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JOE JON FINLEY
Joe Jon Finley - who teaches ‘what it is to be an NFL tight end’ - and his beard return to Sooners on a mission
BY MASON YOUNG
On third-and-13, late in a game against Keller High, Joe Jon Finley made his checks. Finley, the starting sophomore tight end, was thrust under center after Arlington High’s starting quarterback left with an injury. As he went through his pre-snap reads, he noticed the opposing safeties staying deep and the linebackers clearing out of the middle. Before his head coach and father, Mickey, could call timeout, Finley showcased the innate football understanding that years later has him climbing college football’s coaching ranks. He audibled into a quarterback sneak. And then he ran 60 yards for a touchdown. “He’s got a good football mind,” Mickey said. “A lot of our offense, we did a lot of pairing plays, and basically giving him a menu of plays to pick from, according to what they ran on defense. That was his strong point, was dissecting the defense and picking the right plays to run against you, and making that call on the field. We very seldom called a play that wasn’t his play.” After growing up in a home dictated by football, Finley played tight end for the Sooners from 200307. After five years in the NFL, his love for the game compelled him to coach, beginning at the high school level alongside his brother, Clint. Finley has since bounced from Baylor and Missouri to Texas A&M, helping tight ends reach the NFL everywhere he’s been. Following his lone season as Mississippi’s tight ends coach and passing game coordinator, he’s now on to his next stop. A sharp offensive mind himself, he’s looking to be sharpened by another. Nearly 14 years since he played for the Sooners and nearly eight years since he was a graduate assistant at OU, Finley is returning to Norman to coach the position group he used to run with. Head coach Lincoln Riley announced Finley as associate head coach for offense, tight ends and H-backs on Jan. 19. Finley will also work with special teams and replaces Shane Beamer, who became South Carolina’s head coach in December. At some point, Finley’s likely to follow in Beamer’s footsteps. Finley’s return to his alma mater makes him the fifth former Oklahoma player on Riley’s staff. Former head coach Bob Stoops hired Calvin Thibodeaux and Cale Gundy, and Riley added Brian Odom and DeMarco Murray. Finley’s arrival is also a touchdown logistically, as the Sooners land one of the top developers and recruiters of tight end talent in the country. During his college career, Finley was a fan favorite and the total package at tight end, providing run blocking, pass protection and a large receiving target for his quarterbacks — passers like Paul Thompson, Rhett Bomar and Heisman winners Sam Bradford and Jason White. Since joining the coaching ranks, he’s instilled the same versatility in all the tight ends he’s taught. The expectations won’t be any different at OU, where he inherits a
talented room of Jeremiah Hall, Brayden Willis, Austin Stogner and Mikey Henderson. On-field improvements aren’t the only benefit of bringing on Finley, either. While he’s committed to building better football players, he’s equally committed to building better men, those who know Finley well say. Previously, OU’s H-backs had a strong, friendly bond with Beamer. Finley’s track record suggests the same connection between the new coach and his players is imminent. Friends and family say there aren’t very many people who don’t like Finley. He’s made strong bonds everywhere he’s gone during his football journey. He’s transparent and authentic, developing natural relationships with everyone he meets. From Jermaine Gresham and Mark Andrews to Trent Smith, Keith Jackson and Steve Zabel, Oklahoma has always produced talented tight ends, Finley among them. Now his job, like the trademark beard he pares down during the offseason before letting it blossom into full follicle fury, is to transform more players with raw talent into polished products like their predecessors. Like Beamer, Finley’s poised to lead a program himself someday, but for now he’s here to help OU’s tight ends — a big part of the offense — become even better, while learning directly from Riley. “‘I’ve talked to him about jobs in the past and different avenues he could go with,” Mickey said. “I think when (Riley) called him, I think you could see it in his eyes. He knew that was the right thing for him.”
LISA HALL/OU ATHLETICS
A OU tight end Joe Jon Finley during a game against Iowa State on Oct. 14, 2006.
‘JOE JON DID ALL THREE’ Growing up, Finley was always near football. Mickey spent 38 years as a coach or athletic director. With stops at Texas towns Callisburg, Big Spring, Iraan, Cuero, and Arlington from 1985-2002, football dictated where the Finleys lived. Mickey said he and his wife, Patty, even chose the name “Joe Jon”
because it “sounded like a football player.” Clint — who’s eight years older than his brother — and Mickey recall young Joe Jon always being at the field or field house. Like a sponge, he’d soak up anything he could from his family, asking questions and learning as his father prepared for games. At Cuero, Finley was a ball boy for Mickey and Clint’s team and would play games against other school’s ball boys in his downtime. “He was always right in the smack-dab middle of everything, watching and learning and imitating all the guys that he grew up watching,” Clint said. “And he got to see a lot of really good players ahead of him. And he definitely made it a goal to be everything he could be, just like them.” Through junior high and high school, Mickey coached Joe Jon. As a senior quarterback, Finley threw for 1,626 yards and 12 touchdowns while running for 897 yards and nine more scores. Mickey’s option offense was similar to Nebraska’s under Tom Osborne and Frank Solich. Despite interest from the Cornhuskers — his brother’s alma mater — Finley committed to Oklahoma as a quarterback. But as a freshman in 2003, with White delivering Heisman football and Thompson as a steady backup, Finley’s path to playing time was minute. He moved back to tight end, but weighed only 210 pounds and had to bulk up by eating constantly. By his redshirt freshman season, Finley reached 234 pounds. In his redshirt junior year, he rose to 260. He caught just 20 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns through his first two years of playing time, but when offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson began coaching tight ends in 2006, Finley’s career took off. He was one of the oldest in the tight end room as a redshirt junior, and also the most complete. Surrounded by underclassmen like Gresham and Brody Eldridge, he could collectively block, run routes and catch passes better than anyone else. No contest better exemplified his multifaceted skills than Oklahoma’s season opener against Alabama Birmingham in 2006. Finley caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Thompson that gave OU a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Then with Oklahoma trailing 17-14 in the fourth quarter, he made the play many fans still remember him for. Thompson swung the ball out to junior running back Adrian Peterson as UAB linebacker Orlandus King converged on the star tailback. Finley came from behind and crumpled King, springing Peterson for a 69-yard go-ahead touchdown. OU escaped, 24-17, and Finley’s blocking helped Peterson run for 139 yards while Thompson threw for 227. Finley came from behind and crumpled King, springing Peterson for a 69-yard go-ahead touchdown. OU escaped, 24-17, and Finley’s blocking helped Peterson run for 139 yards while Thompson threw for 227.
