With hire of James Coley, Aggies gain another veteran offensive mind

As first reported by Billy Liucci, Texas A&M head football coach Jimbo Fisher completed his coaching staff on Friday with the hiring of James Coley as tight ends coach. Coley, 46, comes to A&M from Georgia where he’d coached since 2016. Last season he served as the Bulldogs offensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

A native of Miami and a graduate of Florida State, Coley replaces Joe Jon Finley, who last month accepted a similar position at Ole Miss.

Coley served as a graduate assistant at LSU in 2003 and 2004 when Fisher was there as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

From there he was an offensive assistant for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins in 2005-06 and was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Florida International in 2007.

The next year he went to Florida State as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator under Bobby Bowden. When Fisher took over as head coach at Florida State in 2010, Coley was retained as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach.

While at Florida State Coley recruited and helped develop All-American tight end Nick O’Leary, who won the Mackey Award as the nation’s premier tight end in 2014.

By then, Coley had moved on to the University of Miami where he served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2013-15. Coley coached Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya, who earned Freshman All-American recognition and set a school record for single-season passing yards in 2014. Miami led the nation in explosive plays in Coley’s three years there.

In 2016 Coley joined Georgia head coach Kirby Smart’s staff as receivers coach. He quickly became known as an effective recruiter and position coach. According to 24/7sports.com, Coley recruited at least 20 four- and five-star rated prospects as either the primary or secondary recruiter.

Coley was part of the 2017 staff that guided the Bulldogs to a school record-tying 13 victories and the first Southeastern Conference championship in more than a decade.

Coley and his wife, Kenia, have two children.