Oklahoma football hires Texas Tech WR coach Emmett Jones
By Chip Rouse
The Oklahoma football program has announced the hiring of Texas Tech assistant and wide-receivers coach Emmett Jones to the same position at OU.
Although the hiring had been rumored for the last day or two, the official announcement came late Tuesday afternoon from the University of Oklahoma athletic department.
Jones replaces interim Sooners’ wide receiver coach L’Damian Washington, who served in the position this past season after the resignation of longtime Oklahoma assistant Cale Gundy. He will coach the OU wide receivers and serve as passing game coordinator on Brent Venables‘ staff.
Jones, who spent this past season under head coach Joey McGuire at Texas Tech serving as the Red Raiders passing coordinator and wide receivers coach, has an even deeper connection with the Texas Tech program. He was a walk-on quarterback and played wide receiver for the Red Raiders from 1993 to 1995 before transferring to UTEP for his final season of eligibility.
Some of Emmett Jones' credentials for the #Sooners:
— Josh Helmer (@JoshOnREF) January 10, 2023
- 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
After graduation, Jones spent 14 seasons coaching in the Texas high school ranks. He returned to Texas Tech in 2015 and joined Kliff Kingsbury’s staff as director of player development. He coached the wide receivers there from 2016-18. In 2019, Jones left the Red Raiders to coach the receivers at Kansas under newly hired head coach Les Miles. In 2020 he was elevated to passing game coordinator and was named interim head coach when Miles was dismissed during the 2020 season.
Jones remained on the Kansas staff for one season (2021) under Lance Leipold before returning to his roots in West Texas at Texas Tech.
The Texas Tech assistant is recognized as one of the top developers of wide-receiver talent in the country. During his first coaching stint in Lubbock, he worked with Antione Wesley, who was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award in 2018. In 2019 at Kansas, he coached Andrew Parchment, who was sixth in the Big 12 that season with 831 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Two seasons later, he coached Kansas wide receiver Kwamie Lassiter, who finished ninth in the conference in receiving.
This past season, Jones had a major impact on the development of Texas Tech redshirt freshman Jerand Bradley. Sooner fans may remember Bradley’s performance against the Sooners this season. In the Red Raiders’ 58-41 overtime win over Oklahoma Bradley had eight catches for 173 yards and a touchdown. There is even some thought that Bradley might decide to accompany his former position coach to Oklahoma.