Sooners football general manager Jim Nagy opens up and keeps it real regarding just how crazy his job can get​

The Sooners are glad they got Jim Nagy.



The Oklahoma Sooners may have the best general manager in all of college football. Jim Nagy may be a bit overqualified for this job, but that’s how the Sooners wanted it. Going into this new era of college football, the most important thing was getting someone who can recruit and evaluate real talent.

Nagy has done that, and some. There’s no coincidence that the Sooners turned their program back around to where it is now when Nagy arrived. He’s done a great job evaluating the talent they’re bringing in and making other NIL moves as GM. So, how is it being the GM of a college football team? Is it anything like being the GM of an NFL team?

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Sooners GM Jim Nagy just got done resigning 80 players and contracts​

This new era of college football is insane. No one ever thought it would be like this—high school kids going to college and getting paid millions before ever even proving anything. But this is the new era. And, it’s not just the high school kids, but guys in the transfer portal, too. Because of this new transfer portal life, Nagy is always busy.

“Not a lot of time off, you know, recruiting never stops. That’s a real thing,” Nagy continued. “Last year, we went through the official visit process in June. I went to Italy to visit my son, who was studying there for a couple of weeks, and I was negotiating contracts the whole time for the 2026 guys.

“It’s competitive, there’s a lot of adrenaline, which I kind of feed off of both of those things. So, I have actually enjoyed the job way more than I thought I would. We just finished renegotiating 80 contracts, and most NFL teams do maybe 20 a year. Never a dull moment.”

brodybuck21 said:

totally agree

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Just get a 5th year transfer at TE until some type of rules are set. Kid will already have the size, knows the speed of the game and will come in ready to go from day 1

Merih said:

One charitable way to view this is Day clearly raising his hand and saying "I need to solve this running game; that if that gets fixed, everything else will come along with it". I would agree with that and honestly be glad he's taking addressing it that seriously.

If Arthur Smith can:
- improves the running game
- improves the offensive line blocking scheme and execution vs the stuff they struggle against (which is NFL style stunts and twists)
- thoughtfully implements Day's passing game, without totally ruining it
- allows Day to focus more broadly and get back mental share for other things (overall gameplan, special teams, roster management, etc.)

We will look back on this as a successful hire.

He won't revolutionize our offense... he's not that kind of hire. But he will professionalize certain elements, especially the run game. And Day clearly is saying that is what he needs.

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We don't need him too. OSU has enough talent, to where they should be able to get 2-3yds for a first down, which they couldn't last year. OSU should have more success in the RZ, regardless if Smith and Tate were in there or not. Kelly didn't revolutionize anything last year, he figured out the strengths of the offense, and leaned on that. He leaned on the strengths of Henderson and Judkins. That's all you want your OC to do. They don't need to get cute, and that's what it seemed like Hartline was doing too much. A lot of meat was left on the bone of this offense this past season, and that falls squarely on Hartline since he was the OC. He wanted the job, he wanted to call plays, and we were all told he was. Now the Miami game falls on Day, but the rest, that's on Hartline.

BuckeyeNation27 said:

I'm not quite sure how you can say this as a Steeler fan. (also....look out. somebody around here doesn't like Steeler fans)

DK Metcalf was invisible this year. He'd have like 2 catches for 30 yards in the 1st quarter and then never get another target. I can't even name another Pittsburgh WR.

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That's been DK is entire career buddy. He's one of the most overrated WRs in the NFL. He's made a living off of an NFL draft picture, and chasing down an INT. He's a glorified WR2. He's a 7yr vet with only 3 1000yd seasons. This was his lowest overall yards in a year, but his targets, TDs, and reception average were all on par to what he's always done. So he played like DK plays. His Ole Miss counterpart: AJ Brown is who fans think DK is. And btw, Smith coached Brown too. He had 2 1000yd seasons, and in his 3rd year he had multiple injuries and still had 869yds 5tds.

The man made chicken salad out of chicken you know what with DK. And when he had a solid WR1 in Brown, he had success. Smith didn't have a good WR1 in Atlanta. He had a rookie ad 2nd year Drake London. Not sure how many coaches are seeing success with that. And oh btw, you fail to mention: DK had an over the hill Rodgers throwing to him, Brown had an average Tannehill and London had Mariota... Again, how many OCs are winning with that?

pnuts34 said:

Unpopular opinion, but with OSU going towards the IU model of older players. I don't really have that much interest in Williams anymore. He's going to need a RS year to get some serious size, and then we have to pray he will stay and not be tampered with. OSU just brought in 2 TEs in the portal both 6'5, but their weight is 250 and 260. Williams is 210, and might hit campus in the 220s. The new system could see guys like this get weeded out. Unless Williams is willing to stay at OSU and not really see the field until year 2 or 3. Roberts and Lennon were at least bigger in HS

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totally agree

Unpopular opinion, but with OSU going towards the IU model of older players. I don't really have that much interest in Williams anymore. He's going to need a RS year to get some serious size, and then we have to pray he will stay and not be tampered with. OSU just brought in 2 TEs in the portal both 6'5, but their weight is 250 and 260. Williams is 210, and might hit campus in the 220s. The new system could see guys like this get weeded out. Unless Williams is willing to stay at OSU and not really see the field until year 2 or 3. Roberts and Lennon were at least bigger in HS

One charitable way to view this is Day clearly raising his hand and saying "I need to solve this running game; that if that gets fixed, everything else will come along with it". I would agree with that and honestly be glad he's taking addressing it that seriously.

If Arthur Smith can:
- improves the running game
- improves the offensive line blocking scheme and execution vs the stuff they struggle against (which is NFL style stunts and twists)
- thoughtfully implements Day's passing game, without totally ruining it
- allows Day to focus more broadly and get back mental share for other things (overall gameplan, special teams, roster management, etc.)

We will look back on this as a successful hire.

He won't revolutionize our offense... he's not that kind of hire. But he will professionalize certain elements, especially the run game. And Day clearly is saying that is what he needs.

pnuts34 said:

He prefers to use 1 primary WR, and then the #2 WR and TE then become the next receiving weapons

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pnuts34 said:

There will be a dominant WR1(Smith)

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I'm not quite sure how you can say this as a Steeler fan. (also....look out. somebody around here doesn't like Steeler fans)

DK Metcalf was invisible this year. He'd have like 2 catches for 30 yards in the 1st quarter and then never get another target. I can't even name another Pittsburgh WR.

But does his system take three years for the players to really master it.

My bad. Wrong coordinator thread;-)

brodybuck21 said:

11W Forums

GoBucks24 24 Jan 2026, 8:16 pm
Dakota Guerrant with a Fong Bomb to Oregon.

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That Whittingham hire is paying off already

RugbyBuck said:

I'm on board with all of that; best case. We'll see. My question, though, is how creative can you actually be with the 1 main receiver, TE, RB arrangement you mention?

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Idk, but we can ask the OCs for Denver, New England, Seattle and LA. They didn't seem to have an issue with it, and they played in a 17gm regular season with 2-3 post season games with no issue. And if I dug deeper, I'm sure I could find many more teams who also implemented this method with success as well.
And to add, the WR2 will factor into the top 4 offensive weapons as well. Including that, shows the offense of pretty much every team that made the NFL playoffs.

Again, if I'm wrong, I have no problem being told so and eating a large portion of crow