

Emmett Jones has a lot of catching up to do for the class of 2024 and for the class of 2025. Oklahoma had its introductory offers and did its due diligence to build relationships with some of the guys in both classes.

L’Damian Washington was still the interim WR coach. However, with Washington not being a firm solution, whoever came in as the full-time wide receiver coach needed to make up some ground. That bit of uncertainty could cause potential recruits to hesitate.

Jones has quickly made his mark with the Sooners. His early conversations with 2024 receiver Bryant Wesco must have resonated. The Oklahoma Sooners received a Rivals FutureCast from Josh McCuistion of SoonerScoop.com to land Wesco’s services in the 2024 cycle.

Wesco, received an offer from Oklahoma last year after camping with the Sooners. He was lightly recruited at the time, but since has blossomed into a consensus four-star receiver. TCU is a player in Wesco’s recruitment early on so this could come down to Oklahoma battling it out with a conference foe for the Texas playmaker.

Wesco has Sooner ties. His sister Bailey is a current member of the Oklahoma Women’s soccer team. All told, Oklahoma should feel very good about their chances in this as long as they see it thru until the very end.

Bryant Wesco’s Recruiting Profile

Projections

  • Josh McCuistion of SoonerScoop.com predicted Wesco to land with the Oklahoma Sooners.
  • On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine puts the Horned Frogs out in front in Wesco’s recruitment.

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Sooners earn recruiting projection in favor of landing 2025 WR Gracen Harris

Oklahoma is picking up momentum with 2025 wide receiver Gracen Harris, earning a crystal ball from OUInsider and 247Sports’ Parker Thune.

The Oklahoma Sooners hired Emmett Jones’ to be the final piece of Brent Venables’ coaching staff. L’Damian Washington filled in admirably after Cale Gundy’s departure, but Jones’ connections to Dallas-Fort Worth made him a fantastic addition as the Sooners’ wide receivers coach.

Venables knew he needed a coach with a little more experience and notable recruiting roots to build Oklahoma in the image he laid out in his introductory press conferences. He sought out Jones, who has multiple years of collegiate coaching experience and is a widely known figure in the DFW area. He had a fantastic run during his time coaching high school ball at South Oak Cliff.

His efforts have already started to impact receivers in Texas. Oklahoma has received a projection in favor of landing 2025 receiver Gracen Harris.

Harris hails from Ennis, Texas, and was a Texas District 5-5A-II first-team selection at inside WR as a sophomore. This comes on the heels of being named Texas District 8-5A-II Offensive Newcomer of the Year as a freshman. He totaled 87 catches for 1,374 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns this season. He’s explosive and dynamic, and while he worked primarily out of the slot, he lined up outside, showcasing his versatility.

Gracen Harris’ Recruiting Profile

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Oklahoma Sooners playing numbers game to replace WR Marvin Mims

While the Oklahoma Sooners have a hole at wide receiver, they have several promising players to work with to replace Marvin Mims.

The Oklahoma Sooners lost several players to the NFL after the 2022 season. Perhaps none were a bigger loss than wide receiver [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag].

Mims, who emerged as a true freshman, led the Oklahoma Sooners in receiving yards each of his three seasons in Norman. His penchant for the big play was a huge part of Oklahoma’s offensive success over the last three seasons.

New wide receivers coach [autotag]Emmett Jones[/autotag] and offensive coordinator [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] have a tall task ahead of them to find someone to replace Mims in the starting lineup.

[autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] and [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] are back and are likely two of Oklahoma’s starting wide receivers in three receiver sets. Stoops is a steady present out of the slot and had his most productive season in 2022. Farooq had a strong season in his first year as a starter and will look to build on it in 2023.

But what will Oklahoma do on the outside opposite Farooq? There’s not a clear answer as the Sooners begin their offseason workouts. As opposed to fill in the blank, Oklahoma will be answering a multiple choice or select all that apply test for outside wide receiver two.

The Sooners have a host of guys that will compete for snaps on the wide receiver depth chart. Returning are [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag] and [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag], two members of the 2022 signing class that have a ton of potential but didn’t see many opportunities last season for varying reasons.

Then there are the transfer additions Oklahoma made late last spring. [autotag]J.J. Hester[/autotag] and [autotag]L.V. Bunkely-Shelton[/autotag] will get a full offseason of work in Jeff Lebby’s offense. They have experience from their original schools that could help the Sooners mitigate the loss of Marvin Mims and, to a lesser extent, [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag]. Oklahoma added [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag] in the portal this offseason. He’s a big-play threat similar to Hester. Those three transfer additions don’t bring elite production, but they’ve done some things at the collegiate level that Jones and Lebby can develop.

The Sooners added a couple more wide receivers in this signing class that have a chance to have an early impact. [autotag]Keyon Brown[/autotag] may be ready to go from a technical perspective, while [autotag]Jaquaize Pettaway[/autotag]’s speed is going to be a game-changer for this offense. Pettaway won’t be in Norman till the summertime, but it won’t take long for the coaching staff to see the difference his speed makes.

The Oklahoma Sooners may not know who slides into the starting lineup at this point. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There will be quite the competition at wide receiver to see who emerges from a deep group of players with promise.

As the offseason churns along, this will be one of the position battles to watch for 2023.

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Report: Sooners to hire Texas Tech assistant Emmett Jones as WR coach

According to a report the Oklahoma Sooners are hiring Emmett Jones to be their next wide receivers coach.

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.

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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Texas Football: Potential targets for wide receivers coach

Where does Texas look to replace Brennan Marion?

Texas wide receivers coach Brennan Marion is off to UNLV to take the offensive coordinator job. Marion is the final piece to Barry Odom’s staff in Las Vegas.

In his one season with the Longhorns, Marion made a substantial impact on the program. He played a significant role in helping Texas land another top-five class on the recruiting front. Marion landed an exceptional wide receiver group, including five-star Johntay Cook, four-star Ryan Niblett and four-star DeAndre Moore.

Marion’s departure served as a surprise to Texas players and fans. Many are disappointed to see the up-and-coming coach leave. Steve Sarkisian is now forced to look for his third wide receivers coach in as many years.

The timing of the move does not favor Texas, as the Horns are in need of a transfer wide receiver.

Here is a look at a few potential targets for Texas to replace Marion as wide receivers coach.

Potential New Wide Receivers Coach Search Hits A Snag

The Texas Longhorns can cross Emmett Jones off their wish list as he receives a promotion with the Kansas Jayhawks.

The Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich are still in search of the next wide receivers assistant coach. One sought after coach who could have filled the role was Kansas Jayhawks assistant Emmett Jones. Jones who is a Texas native was a name that began circulating earlier this week.

Jones coached in the Dallas area as a high school football coach with Seagoville, Dallas Lincoln, Dallas Skyline and South Oak Cliff high schools from 2001-2014 before getting his first college gig with Texas Tech. He joined the Kansas staff following the firing of Kliff Kingsbury at Tech. There were multiple schools looking at Jones who was thought of as a good recruiter of talent especially in the Dallas area where he coached high school football.

The promotion to Passing Game Coordinator pretty much ends any speculation of Jones joining Herman’s staff as the search for wide receivers coach will continue. Jones was a bit of a wild card as the Longhorns have hired coaches who had worked with current staff members in the past.

 

Large buyout may keep Texas from hiring new WR coach

There has been speculation about Kansas wide receiver coach Emmett Jones. The only issue is that UT is not prepared to buy a large buyout.

After the regular season ended, Texas fired wide receivers coach Drew Mehringer after three seasons with the Longhorns. A few weeks later and the position still has not been filled. There has been speculation about Kansas wide receiver coach Emmett Jones joining Tom Herman’s staff, but there may be an issue.

According to Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman, Texas is not excited about the possibility of paying a large buyout for Jones. He is also reporting that the buyout is set at $225,000. Because of this, the Longhorns may pass on him and go in a different direction to find their wide receivers coach.

After working for local DFW high schools for nearly 13 years, Jones got a role in Kliff Kingsbury staff at Texas Tech in 2015. After one year as a player developer, he was promoted to wide receivers coach. After Kingsbury was fired from Texas Texas, Jones ended up at Kansas, working for head coach Les Miles and his staff.

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