Jon William Embree (born October 15, 1965) 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 wi ...

coach and former player who is the Assistant Head coach & tight ends coach for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

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 majo ...

(NFL). He is a former

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. Prior to that, he was the tight ends coach for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

of the

. As a player, he spent two seasons in the NFL with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

as a

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. Lik ...

until an injury ended his career. He was selected in the sixth round of the

1987 NFL Draft The 1987 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Ma ...

(166th overall) by the Rams, after playing

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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at Colorado. Embree previously coached for three seasons with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

, three with

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, one with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

and ten at Colorado. After his playing career ended, Embree entered television broadcasting, then was asked to volunteer coach in 1991 for the Buffaloes by head coach

Bill McCartney William Paul McCartney (born August 22, 1940) is a former American football player and coach and the founder of the Promise Keepers men's ministry. He was the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder for thirteen seasons (1982–1994), ...

. Embree was a member of McCartney's first recruiting class as head coach in 1983. Embree was named the Buffaloes head coach on December 6, 2010, succeeding

Dan Hawkins Danny Clarence Hawkins (born November 10, 1960) is an American football coach at UC Davis. A former player and sportscaster, he served as the head football coach at Willamette University (1993–1997), Boise State University (2001–2005), and t ...

. He is only the third CU alumnus to head coach the football team and the first in nearly a half century. On November 25, 2012, he was terminated after compiling a 4-21 record including 1-11 in his final year, the worst year in the history of Colorado Buffaloes football.

Playing career

Embree attended Compton CC in Los Angeles.

Coaching highlights

* 6 bowl wins in 10 seasons on the CU staff. * In his final season at UCLA working as its Passing Game Coordinator, the Bruins finished 10–2 with the #7 offense in the country. * Coached 2 Mackey Award winners

Notable players coached

Christian Fauria,

Matt Lepsis Matthew Stanley Lepsis (born January 13, 1974) is a former American football offensive tackle of the National Football League (NFL). He was originally signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 1997 and remained with the team ...

, Daniel Graham (2001 John Mackey Award Winner),

Marcedes Lewis Marcedes Alexis Lewis (born May 19, 1984) is an American football tight end for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCLA, earning consensus All-American honors. He was selected by the Jack ...

(2005 John Mackey Award Winner),

Tony Gonzalez Anthony David Gonzalez (born February 27, 1976) is an American former football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Regarded as one of the greatest tight ends of all time, he is the NFL's all-time lead ...

, Chris Cooley, Jordan Cameron,

George Kittle George Krieger Kittle (born October 9, 1993) is an American football tight end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Iowa, and was drafted by the 49ers in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL ...

(single-season NFL TE receiving record of 1,377 yards in 2018).

Contract

Embree signed a five-year contract in 2011 starting at $725,000 annually plus incentives. The guaranteed portion was $250,000 base, $200,000 media, $200,000 sponsorship, and $75,000 for football camps. Bonuses were for team development (on and off-field) and team performance. Had he been terminated in 2011, Embree would have been paid $750,000. The contract stated he was to be paid $500,000 for being fired in 2012. Had he been terminated in 2013, he would have been paid $250,000. CU was to give no money if he had been fired in 2014 or 2015.

Personal life

Embree is the son of former NFL player John Embree, who played flanker/wide receiver for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and 1970. Born in Los Angeles, Embree grew up in Colorado and graduated from Cherry Creek High School in suburban

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1983. Jon and his wife Natalyn have three children, Hannah, Taylor, a former wide receiver at

, and Connor, a former wide receiver at

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio

Colorado Buffaloes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Embree, Jon 1965 births Living people American football tight ends Cleveland Browns coaches Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Colorado Buffaloes football players Kansas City Chiefs coaches Los Angeles Rams players Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches Washington Redskins coaches Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from Los Angeles Sports coaches from Los Angeles African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football Miami Dolphins coaches 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople