Another familiar face is returning to Oklahoma. Head coach Lincoln Riley announced Tuesday morning former OU tight end Joe Jon Finley is coming back to coach tight ends, H-Backs and to have a big hand in special teams.
Finley replaces Shane Beamer, who left last month to become the head coach at South Carolina. Finley spent the last season at Ole Miss as tight ends coach and passing game coordinator and has spent the last five seasons getting his feet wet as an assistant coach in the SEC.
“We're excited to welcome Joe Jon and his family back to Norman,” said Riley in a press release. “He obviously had a great playing career and has established himself as one of the top tight end coaches in the country. He's had great experience working for several tremendous programs and I know he's going to bring a lot to ours. We're thrilled to welcome him back and can't wait for him to get started.”
Finley becomes the fifth OU assistant coach to fully know what it means to be a Sooner, joining DeMarco Murray (running backs), Cale Gundy (inside receivers), Brian Odom (inside linebackers) and Calvin Thibodeaux (defensive line) as former players now on staff.
In his first year as passing game coordinator, Finley did well for Lane Kiffin and the Rebels. Ole Miss had the No. 3-ranked offense in the country and the No. 7 passing offense at just under 345 yards per game.
Riley had been adamant in the last month that he wasn’t going to make a rush-rush decision to fill Beamer’s spot. He mentioned it was going to be about feel and who fit best within the staff. Finley was an easy name to target initially because of his experience and ties to the program, but things really picked up in the last few days.
“Oklahoma's my alma mater, it's where I met my wife and where I started my coaching career, so obviously it's a special place to my family,” said Finley in the press release. “I look forward to working with great coaches, great players and great support from Sooner Nation. I can't thank Joe Castiglione and Coach Riley enough for bringing me back home. Boomer Sooner!”
During his career at OU, Finley was a member of three teams that won Big 12 championships, and he finished with 62 receptions for 775 yards and 10 touchdowns. Those numbers are good enough for seventh all-time for OU tight ends.
He played five seasons in the NFL before initially coming back to OU as a graduate assistant in 2012-13 seasons.
Before Ole Miss, Finley spent the 2019 season at Texas A&M (tight ends) and the 2016-18 seasons coaching the same role at Missouri. He entered the college coaching ranks in 2015 as an offensive quality control coach.
Finley inherits a great room in Norman with the likes of Austin Stogner, Brayden Willis, Jeremiah Hall and Mikey Henderson excelling in that tight end/H-Back role.
