In Artesia, Landry Jones Already a Hero

The calls into head football coach Cooper Henderson's Artesia (N.M.) High School office have come in a steady stream this week.

They all are congratulatory. And they all relate to Henderson's former quarterback, Landry Jones, who has been thrust into the national spotlight this week after being named the Oklahoma Sooners starting quarterback in place of injured Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford.

The promotion is temporary, but in a state where football isn't exactly a way life, this is huge news nonetheless.

"I've gotten a lot of coaches calling," Henderson told FanHouse. "When you look in the media guide, he's the only New Mexico player on the roster at OU. Statewide we don't have that many D-I's that go out of state to big schools like OU. So there is a lot of attention in our state. People are pretty excited about his future and wishing him well."

Henderson hoped this day would come from the moment Jones, a Parade All-American, pledged his commitment to the Sooners as an 11th-grader in 2007. He just had no idea it would come so soon with Bradford entrenched as one of the premiere college quarterbacks in the nation.

But a hard blow that sent Bradford crashing to the turf late in the first half of Saturday's season opener against BYU forced Jones into his first collegiate action with a stunned national television audience looking on. Jones, a redshirt freshman, provided a valiant effort off the bench but wasn't able to save the then third-ranked Sooners for a horrible 14-13 upset loss to the Cougars.

It will be his show from the beginning Saturday as the No. 13 Sooners host Idaho State in their home opener.

The father figure in Henderson is hoping Jones does well. The coach in him is confident Oklahoma has prepared its redshirt freshman quarterback well for this challenge as Bradford mends the next two to four weeks from AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder.

"Just watching their whole setup, I don't think anybody could be prepared any better when you have (quarterbacks coach and former OU quarterback) Josh Heupel working with you every day and you are sitting there getting to watch Sam Bradford perform every day and getting to watch what he's doing," Henderson said. "You have a pretty great teaching situation and you are not going to get recruited to OU unless you have quite a bit of ability in the first place.

"I just think he has probably been as well prepared as someone who doesn't have experience can be so I'm real excited for his opportunity. I sure hope Sam gets better."

But mostly Henderson hopes Jones does himself, his family and the small community of Artesia proud these next few weeks. That's exactly what the strong-armed Jones did during his two years of guiding the Bulldogs to back-to-back 4A state championships his junior and senior years in 2006 and 2007.



Henderson had never had an athlete as talented as Jones, for sure. But in his 21 years as head coach at Artesia, he also never had a player work as hard and give as much as Jones.

"It was really an enjoyable situation," Henderson said of Jones' three years on varsity. "One of things about him is he's a good team player, he gives his linemen, receivers and backs credit when they do well. Sometimes with a standout athlete it can almost be hard, but he really made it fun and easy."

During his collegiate playing debut last week, Jones found little fun and easy as he ran for his life behind a green offensive line and received little help from the running game or his receivers in the loss. Still Jones played admirably under the circumstances, completing 6-of-12 passes for 51 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, but helping the Sooners to field goal drive in the second half and positioning them for a failed game-winning field goal near the end.

"We need to support him better," said OU coach Bob Stoops. "The players around him need to play like they are capable of and with some discipline to play by the rules. That would be a start."

But in what Jones showed last Saturday night, he seemed to make quite a positive impression on his teammates who hope not to lose too much ground while Bradford's shoulder heals.

"He has a great arm and plays with a lot of poise," said OU sophomore receiver Dejuan Miller. "He doesn't seem to get frazzled, like he did last year, now that he's been in our system longer. I think he's going to do a great job at replacing Sam."

Being an outstanding player was certainly his reputation in Artesia.

In a state where the two Division I-A schools, New Mexico and New Mexico State, get most of their talent elsewhere, Jones stood out from an early age. Henderson said he first noticed Jones and his arm as a sixth grader playing intramural football.

By the time Jones was a junior in high school, college coaches from the around the county became aware of what Henderson had discovered years ago. the 6-foot-4, 220 pound Jones had made his way around to various elite football camps and before long schools like Oregon, Colorado, UCLA, Virginia and Wisconsin all came calling.

But after spending time with Heupel and the Sooners coaching staff during the Oklahoma high school camp, Jones wanted nothing more than to return to Norman. And once the Sooners offered the recruiting process was over for Jones.

"I don't think it was that hard of a choice and he never looked back," Henderson said."He didn't take visits or calls after that.

"I kind of admired that, too, because at that age it's hard not to accept attention. But he never did."

Jones, who was named after legendary Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry, turned his attention to putting the finishing touches on an impressive high school career. He threw for 3,850 yards and 44 touchdowns as a senior. That was enough to earn him New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year recognition and his Parade All-American status helped earn him a spot in the prestigious Under Armour ESPN All-American game where he again impressed with his arm. During his high school career, Jones threw for 7,282 yards and 89 touchdowns.

For Henderson, it has been gratifying to see all the hard work Jones put in pay off.

"He's grown up wanting to be a college quarterback since a young age," said Henderson, who used Jones as a utility offensive player his sophomore year. "He's one of those young men that had the self discipline to do the work to get to where he wanted to be, too.

"He didn't just rely on talent, he was willing to spend the time that some guys aren't willing to, doing the extra foot work, the extra throwing and all that kind of stuff."

Henderson says he has tried to keep the contact between himself and Jones to a minimum since he arrived at Oklahoma, preferring to communicate primarily with his parents. But Henderson did trade text messages with his former player this week knowing the challenge ahead.

"I just told him, 'Great opportunity, get after it this week,' and I told him I was proud of him," Henderson said. "He sent me a quick text back."

Henderson admits the Artesia community is anxiously awaiting Saturday's OU-Idaho State game and Jones' first start.



"Our community there is a whole lot of excitement. The players have been talking quite a bit about Landry and him getting to play. So it's a pretty big deal.

"Our community is a real strong supporter of athletics, particularly football, so there is a lot of interest here."