Whoever succeeded Lincoln Riley in Norman was drinking from a poisoned chalice. The roster he left behind when he abruptly jumped ship from Oklahoma wasn’t exactly in great shape. The turnover required was of radical proportions. 3 years into the Brent Venables era, aftershocks from this radical shift continue reverberating across campus. The problem for OU is that these shocks aren’t quite fading away. They’re tearing up the foundation. After being afforded growing pains in year 1, Coach Venables led OU to 10 wins in year 2. Then came about realignment to the SEC, and things took a turn for the worse. A sub .500 season means the house that Bob Stoops built and Coach Riley supervised stood precariously under the care of Coach Venables. Oklahoma needed a messiah. Well, they seem to have landed one. The best part? A synergy with the head coach is already building.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Coaching a blueblood sure has its perks. You are nurturing some of the best talent in the country, with almost imperishable resources to attain said talent. But resources aren’t all you need to attain talent. Recruiting in College Football involves more than just numbers on a check, as much as the game is drifting towards that reality. Apart from results on the field, OU also lost traction on that front after last season. Some of the sheen wore off the program, and it inadvertently caused players to see them in a different light. As many as 29 players left through the portal this offseason. So how do you go about correcting this? Hiring a GM whose forte is recruitment sure sounds good. OU has done exactly that, And Brent Venables is admittedly the most relieved man in Norman.
New GM Jim Nagy arrives after serving as executive director of the Senior Bowl. Before that, he was a scout and occupied NFL front offices for over 2 decades. Nagy has cultivated pipelines and relationships across both levels of the sport that he and Oklahoma can now reap the rewards of. He’s got an eye for talent, and skill to land it ahead of the competition. A perfect concoction to supercharge the roster at Brent Venables’ disposal. Coach Venables spoke glowingly about Nagy in a conversation with SoonerScoop’s George Stoia. “The addition of Jim in that front office has allowed me not to have to worry as much,” he said. “The resource allocation, the talent retention, the talent acquisition, the talent evaluation. Between putting together a staff and then dealing with both the ‘26 class and moving forward, it has been a lot of fun developing trust in the relationships.”
“The addition of Jim in that front office has allowed me not to have to worry as much,” Brent Venables told me in Destin. “It has been a lot of fun developing trust in the relationships.”
How Nagy and Venables are building OU’s roster together: https://t.co/zLfjjKIHXj
— George Stoia III (@GeorgeStoia) June 2, 2025
Brent Venables also reiterated how the staff Jim Nagy has put together has been “fantastic.” “You talk about one of the most stressful things you can go through, not because adding and subtracting is hard. That’s the simple part. It’s placing value on people,” he said. Implying Nagy’s acumen in evaluating personnel has been a godsent. For a coach potentially on the hot seat, the players that will take to the gridiron were of utmost importance. Fortunately for him and the program, there’s satisfaction in that department. “From a talent retention [standpoint], we just smashed it I feel like. For what we were able to keep,” said Coach Venables. Who realizes that immediate success takes precedence over the longer term. Nagy’s arrival hasn’t just helped Venables off-field. The GM shouldering a lot of his previous responsibilities has allowed the HC to take up different, on-field ones.
Jim Nagy unlocks opportunities for Brent Venables to save his bacon
The temperature check around Norman and Oklahoma suggests Brent Venables is entering a sink-or-swim ‘25 season. So he has made a footballing decision that leaves nothing about his job security open to interpretation. No outside interference, no regrets. Every HC wishes their team would embrace their own philosophy. As a defensive guy, Coach Venables is naturally more inclined to focus on that side of the football. So DC Zac Alley leaving for WVU, in tandem with Jim Nagy alleviating some stress, has got to be baked into Brent Venables taking up play-calling duties.
Deferring to a designated coordinator to keep a more balanced outlook on his team seems appropriate. However, Brent Venables is taking on the playbook and its responsibility. “Why am I going to call the defense? Because I’m good at it, and I’m confident at it,” Venables said while announcing the decision at the outset of spring camp. He’s taking matters, and by extension his future, into his own hands- quite literally.
A new era of Sooners football is underway. It remains to be seen how the program retaliates in season 2 of traversing the SEC. The schedule, unfortunately, has not let up at all. But you’ve got to play the cards you’re dealt. The Oklahoma Sooners are, at least in theory, simply too big to fail. Jim Nagy’s hire is a step in the right direction. It remains to be seen if Brent Venables and his $44.8 million buyout can make the journey alongside Nagy.
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