Who is Oklahoma OC Joe Jon Finley?

The Sooners assistant will call plays for the first time this Saturday.

Oklahoma's Joe Jon Finley walks on the field before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the South Carolina Gamecocks at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NORMAN — Joe Jon Finley, an Oklahoma alumnus, will call plays for the first time as OU’s offensive coordinator against Ole Miss, his former school, on Saturday.

“Obviously, he’s [Finley] been around a lot of ball,” head coach Brent Venables said Tuesday. “He’s got great leadership skills, really effective communicator. He’s very involved in every part of our program when it comes to the special teams and offense, certainly his tight end group.”

Finley has led the tight ends since his hiring in January 2021 and was promoted to co-O.C. alongside Seth Littrell late last year. With Littrell’s midseason firing, Finley will serve as play caller for the remainder of the season.

“He was a trusted resource before. And, again, I know the result isn’t what anybody wanted, so it’s easy to say, ‘Well then what’s he [Finley] going to do? But he’s got great perspective, and he’s got a really sharp lens when he understands defense,” Venables said. “He’s got good natural instincts as well with the game. I think that’ll show itself to some degree.”

Under Littrell, OU’s offense that has anchored the team to its blue blood status consistently for over two decades, has been among the worst in FBS football. OU’s quarterback room, which had produced four Heisman-winning quarterbacks this century and several finalists, has produced one of the Southeastern Conference’s worst passing games this season. Its 9.8 yards per completion ranks last in the league and its 59.4% completion rate ranks fourth from last.

“Right now, we’re in the middle of a year where we’re not performing well, so everybody is under the microscope,” Venables said. “But we do have a good support system and a process in how we put together, again, daily practice and daily game plan, installation and the different situationals and things of that nature. So he’ll [Finley] play a major part in that, but so will other staff members as well. It’ll be a collective effort.”

Finley, 39, played at OU from 2004-07. He arrived to Norman as a quarterback but was converted to tight end by offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, now Tulsa’s head coach. He went undrafted in 2008 and, after a few years bouncing around the league, hung up his cleats for a headset. He joined OU as a graduate assistant from 2012-13 and received his first college gig as offensive quality control analyst at Baylor in 2015. He spent a year each at Texas A&M and Ole Miss in 2019 and 2020, respectively, before joining Lincoln Riley’s staff at Oklahoma. Venables retained him upon his 2022 hiring.

From the players’ perspectives, little has changed in the transition from Littrell to Finley.

“Coach Finley has been great,” redshirt-junior offensive lineman Troy Everett said Tuesday night during player availability. “He’s always been a personable guy. Always around the position groups. No difference for him. He’s just a real outgoing guy.”

“He’s the same guy he’s been since my freshman year,” junior running back Jovantae Barnes said. “Just excited to be out there, excited to coach. A lot of energy. Just moving around. Just making sure everybody’s going, everybody’s executing, locking on all the details.”

They also rave about Finley’s energy.

“He’s already an energetic guy, but, you know, he’s brought even more of it,” junior receiver Brenen Thompson said. “I think the whole offense really just feeds off of it.”

“His energy. He was a competitor when he was here. He played here. As a coach, ever since my freshman year, he’s been a competitor,” Barnes said. "Obviously not only coaches tight ends, but come and coach us a little bit. ‘You can do this. You can do that.’ Even today, he told me I was going a little too fast on something and slow it down, and it looked perfect. So just critiquing every little thing and bringing the energy is always something he’s gonna do.”

The Sooners are scheduled to kick off with Ole Miss at 11 a.m. Saturday.