College football blue-blood programs like Oklahoma are built by great coaches, and although head coaches get most of the credit for wins and championships, every legendary head coach was backed by just as elite assistants between coordinators and position coaches.
As part of "Coaching Week" at Stormin' In Norman and across all FanSided college sites, we assembled what would be the greatest all-time Oklahoma football coaching staff made up of former and current coaches who were the best at what they specifically did at OU, from coordinators to position coaches.
Bud Wilkinson leads the staff as head coach and that was decided based on wins and national titles. However, position coaches responsible for just one group can't always be judged on whole team success, so talent produced was a major deciding factor on top of production from their players.
Head Coach: Bud Wilkinson
This essentially labels Bud Wilkinson as the greatest head coach in OU football history to lead this elite group. Head coaches are defined by wins and championships. Wilkinson and Barry Switzer both had three national titles at OU and a matching .826 winning percentage, but Wilkinson was responsible for a 47-game winning streak that's still an NCAA record today.
OC: Lincoln Riley
This might still be tough to swallow, but the Sooners' offense was never better than when Lincoln Riley was in charge of it, even as head coach. He could also be listed as the QB coach after producing three Heisman Trophy winners who were also top overall NFL Draft picks and another Heisman runner-up. All are still starters in the NFL today.
Riley was slimy and his defenses were porous as a head coach, but there's no denying he was responsible for Oklahoma's offensive heyday.
Read more: Oklahoma football coaches who owned the Red River Rivalry during their tenures
QB: Josh Heupel
If Lincoln Riley is the offensive coordinator, then Josh Heupel is worthy of being his QB coach. He also had a Heisman Trophy winner in Sam Bradford, and had Landry Jones breaking records and leading one of the most potent passing attacks in college football.
RB: Cale Gundy
The talent Cale Gundy produced (or at least recruited) is a who's who list of OU running back greats that includes Adrian Peterson, DeMarco Murray, Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine. Those names show why he belongs on this staff. Most fans would agree the position has went downhill ever since he's been gone.
WR: Dennis Simmons
Dennis Simmons quietly led the best run at wide receiver we've ever seen at Oklahoma with CeeDee Lamb, Marquise "Hollywood" Brown and Biletnikoff Award winner Dede Westbrook.
TE: Kevin Wilson
Kevin Wilson was responsible for churning out talent like Jermaine Gresham, James Hanna and Joe Jon Finley during his somewhat brief time actually coaching the position for the Sooners in 2006-10. He's back on Oklahoma's staff under Brent Venables and should be a guy Jason Witten leans on during his first college coaching gig. Who knows, Witten might deserve this spot eventually.
OL: Bill Bedenbaugh
Not all OU fans are exactly happy with Bill Bedenbaugh right now after the way the Sooners' offensive line has performed the past few seasons, but there's still no denying he's the best to ever lead the position at Oklahoma. Since 2013, Bedenbaugh has produced great NFL talent like Creed Humphrey, Orlando Brown, Anton Harrison and Tyler Guyton. Soon, Michael Fasusi and maybe even others on OU's current O-line will bolster that list even more.
DC / LB: Brent Venables
If you point to one reason how the Sooners went from 6-7 in 2024 to 10-3 and making the College Football Playoff just a year later, it's that Brent Venables took control of the defense. People have questioned Venables as a head coach, but never as a defensive coordinator. He's won three national championships as a DC, including with the Sooners in 2000, and Venables' defense was the main reason why in all of them.
And with that role as DC, he should also be coaching linebackers with a hand in molding Rocky Calmus, Teddy Lehman and Curtis Lofton.
DL: Lucious Selmon
Before listing the great players Lucious Selmon coached as the Sooners' defensive line coach, he also deserves credit for producing Dewey and lee Roy Selmon as their older brother. Then add guys like Tony Casillas, Rick Bryan and Cedric Jones to that group.
DB: Mike Stoops
Mike Stoops' tenure as his brother's defensive coordinator didn't go too well, but he always built a loaded secondary as defensive backs coach. His group at one time included all of Roy Williams, Derrick Strait and Brandon Everage.
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