Oklahoma has hired Jim Nagy, formerly the executive director of the Senior Bowl, to be its new general manager for football, the program announced Wednesday. He replaces Curtis Lofton, a former Sooner who worked in player development at Oklahoma before manning the GM role in 2024.
Nagy was an NFL scout for numerous teams across an 18-year career before taking over the Senior Bowl, where his job was to select and recruit the most NFL-ready, draft-eligible college football players to the annual game in Mobile, Ala. Nagy took over the Senior Bowl in 2018 and received general manager interest from multiple NFL teams, most recently interviewing for the New York Jets GM role in December.
"This is a new era in intercollegiate athletics at one of the greatest college football programs in the country," said Nagy. "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."
Nagy is expected to construct an NFL-style front office with an assistant GM, as well as roles devoted specifically to high school and transfer portal recruiting, similar to general managers at other schools. Other schools that made similar GM hires this winter carved out the role where the general manager will report directly to the athletics director and not the head coach, and Oklahoma's release Wednesday stated Nagy will work "alongside the head football coach."
Nagy will make close to seven figures in the role, according to George Stoia of Sooner Scoop.
With the move, Randall Stephenson, the Oklahoma grad and former AT&T CEO who agreed to join the program in December, will move to chair of football and special advisor to the president and AD, where he will provide "day-to-day oversight of the general manager and head football coach."
"The growing demands and complexities of collegiate athletics today, however, require a multi-faceted approach that leverages the strengths and skillsets of multiple leaders," said Stephenson, who was quoted in the news release before Venables.
By bringing Nagy and Stephenson aboard, Oklahoma has restructured its football program to succeed in the near future -- whether that be under Venables in 2025, or under someone else in 2026 and beyond.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.