Dean Blevins: 2 big hires could help lead OU back to prominence

The hiring of Jim Nagy and Randall Stephenson is a significant development within the OU Football Department. It doesn’t ensure winning, but it’s another swing at SEC pitches that have proven very hard to hit.

Nagy replaces the remarkable Curtis Lofton who chose to spread God’s message and other ventures where he can make an impact.

As OU’s new general manager, Nagy brings 18 years of NFL front office experience to Brent Venables & Co. A Michigan graduate with a strong background is tasked with a heavy load, including but not limited to: Roster management, recruiting, evaluation, and one thing near and dear to my heart; what is being labeled as “NIL impacts.” No idea the specifics. But when NIL is mentioned, my ears perk up and my heart beats per minute increase.

Randall Stephenson’s addition was first told to me in the middle of the football season. But the successful local gentleman who said he’d work for free – well before Elon Musk told our president the same thing – didn’t officially jump aboard in Norman till now.

Could Stephenson be the man to make a difference? With an elite pedigree including a very successful run as chairman and CEO of AT&T from 2007-2020, his role sounds bigger than I’d even expected. On paper. Chairman of Football & Special Adviser to the President & the Director of Athletics, is the title. What he does with the president and how much power he has with the head coach and AD is beyond my scope. But other duties are substantial and bring promise.

I gotta say seeing that Stephenson has “day to day oversight of both Nagy AND head coach Brent Venables” makes you wonder what “oversight” could potentially mean. Just how far-reaching is that? Is he the man who could run things in athletics at some point?

First and always foremost to me is those three nasty letters, N-I-L. It’s limited collection in Norman is a major reason Texas and Oklahoma have switched places. UT now expects national championships and superiority in recruiting and portal additions. See a stud. Fly him to Austin. Take him to Austin, show him the debutants, Bevo and have him listen to Coach Sark’s pitch & then ask him how much money would it take to put him in burnt orange. To hell with ‘defense wins championships.’ These days – and for days to come – N-I-L cold hard cash wins championships.

Meantime, OU was slow out of the blocks leaving them not SEC ready and in catch-up mode ever since. Banking on a high-quality man whom I couldn’t respect more, but one who happened to be a a first-time head coach who’s not had the budget and has done a lot of good but also has made a number of really bad first time head coach decisions.

My gut feeling is Nagy’s more experienced than our pal Curtis in the role of general manager and that alone should produce improvement. Bigger, Mr. AT&T is a potential game changer.

Yes, Oklahoma can rise again. Yes, good people are in place. Yes, no one has better intentions. But if these and other changes in personnel and philosophy don’t create more blood from the NIL turnip that exists in the state of Oklahoma, it’s like the old troubadour Jerry Jeff Walker would belt out long and loud, “We’re Just P _ _ _ ing in the Win, bettin’ on a losing friend, makin’ the same mistakes we swear we’ll never make again.”

The University of Oklahoma I’ve known since 1965 is too good to not find a way to succeed. And while this N-I-L challenge is enormous and isn’t going away soon, I believe there could be what the brain trust who run the ultra-successful OKC Thunder often say behind closed doors, ‘We will problem-solve our way out.’ They indeed continually do that. And now, are staring at an NBA all-time record, & a potential run to an NBA Championship.

One bit of advice. The Thunder don’t put up with phonies and BS’ers. The Sooners should do the same. Because the daunting challenges of being competitive with N-I-L funds, winning in the SEC, & returning to the top, demands the best of the best.