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Oklahoma football: New defensive coordinator busy making changes

By Chip Rouse

MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: Josh Jacobs #8 of the Alabama Crimson Tide carries the ball in the defense of Robert Barnes #20 of the Oklahoma Sooners during the College Football Playoff Semifinal against the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: Josh Jacobs #8 of the Alabama Crimson Tide carries the ball in the defense of Robert Barnes #20 of the Oklahoma Sooners during the College Football Playoff Semifinal against the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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New Oklahoma football defensive coordinator Alex Grinch is wasting little time bringing in new defensive assistants as part of the determined process to turn around the Sooners’ defensive struggles of the past several seasons.

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Grinch, who last season was co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State, was hired Jan. 4 to lead the Sooners’ much-maligned defensive unit, which ranked 114th in the country last season. Oklahoma fired longtime defensive coordinator Mike Stoops after six games this past season. Stoops, who was at OU for two separate stints as the Sooners’ DC, totaling 12 seasons.

Ruffin McNeill took over the defensive responsibilities on an interim basis for the final eight games of 2018, but the changeover on the sidelines failed to produce much different results on the field.

On Tuesday, Grinch announced the hiring of two new assistants. Brian Odom joins the Sooner staff as inside linebackers coach. Odom is an Oklahoma native and was a member of OU’s 2000 national championship team. The last two seasons he coached outside linebackers at Missouri, and before that he was defensive quality control assistant under Grinch at Washington State.

"“He’s a tough coach, a demanding coach and has proven himself as a great recruiter,” Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley said of Odom in a press release posted on the OU athletic website."

Also added to the Sooner defensive staff on Tuesday was Roy Manning, who will coach the cornerbacks. Like Odom, Manning has a previous connection with OU’s new defensive coordinator, Grinch. Manning comes to Oklahoma from UCLA, where he was outside linebackers coach in 2018 and also coached special teams. Before that, he was outside linebackers coach at Washington State under Grinch.

"“(Roy’s) got excellent experience at several great football programs and has strong recruiting ties “all over the country,” Riley said. “He’s coached multiple positions, has coached on both sides of the ball and has been a special teams coordinator.”"

Manning is a Michigan alum, where he also played and served as an assistant coach, working with the cornerbacks and outside linebackers. He also was an assistant coach at Cincinnati.

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