Oklahoma commit makes loyalty clear after Jay Valai leaves for NFL

The Oklahoma Sooners' first defensive commit of the 2027 class assures he's not going anywhere, even after a coaching change that directly affects him and still having almost a year before he puts pen to paper.

Four-star cornerback Mikhail McCreary was the first defender to commit to the Sooners' 2027 class that's already one of the best in college football, but on Monday, news broke that his future position coach, Jay Valai, left his position as OU's cornerbacks coach to head to the NFL and be the Buffalo Bills' new defensive backs coach.

Mikhail McCreary reassures Sooners commitment

Despite the dramatic change, Parker Thune of Rivals and On3 reported on Tuesday that McCreary told him he was still fully committed to the Sooners.

"It’s still all love with Coach Valai, but I feel like everything is still strong with the whole staff and especially with Coach (Brent) Venables," McCreary told Thune.

McCreary pledged to the Sooners back in September, long before anyone imagined the NFL would come calling for any of Brent Venables' assistants at OU. The Sooners then went 10-2 during the regular season and made the College Football Playoff thanks to an elite defense.

According to the 247Sports Composite, McCreary, a consensus four-star recruit, is the No. 24 cornerback in the class and No. 32 overall prospect in the state of Texas out of Claudia Taylor Johnson High School in San Antonio. He also had offers from Florida, Michigan, Arkansas, Baylor, Texas Tech, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and more.

McCreary isn't the only cornerback that has pledged to the Sooners, though. Three-star Mikyal Davis also did on Nov. 18. Nothing has been reported yet about McCreary's status since Valai's departure, though.

Outside of 2027 commits, all of the Sooners' 2026 recruits have already signed and the Transfer Portal is closed, so Valai's career move shouldn't shake up OU's roster any.