Oklahoma lands impressive hire for next General Manager for Football

The Oklahoma Sooners have their next General Manager for Football.

OU on Wednesday announced Jim Nagy as its new General Manager for Football. In the position, Nagy will lead roster building, player evaluation, recruiting, and compensation for the football program while working alongside coach Brent Venables.

Nagy will also manage the impact of rules governing NIL, the transfer portal process, revenue-share allocation, scholarship limits and eligibility requirements, according to OU.

"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 in a statement. "Nagy's high-caliber, extensive experience in scouting, recruiting and retaining top talent will pay dividends across our roster and ultimately on the field. I look forward to working alongside him and Athletics Director Castiglione as we look ahead to great things for OU football."

Nagy gets to OU after serving as Executive Director of the Senior Bowl since 2018. He was in charge of the most prestigious college all-star game in the country with the responsibilities of finding, evaluating, recruiting and selecting top NFL prospects to invite to participate in the game.

This year, OU defenders Danny Stutsman and Billy Bowman Jr. were invited to the Senior Bowl. Stutsman did not participate, but Bowman impressed and improved his draft stock during the event.

Before taking over the Senior Bowl, Nagy spent 18 years inside NFL front offices, which OU and many other major college football programs are now trying to model.

Nagy had scouting roles with the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots and the Washington Redskins. During his time in the NFL, Nagy was part of four Super Bowl championships.

"This is a new era in intercollegiate athletics at one of the greatest college football programs in the country," Nagy said in OU's press release. "The legacy of excellence that precedes my arrival is a testament to the leadership at OU and the university's commitment to execute at a championship level.

"I am honored to bring my experience and work ethic to this program and am confident that through collaboration and effort, we can achieve excellent results. I am truly excited to get to Norman and begin our process with Coach Venables and his great staff."

Over Nagy and Venables will be Randall Stephenson, who OU also announced as Chair of Football and Special Advisor to the President and the Director of Athletics. According to OU, Stephenson will provide day-to-day oversight of the general manager and football coach while offering oversight and expertise of the budgeting, strategic planning and business planning functions during this unique time of change in college athletics.

"I am pleased to have worked with President (Joe) Harroz and the Board of Regents to bring about this progressive change," OU Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione said in a statement. "Today's evolving world requires skilled management of player contracts, multiple player acquisition pathways and allocating resources. All of these are new and vital functions within college athletics. 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 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. Jim Nagy brings to us great experience, relationships and perspectives that will mesh well with our staff and will complement the program's continued pursuit of conference and national championships."

Nagy replaces Curtis Lofton, who announced in January he was stepping down from the position to pursue a new career path. Lofton was the first person to have the title at OU and held the job for less than a year.

According to George Stoia of SoonerScoop, OU interviewed several NFL executives to replace Lofton, but Nagy ultimately stood out and was a hire that has already turned heads around college football.

According to Pete Nakos of On3, Nagy will now start hiring a support staff similar to NFL front offices, including an assistant general manager.

This hire comes just a week before the Sooners start spring practice and over a month before the transfer portal opens again in April.

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