Marvin Jones, former NFL veteran and college football Hall of Famer, named first head coach for Tulsa Oilers indoor football team – Tulsa World
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The Tulsa Oilers football team has found its man.
Less than a week after unveiling the team’s name, colors and logo, the new Indoor Football League expansion franchise, which shares ownership with the Tulsa Oilers hockey club, introduced Marvin Jones as its first head coach and director of football operations on Wednesday afternoon at the BOK Center.
Jones is a former college football star at Florida State who played 11 years in the NFL with the New York Jets, before more recently getting involved in coaching indoor football. He had spent the previous three years as the head coach of the Omaha Beef of the CIF (Champions Indoor Football), an indoor football league one rung below the IFL, winning the league championship in 2021.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as the first head coach for the Tulsa Oilers football team for its inaugural season,” Jones said. “I am very excited to put together a competitive team for its growing fan base. Tulsa has a rich sport history and inspires us to be worthy extension of its legacy through the Oilers team. I am looking forward to gathering football talent in northeast Oklahoma. We look forward to interacting with the fans and creating a long-lasting relationship.”
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For Oilers owner Andy Scurto, Jones was a natural fit to lead his new football team, fulfilling all the criteria he was looking for.
“We obviously wanted somebody with a football background, we wanted to make sure they understand the game,” Scurto said. “His recruiting power is going to be really powerful, because he’s an 11-year veteran in the NFL, he’s going to get players to want to play for him. So he’s really good at recruiting, he’s got experience as a head coach in indoor football, he knows the game.”
The other important component was hiring someone that sought to enmesh the team within the local community.
“He really said the right things when we talked about, ‘What are you looking for in players?’” Scurto said. “It was very much community. ‘They’ve got to be the right guys, they’ve got to be a family, we’ve got to be in the schools and the hospitals.’ He wants the same things we want in a team. So it was just the best match for us. He had the background, he has the history, he’s got the leadership skills and everything.”
“I’ll have players in the schools, reading to kids, so for me, that’s something that I’ve always believed in,” Jones added. “I want the players out in the community, that’s one the biggest things I preach to the players. We’re here to be part of the community and make them proud of us.”
Jones, 50, has an impressive background in the sport. Growing up in Miami, Florida, Jones attended Miami Northwestern High School, the same school that produced current NFL players Amari Cooper and Teddy Bridgewater, as well as numerous others in the past. He went on to play at Florida State (although he does remember coming to Norman on a recruiting visit with the Sooners “a long time ago”) and starred as a linebacker there, winning the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker and Sporting News’ College Football Player of the Year in 1992.
The Seminoles inducted him into the FSU Hall of Fame in 2000, and he was named to the College Football …….
The Tulsa Oilers football team has found its man.
Less than a week after unveiling the team’s name, colors and logo, the new Indoor Football League expansion franchise, which shares ownership with the Tulsa Oilers hockey club, introduced Marvin Jones as its first head coach and director of football operations on Wednesday afternoon at the BOK Center.
Jones is a former college football star at Florida State who played 11 years in the NFL with the New York Jets, before more recently getting involved in coaching indoor football. He had spent the previous three years as the head coach of the Omaha Beef of the CIF (Champions Indoor Football), an indoor football l…….
The Tulsa Oilers football team has found its man.
Less than a week after unveiling the team’s name, colors and logo, the new Indoor Football League expansion franchise, which shares ownership with the Tulsa Oilers hockey club, introduced Marvin Jones as its first head coach and director of football operations on Wednesday afternoon at the BOK Center.
Jones is a former college football star at Florida State who played 11 years in the NFL with the New York Jets, before more recently getting involved in coaching indoor football. He had spent the previous three years as the head coach of the Omaha Beef of the CIF (Champions Indoor Football), an indoor football l…….