Brent Venables apparently found someone to fill the giant shoes left by Jay Valai for the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Oklahoma Breakdown, the podcast with OU radio voices Gabe Ikard and Teddy Lehman, reported via X on Wednesday that the Sooners are expected to hire Michigan defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator LaMar Morgan to replace Valai as OU's new defensive backs coach. Morgan will immediately have high expectations stepping in for Valai, who was so good for the Sooners he earned a job with the Buffalo Bills and was a player favorite during his four seasons in Norman.
Sooners expected to hire LaMar Morgan from Michigan to replace Jay Valai
Morgan has 14 years worth of experience coaching at the college level. He was most recently defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator at Michigan for two seasons. Before that, he was defensive coordinator and secondary coach for Louisiana Lafayette, where he also played safety. He also coached either cornerbacks or safeties at Vanderbilt, Houston, Louisiana Monroe and Western Carolina.
According to The Oklahoma Breakdown, Morgan was a top target for multiple NFL and college teams as the Wolverines just underwent a major coaching change after firing Sherrone Moore and replacing him with longtime Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham over the offseason. The Wolverines were in Norman in 2025 and lost, but the Sooners will head to Michigan next season for Morgan to almost immediately match up against his former team.
Valai made a massive impact at Oklahoma, so Morgan will inevitably be compared to his predecessor and have high expectations because of it. That also comes with some benefits as Morgan will walk in with two returning starters at cornerback in Eli Bowen and Courtland Guillory, plus starting strong safety Peyton Bowen. However, even the pros come with cons as the Sooners' secondary will be expected to continue to have the same level of success, if not better, under Morgan because of the returning talent he has to work with.