Jim Nagy’s arrival in Norman is already paying off in a way Oklahoma can feel right away: it helped bring Isaiah Sategna back for another season.
That’s the kind of influence the Sooners were hoping for when they brought in Nagy as the program’s general manager. The hire was widely seen as one of the strongest front-office moves in college football, and it’s easy to see why. Nagy brings a rare mix of NFL scouting background and college personnel know-how, a combination that gives Oklahoma a different level of credibility in roster building and player development.
His résumé speaks for itself. Nagy spent 17 seasons in the NFL in scouting roles with the then-Washington Redskins, New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks. He later took over as executive director of the Senior Bowl, where he served from 2018 through 2025.
For Sategna, that background mattered. He said his conversations with Nagy were a major reason he decided against entering the NFL draft and instead returning to Norman.
"Just having a general manager that has all those connections, he just laid it out for me," Sategna said. "What he had to say, it was better to just come back. Really show what I can do another year, and then go to the league."
Oklahoma didn’t hire Nagy only to help sort through high school recruiting and the transfer portal. The bigger idea was to give players inside the program a direct line to someone who knows how NFL teams think and what they value. In Sategna’s case, that guidance seems to have made a real difference.
In Other News...
Sooners Commit Cooper Hackett Is Suddenly At Center Of Recruiting Divide
Cooper Hacketts name is suddenly sitting at the center of a recruiting split, and for Oklahoma that makes him one of the more interesting commits in the 2027 class. Rivals kept the Fort Gibson offensive tackle in five-star territory, slotting him among the elite prospects in the country, while other services have taken a more cautious view as the offseason unfolds. For the Sooners, it is the kind of evaluation debate that can follow a high-upside lineman when the tape is still being weighed against long-term projection.
The tension around Hackett comes from how much his current standing is tied to what evaluators think he can become once he is fully healthy again. His talent and potential remain highly regarded, but the injury news has clearly influenced where he lands in the rankings conversation, and that leaves Oklahoma with a commitment whose ceiling is obvious even if the present-day picture is less settled. For a program building its future up front, the disagreement only adds to the intrigue. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahomas SEC Media Day Group Includes One Choice Fans Will Notice
Oklahomas trip to SEC Media Day on July 20 in Tampa will feature the kind of mix that usually tells you a little something about where a program thinks it is headed. Brent Venables will be joined by quarterback John Mateer, defensive end Taylor Wein and offensive lineman Eddy Pierre-Louis, giving the Sooners a four-man group that blends the face of the program with a few players who have helped shape the rosters next layer.
Mateer has already been through this stage before, but Wein and Pierre-Louis are set for their first appearances, which adds a fresh angle to Oklahomas day in front of the league. The Sooners have plenty to talk about after recent performances from those players and with the new season approaching, and the media session should offer another snapshot of how Venables wants his team presented as it settles deeper into SEC life. [Read more 🡒]