OU football passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach Emmett Jones during the Sooners' open practice on April 10.
When Skyline High School’s coaches held meetings and film sessions during the 2006 season, Derick Roberson remembers a young, charismatic coach inserting himself.
Emmett Jones, at 31 and with five years as a high school assistant, entered the program as one of its younger coaches. His youth, however, didn’t reflect his maturity.
Jones was a detail-oriented, game film junkie who brought a high standard of success along with him. If upholding that standard meant calling out more experienced coaches, he’d do it.
And he did.
“It all came from his desire to win and the way he prepared and watched film,” Roberson said. “If he saw a coach (make a mistake) he’d say, ‘Man, I’ve watched the film, that's not what they’re going to do.’ He didn’t have a problem letting you know that wasn’t right. He wasn’t (mean) when he was doing it, he was just pointing it out, like, ‘Listen, if we’re going to win, it has to be done this way.’”
Jones’ remarks weren’t taken as disrespect. The other coaches knew how much he prepared and watched film as well as his football IQ. In fact, Roberson, then in his eighth year at Skyline, found himself and a few other coaches doing the same in future meetings.
“I had never seen anybody like him,” Roberson said. “He was way ahead of his years, and I think he made all of us around him better. He helped me become a head coach. … I think we were all really good coaches and we’re in these positions now because of our abilities, but Emmett made it known, ‘This is the standard. And it has to be a standard of excellence.’”
To him, his youth and inexperience were irrelevant; “Leadership has no age.”
Now, Jones reiterates the same four words to OU’s receiving core, one plagued with inexperience and youth. The Sooners don’t have a receiver with a 500-yard season on its roster. Sixth-year senior Drake Stoops and juniors Jalil Farooq and LV Bunkley-Shelton are the only ones with over 250-yard seasons.
Outside of those three are six freshmen, three sophomores and four upper-classmen, only two of whom have caught a pass in a collegiate game. Jones has implemented a unique coaching style involving a different player a week working as a “teacher” in the room, regardless of their class.
“It gives us the opportunity to step up and get closer with the other (receivers),” freshman receiver Jaquaize Pettaway said. “Rather than the coach telling you what to fix in your routes and stuff, it could be one of your teammates who you’re close with telling you (how to improve) your break or your cuts. That coming from a player is really important. It's really impactful because it's coming from your brothers, and it's going to make us all closer (in) the end.”
Jones believes it not only helps the development of the receivers in both the teacher and student roles, but contributes to an overarching theme he hopes to establish within the young group: brotherhood.
“My objective with (this) room is … (to) bring everybody together, create a family, create a brotherhood atmosphere where we’re all in it together,” Jones said. “We are competing against each other, but at the same time, we’re all doing it for each other.”
Jones’ unique coaching style doesn’t just lie within the hash marks. After practice, he’d routinely make sure his players had rides home, were well fed and attended class the next morning.
Jones keeps in contact with many of his former players, a testament to the relationships he built off the field. When former Texas standout receiver Mike Davis heard about Jones taking the job at OU, the bond with his former high school coach and father figure trumped the bitterness of the rivalry.
“Coach Jones is family to me,” Davis said. “I just want him to go where he’ll be happy and do what he knows how to do best, which is help guide young men to grown men, help young guys become pros and win games.
“I don’t want to twist it, I’m a Texas guy. But when it comes to coach Jones, that kinda stuff goes out the window. He can go anywhere, I’ll still be the same supporter.”
Davis says Jones is one of the few coaches he’s been around who possesses the trifecta of coaching traits: teaching well on the field, getting his players mentally prepared and relating to his players.
OU football passing game coordinator/wide receiver's coach Emmett Jones during the Sooners' spring open practice on Mar. 21
Jones is as knowledgeable as anyone when it comes to X’s and O’s. It’s why he spent the majority of his early coaching days inside press boxes relaying information to Roberson. Former Kansas and current Cincinnati Bengals receiver Kwamie Lassiter II credits Jones for teaching him how to know the defense, a trait which helped him accumulate 1,463 yards in the three years Jones was there.
“Sometimes you’d see him in the locker room pacing back and forth, you’d think he was getting ready to put pads on,” Lassiter said. “He gives a good speech to the guys. He always had me ready to play, there was not one game I wasn’t ready to play, mentally, because he always had me fired up.”
It’s safe to say Jones has work to do to fill the 1,083-yard void left after Marvin Mims Jr. was drafted by the Denver Broncos. Roberson, however, believes OU’s young receivers will have more work cut out for them just to keep up with their new coach.
“The young receivers, they’re going to have to grow up fast,” Roberson said. “But he’s gonna have them ready.”
The belief comes from his experience alongside Jones.
“When he first got (to Skyline), we didn’t have the best receiving core,” Roberson said. “But he knew how to call plays to get them in the right position to make plays. And it was because he coaches them hard. He’s gonna let them know ‘Hey, when we’re on the field, it’s business. I'm trying to get you to a certain level. It's not personal, so don't get any (hard) feelings when I'm coaching you.’ And afterwards, he’s going to love them up. He’s going to tell them, ‘You didn't do this well today but guess what, we have another opportunity tomorrow.’”
Jones claims OU’s receivers are one of the fastest groups to learn and adjust to his coaching style. He likes the variety of play style within the group, whether it be junior Andrel Anthony’s speed, Pettaway’s explosiveness or Farooq’s run after catch ability, which Jones compared to that of longtime NFL player Percy Harvin.
Farooq told Jones early on his talent has always been used in the offenses he’s been a part of, but he’s never actually been taught how to play the position in full. Jones believes in a different approach.
“I want to enhance your talent while playing in a good system also,” Jones said. “That can make you more of a deadly player.”
Wanting well-rounded receivers carries over to recruiting, where Jones has seen a surge since taking the job at OU on Jan. 10. Of the 20 commitments the Sooners have landed in the 2024 class, six are receivers.
Jones shows his true colors during recruiting pitches.
“He’s straight up,” Roberson said. “He’s going to tell you how it’s going to be. He’s going to tell you that he’s gonna look out for you. He’s gonna be hard on you, but only to make you better. He’s gonna be there when you need someone to talk to whether it’s the middle of the night, early in the morning or whenever. He makes himself accessible to his players, and that’s communicated in the recruiting process. He wouldn’t have the success he has in recruiting if he wasn’t genuine.”
His authenticity is what attracted Brenen Thompson to transfer from Texas to the Sooners months after Jones was hired. Thompson, like four of OU’s 2024 receiver commits, attended high school in Texas, where Jones spent 19 of his 22 years coaching.
“He recruited me a lot in high school. And so I had that relationship previously built with him,” Thompson said. “And then (once I got) in the portal, it was all the same stuff. That taught me that this guy was telling the truth. This guy was being genuine. This guy was not telling me something that I wanted to hear, but was telling me what I needed to hear. For me, that was very important.”
Though his recruiting provides a bright glimpse into the future of OU’s receiver room, Jones took the job with the same expectation he had as a young Skyline assistant in 2006: immediate success. Despite a disappointing 6-7 finish in 2022 and anticipated growing pains in 2023, his expectation won’t waiver.
Jones’ high standard of excellence digs deep into his passion for his receivers, which he embodies in his training regimen, relatability and — most of all — his players who display it on the field.
The next step for Jones is translating it into success in the Sooners’ offense.
“This is personal to me,” Jones said. “It's a process, (we’re taking it) one day at a time, but I didn't come here to waste days. I came here to help coach Venables win championships and help these kids get to the level they want to go to.”
This story was edited by Colton Sulley and Jason Batacao. Mary Ann Livingood and Nikkie Aisha copy edited this story.
