The Oklahoma Sooners filled their open general manager position on Wednesday, when they hired former Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy to the role. According to a statement by the university, OU football will be “implementing a progressive new structure uniquely tailored to meet the most current challenges in college football. The general manager will work alongside the head football coach to construct a roster capable of competing at a championship level.”
Nagy replaces Curtis Lofton, OU’s first-ever GM, who stepped down earlier this offseason. The school also announced that in order to “facilitate the implementation and operation of this new model, Randall Stephenson has been asked to assume the role of Chair of Football and Special Advisor to the President and the Director of Athletics. In that role, he will provide day-to-day oversight of the general manager and head football coach. In addition, he will continue offering his oversight and expertise of the budgeting, strategic planning, and business planning functions during this unique time of change in college athletics.”
Nagy will still need to hire an assistant general manager, but he and Stephenson will join university president Joseph Harroz Jr., director of athletics Joe Castiglione, former Philadelphia Eagles executive Jake Rosenbrerg, chief of staff Woody Glass and head football coach Brent Venables as the brain trust for the Oklahoma Football program.
OU’s big hire was met with plenty of praise on social media, and one college football analyst also had a high opinion of the hire. On3 Sports’ J.D. PicKell thinks the Sooners made a great choice.
“Landing a Jim Nagy shows me, shows all of us, you are serious as a heart attack when it comes to roster construction in modern college football, because you hired someone with an NFL background,” PicKell said. “Before Jim Nagy was an executive director with the Senior Bowl, he was a scout across the NFL.”
Oklahoma’s looking to put together an NFL-style front office in the football program, and the hiring of Nagy signals that move. With years of NFL scouting experience and his time as the Senior Bowl executive director, Nagy has the ability to find talent from various levels of football. He’s a well-respected name in the industry that will have influence on scouting and recruiting players at the high school level and out of the transfer portal. “When you look at Oklahoma and the offseason they’ve had to this point where they are continuing to tell you the standard does not change,” PicKell said. “We don’t care what conference we’re in. We could be in the Big Ten, we could be in the SEC, we could be in the Big 12, it does not matter. As long as we have this logo and these colors in this place, we are going to expect to compete at the highest level.”
If the Sooners can keep Nagy around for the long haul in Norman, they have a chance to get back to where they should be, which is competing for championships, regardless of conference.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
