Oklahoma has hired Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy as the team’s new general manager, the university announced. Nagy joins the Sooners after spending the last eight years with the Senior Bowl and has deep relationships in both college football and the NFL.
Nagy comes from a scouting background and spent nearly 20 years in NFL front offices. With the Senior Bowl, he scouted and identifed players to be invited to work out and play in front of scouts at the postseason event. Nagy has been interviewed for NFL general manager jobs in the past, including a 2024 interview with the New York Jets.
At Oklahoma, Nagy will play a major role in managing the roster and acquiring talent, including recruiting and retention. With revenue sharing on the horizon, he will also play a bigger role in negotiating contracts and managing a de facto salary cap.
“Today’s evolving world requires skilled management of player contracts, multiple player acquisition pathways and allocating resources,” Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said in a statement. “I am convinced that great college football teams will be set apart by their ability to continually innovate to meet these massive changes. Part of that innovation means providing every tool Coach [Brent] Venables and his staff need to be successful. OU’s willingness to reimagine the traditional structure and reposition the varied responsibilities within football operations will strengthen us going forward.”
General managers are one of the fastest-rising roles in the sport as player acquisition and retention becomes a full-time job. Many, like Oklahoma, have looked to the NFL for models. North Carolina coach Bill Belichick brought Michael Lombardi with him from the NFL ranks. Others, like Texas Tech’s James Blanchard, come from a deep scouting background.
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As part of Nagy’s hiring, former AT&T executive Randall Stephenson has been added as Chair of Football and Special Advisor to the President and Director of Athletics. Stephenson has been working as an unpaid advisor to Castiglione since December but will now formally have day-to-day oversight of both Nagy and Venables.
“The work required to manage a roster, including contract negotiations, player evaluation, strategic planning, recruiting and retention, requires full-time focus and skill sets,” Venables said. “Nagy’s high-caliber, extensive experience in scouting, recruiting and retaining top talent will pay dividends across our roster and ultimately on the field.”
Oklahoma is coming off its second losing season in three years, the worst stretch since before Bob Stoops was hired in 1999. Venables enters the 2025 season on one of the hottest seats in college football. The Sooners have not fired a coach since John Blake in 1998.
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