College football writer thinks new Oklahoma Sooners GM will be a home run

USA Today

2 days ago

The Oklahoma Sooners made a very big hire this offseason when they brought in Jim Nagy as their new general manager. Nagy previously ran the Senior Bowl, but he's got plenty of experience in NFL circles and was a huge get for OU.
Oklahoma needed a new general manager and a new direction when it came to player evaluation and player acquisition. Nagy offers both, as the Sooners have altered the way they view high school recruiting, NIL and the transfer portal in the months that Nagy has been on staff. The new GM has also shifted Oklahoma's front office model, making plenty of new hires this offseason.
It was a bold move for the Sooners, but one that the program and its fan base are hoping will work out. After six straight conference titles and four College Football Playoff trips from 2015 to 2020, OU has fallen behind in the four years since, as the portal and name, image, and likeness have changed the game more than Oklahoma thought they would. The Sooners haven't played for a conference championship in the last four years, went through a coaching change, and haven't gotten all that close to the CFP. Nagy has been hired to fix all of that on the player acquisition side of things where Oklahoma has slipped behind the pack. He's also going to be managing the new revenue-sharing era of college football in the near future.
Brad Crawford, who covers college football for CBS Sports, believes the Sooners nailed it with the Nagy hire and that things will pan out in a positive way for Oklahoma. He made one bold prediction for each SEC team this week and believes that Nagy will be tabbed as the conference's best offseason hire.
How often does someone in an off-the-field role take center stage in the SEC? The general manager position is rapidly gaining importance in college football. We're likely to see that evolution accelerate this season, thanks in part to the success already shown by Oklahoma with the arrival of Jim Nagy. He brings nearly two decades of personnel and scouting experience to Norman, drawn from the NFL and his time as executive director of the Senior Bowl. Most importantly, Nagy is coach Brent Venables' designated talent evaluator -- tasked with managing the roster and identifying the right personnel fits for what Oklahoma wants to build on both sides of the ball. - Brad Crawford, CBS Sports.
Nagy's talent evaluation skills and roster management will be put to the test in Norman. It's been a rocky stretch at OU over the past few seasons, but the Sooners swung for the fences with multiple moves this offseason, one of the biggest being the Nagy hire.
College football has changed so drastically in the first half of the 2020s. It's no secret that things have slipped at bit at Oklahoma. Bring in Jim Nagy is OU's big move to make sure that they can get back to the top.
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