Joe Jon "J. J." Finley (born January 30, 1985) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

who is currently the co-offensive coordinator and

tight ends coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

. He previously served as an assistant coach at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

and

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

. Finley played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

before signing with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2008.

Early life and high school

Finley grew up in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

and attended Arlington High School, where he played football and was a hurdler on the school's track team. Initially a

as a sophomore, Finley was moved to

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for his junior and senior years of high school, throwing for over 1,600 yards and rushing for nearly 900 yards in his senior season. He committed to playing

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Playing career

College

Finley entered Oklahoma as a quarterback, but converted to tight end due to lack of playing time. His breakout season came in 2006 when offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson switched from offensive line coach to tight ends coach, where Finley recorded 19 receptions for 241 yards and three touchdowns. He was praised for his ability to block, run routes, and catch passes, something that Oklahoma's other tight ends

Jermaine Gresham Jermaine Gresham (born June 16, 1988) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he received All-American honors. Hi ...

and

Brody Eldridge William Brody Eldridge (born March 31, 1987) is a former American football tight end for the Indianapolis Colts, St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears. He played college football at Oklahoma and high school football at Prairie View High School in La ...

were unable to do. As a redshirt senior, Finley was named team captain and improved on his numbers, catching 23 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns. He finished his career with 62 catches for 775 yards, which ranked in the top 10 among Oklahoma tight ends as of 2021. Finley also earned honorable

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

mentions as a junior and senior and was an All-Academic Big 12.

National Football League

San Francisco 49ers

Joe Jon Finley at 49ers training camp 2010-08-11

Finley signed with the

as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He never made the active roster during his time in San Francisco, spending 2008 and 2009 on the practice squad before being cut before the start of the 2010 regular season.

Detroit Lions

Finley signed with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

practice squad in 2010, where he spent the entire season on the practice squad. Although he was waived in the final roster cuts in 2011, Finley was signed to the active roster in 2011 for the Lions' week 6 game against the 49ers before being released in late October.

Carolina Panthers

Finley was signed by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

on May 16, 2012. He was released by the Panthers on August 31, 2012 in the final roster cuts before the start of the regular season.

Coaching career

Early career

After getting cut by the Lions, Finley spent 2011 as the offensive line coach at

Los Fresnos High School Los Fresnos High School, also abbreviated as LFHS, is a public high school located in Los Fresnos, Texas (USA). It is the sole high school in the Los Fresnos Consolidated Independent School District. In 2015, the school was rated " Met Standard ...

in Texas, where his brother Clint was the head coach. He was later a graduate assistant at his alma mater

from 2012 to 2013, taking a break to sign with the Carolina Panthers and returning after he was cut. Finley returned to Los Fresnos in 2014 as their offensive line coach and strength & conditioning coordinator before departing to be an offensive quality control analyst at Baylor in 2015.

Missouri

In 2016, Finley was named the tight ends coach at

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. At Missouri, he coached a group that led the nation in touchdowns scored by tight ends with 15 in 2017, while developing

Albert Okwuegbunam Albert Chukwuemeka Okwuegbunam ( ; born April 25, 1998) is an American football tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Missouri. Early life Okwuegbunam attended Sacred Heart-G ...

, who was an All- SEC second-teamer and finalist for the

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ac ...

in 2018.

Texas A&M

In 2019, Finley was named the tight ends coach at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

under

Jimbo Fisher John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. (born October 9, 1965) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies Football, Texas A&M Aggies. Previously, Fisher was the head coach at Florida State Seminol ...

Ole Miss

In 2020, Finley was hired as the passing game coordinator and tight ends coach at Ole Miss under

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. Kiffin formerly was the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans football team from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the Nati ...

. The move was one of over 300 coaching changes stemming from the 2019

Egg Bowl The Egg Bowl (traditionally named the “Battle for the Golden Egg”) is the name given to the Mississippi State–Ole Miss football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry game played annually between Southeastern Conference memb ...

game between Ole Miss and

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

in which Ole Miss wide receiver

Elijah Moore Elijah Danilo Moore (born March 27, 2000) is an American football wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ole Miss and was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round of ...

was penalized for his touchdown celebration in the final seconds, leading to a missed extra point and an Ole Miss loss.

Oklahoma

In 2021, Finley was hired as the tight ends coach at the

under head coach

Lincoln Riley Lincoln Michael Riley (born September 5, 1983) is an American college football coach and former player who is the head coach of the USC Trojans football program at the University of Southern California. He previously served as the head coach a ...

. In 2022, Finley was retained as tight ends coach under head coach

Brent Venables Thomas Brent Venables (born December 18, 1970) is an American football coach who is the head coach at the University of Oklahoma. He previously served as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Clemson University from 2012 to 2021. V ...

. On November 29, 2023, Finley was promoted to co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Oklahoma, alongside

Seth Littrell James Seth Littrell (born July 24, 1978) is an American football coach and former player. He was the head coach of the North Texas Mean Green football team from 2016–2022. Early life Littrell was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and attended Musko ...

, replacing Jeff Lebby after his departure to become the head coach at the

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

Personal life

Finley and his wife Caylee have four children; daughters Blakely, Scout, and Collier and son Knox. Finley's father Mickey was a longtime high school football coach and was Joe Jon's coach in high school.

References

External links

Oklahoma Sooners profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finley, Joe Jon 1985 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football tight ends Baylor Bears football coaches Carolina Panthers players Coaches of American football from Texas Detroit Lions players High school football coaches in Texas Missouri Tigers football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football players Ole Miss Rebels football coaches Players of American football from Arlington, Texas San Francisco 49ers players Texas A&M Aggies football coaches