With Joe Jon Finley out after five years as the Oklahoma Sooners' tight ends coach, the search for his replacement is officially on in Norman right in the midst of Transfer Portal chaos.
Top candidates to replace Finley could change as the process moves forward, but a few names immediately emerged as possibilities, including an instant fan favorite among Sooner Nation.
Jon Cooper, TE coach at Mississippi State
Like Finley, Jon Cooper played at OU and had a brief NFL career as a center before starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater. Cooper following a similar path as Finley could actually turn a lot of OU fans away, though.
However, Cooper has gained a lot of experience since in multiple roles. He was a tight ends coach at UCF and Arkansas, as well as an offensive line coach for Western Carolina and North Texas. He also had another short stop in Oklahoma as an offensive analyst in 2022. He's been Mississippi State's tight ends coach the past two seasons.
Cooper has a lot of connections in Norman, including playing for Kevin Wilson when he was the Sooners' offensive coordinator.
Brian Lepak, OL coach at Kansas State
Brian Lepak is another former Sooner. He has been at Kansas State the last five years and a recent coaching change there could have him actively looking for a new destination.
Lepak most recently coached the Wildcats' offensive line this season, but he was their tight ends coach in 2022-24 after starting as a senior offensive quality control coach. In 2024, under Lepak, K-State tight ends led the country with 13 touchdowns and had two All-Big 12 selections from the position.
Kevin Wilson, Senior offensive analyst at Oklahoma
This would be the second time Kevin Wilson would coach the Sooners' tight ends. During a long coaching career, Wilson got to OU in 2002 as co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. He took over tight ends and fullbacks in 2006 while getting promoted to offensive coordinator. He eventually left Oklahoma in 2011 to be Indiana's head coach. After leading Indiana and Tulsa, Wilson returned to Norman last year as a senior offensive analyst, so would be an easy and proven fill-in for the position. He was also offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Ohio State between his head coaching gigs.
Jason Witten, HC at Liberty Christian School (TX)
Future Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Witten has emerged as the fans' pick to replace Finley. Since retiring after 17 seasons as a tight end in the NFL, Witten has been the head coach at Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, and just led the program to back-to-back state championships. He reportedly turned down multiple college and NFL jobs to coach his sons at the high school level, but with both kids soon in college, Witten is apparently looking to go to the college ranks himself. Witten was also teammates with OU running backs coach DeMarco Murray in Dallas.
Nick Whitworth, Special teams coordinator at Wake Forest
Nick Whitworth doesn't have any ties to Oklahoma, but he did work with offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle at Washington State and this is the first time OU has had an offensive opening since Arbuckle took over.
Whitworth was the Cougars' tight ends coach and special teams coordinator in 2022-24 before spending this season as Wake Forest's special teams coordinator.