The Oklahoma Sooners are adding more jobs while also taking away others.
Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports and 247Sports reported Monday that OU is hiring Stacey Ford to general manager Jim Nagy's football front office staff. Although Nagy's staff has been expected to grow, it was still odd timing after news broke less than a week ago that OU was laying off 5% of its full-time athletics employees.
Sooners hiring Stacey Ford to Jim Nagy's staff
Ford's specific role at OU hasn't been announced yet, but he was most recently director of player personnel at UCLA for two seasons. Before that, Ford was director of recruiting at Washington State during the same time new OU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle was there. He also spent time coaching in the high school ranks in the Los Angeles area.
Nagy has added four to his staff since being named OU's GM in February as he looks to create an NFL front office model at OU. His other additions include assistant GM Taylor Redd, director of high school scouting Kale Pearson and assistant director of college scouting Charlie Parkinson.
OU is right in the middle of one of the most changing times ever in college sports as student-athletes will soon be paid directly from the university for the first time ever. That's caused schools to need more resources than ever to not only pay athletes, but also assemble a staff to manage an ever-changing college sports landscape.
Layoffs were recently made to free up more financial resources as OU prepares for revenue sharing with athletes. However, that can't mean a hiring freeze, because the Sooners are still adding staff other places to keep up with the rest of the country, especially the SEC, as GMs and front office staffs have become a necessity to succeed in today's college football.
Read more about OU football