Venables/Nagy Situation at OU

[All Gas No Brakes]

I know there’s been a lot of talk about the hiring of Jim Nagy as GM and what that means for Brent Venables. @Gerry Hamilton stated multiple times that Venables may not be the one in charge, and that Nagy may be the one calling the shots. It was also pointed out that Jim Nagy was the only GM that was present at SEC media days out of all the schools. But one thing that I found extremely interesting that hasn’t been brought up yet was how Venables was referring to Nagy during his time at the podium at SEC media days. I listed some quotes here below:

“Love Jim Nagy, love HIS staff.”

“He hired HIS last few guys, just several weeks ago.”

“What I love about Jim and HIS staff…

“THEY care about people, THEY love building things, and THEY work well together. THEY’VE got those types of skills.”

The way he’s talking, it does not sound like a cohesive unit. Like two guys that are working separately instead of lock and step together. Instead of using we/us/ours, he’s using him/they/them. That may have been the biggest sign that things are fractured within the OU football program and that BV most likely answers to Nagy, instead of the other way around. And of course, this is all in stark contrast to the way that Sark speaks about Brandon Harris and the entire player personnel staff. It’s very clear that the Texas brass has the correct structure in place and that Sark is the head of our program. Thank God for that and Hook ‘Em Horns 🤘🏼

[Bunk Moreland]

I’ve researched organizational dynamics and best practices for almost two decades and one of the foundational principles of effective organizations is to avoid stovepipes. Stovepiped organizations tend to lack effective communication and coordination, lack a shared sense of culture, lack effective oversight and the ability to adjudicate disputes between the two sides. From an organizational dynamics perspective, OU has created the potential for a train wreck.

[Bobby Burton]

13 minutes ago, All Gas No Brakes said:

I know there’s been a lot of talk about the hiring of Jim Nagy as GM and what that means for Brent Venables. @Gerry Hamilton stated multiple times that Venables may not be the one in charge, and that Nagy may be the one calling the shots. It was also pointed out that Jim Nagy was the only GM that was present at SEC media days out of all the schools. But one thing that I found extremely interesting that hasn’t been brought up yet was how Venables was referring to Nagy during his time at the podium at SEC media days. I listed some quotes here below:

“Love Jim Nagy, love HIS staff.”

“He hired HIS last few guys, just several weeks ago.”

“What I love about Jim and HIS staff…

“THEY care about people, THEY love building things, and THEY work well together. THEY’VE got those types of skills.”

The way he’s talking, it does not sound like a cohesive unit. Like two guys that are working separately instead of lock and step together. Instead of using we/us/ours, he’s using him/they/them. That may have been the biggest sign that things are fractured within the OU football program and that BV most likely answers to Nagy, instead of the other way around. And of course, this is all in stark contrast to the way that Sark speaks about Brandon Harris and the entire player personnel staff. It’s very clear that the Texas brass has the correct structure in place and that Sark is the head of our program. Thank God for that and Hook ‘Em Horns 🤘🏼

Let’s all be honest. That hire wouldn’t have happened had Brent gone 10-2 last year.

[graemakin]

As long as gooner is scrapping by to the tune of 7-5 or 8-4 seasons to keep BV gainfully employed and committing to the Nagy recruiting strategy of unearthing those no 🌟 high school gems then I'm all for it! 😅🤘🏼🤣

 

gooner gooner 🖕🏽 ou!

[Gerry Hamilton]

I'm very interested in the new AD hire ... not only does Venables win enough to keep his gig, but does the new AD want a potential new hire as HC to have a GM in place when new HC takes job. That's not very inviting IMO

[thatdude2]

Supposedly it allows the coach to do coach stuff and not watch hours of film to look at recruits.

[THookem]

Nagy has been hired to fire Venables. 

[Jc Dobbs]

On 8/3/2025 at 11:14 AM, Bobby Burton said:

Let’s all be honest. That hire wouldn’t have happened had Brent gone 10-2 last year.

Agree with you on this Bobby.

Makes me question if the AD and/or University President was thinking "I need an organization where the HC can be free to 'coach' and not be weighed down with having to do all the management and organizational duties that he is trying to do."

If this is the case and the AD/President thought he wanted his HC to just coach...it begs the Bill Parcels question about drafting/recruiting the players ("groceries "). Because it appears to me as an outsider ( Thank goodness) that Nagy has been given a lot of influence in recruiting.

The recruiting influence makes me wonder if they thought Nagy could maximize their Dollars with his NFL experience...by recruiting the best 3-Star players and use his management experience to run the whole program under budget. IDK but it's going to be interesting. Seems to me that the odds are against the structure working... largely because most college HCs have big egos.

Thanks for all your work on OTF!

[harveycmd]

There's really no question that Nagy is in charge. He doesn't answer to Venables; he reports to Stephenson, who isn't even an official administrator. Nagy was the only GM at media days projecting himself as the man to speak for the program. That must have been Stephenson's decision. This is obviously the reason they're having such a hard time recruiting. Guys don't want to play in a program in which their coach doesn't run the show. Criminals can claim NFL model all they want. It's not the NFL. Players can go where they want.