Jim Nagy has wasted no time putting his stamp on Oklahoma recruiting, and the clearest sign of that is a growing Alabama connection that’s starting to look like a real pipeline.
The Sooners have already pulled off one headline-grabber in Alabama by ending the Crimson Tide’s longest active home winning streak in college football last year. But the bigger story for OU is what’s happening on the recruiting trail. In just a little more than a year on the job, Nagy has helped build a steady flow of Alabama talent to Norman, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
Oklahoma’s top-5 2027 class already includes two players Nagy has called “Bama Sooners”: four-star safety Jaylen Scott and four-star quarterback Jamison Roberts. The group also once had three-star wide receiver Tra’Von Hall, a Tuscaloosa native, before he flipped to Ole Miss.
The 2026 class featured three-star linebacker Kristan Moore after Nagy got a late start assembling that class. And the 2028 class is already projected to add four-star wide receiver Dedrick Kimbrough of Alabaster, with more offers still on the table.
Scott is buying into the idea that this could become something bigger.
“Just recruiting the other guys from the state, I want it to be a 'Bama Sooner' thing, like a tradition -- at least three or four guys that come out of Alabama go to Oklahoma,” Scott recently said at Mobile County Media Days when asked about the growing pipeline to OU. “We all start that tradition up.”
He also made clear that Nagy was a major reason he ended up with the Sooners.
“I was committed to Auburn when Jim Nagy came down here to scoop me up and they've been recruiting me ever since,” Scott said. “I actually felt like it was home since then.”
Scott, who is from Mobile, said he has known Roberts since they were 10 years old, another detail that fits neatly into the way Oklahoma is building relationships in Alabama. And while Brent Venables and his staff are obviously part of the equation, Nagy has become the central figure in this push.
That makes sense given his background. Before joining Oklahoma last February, Nagy spent seven years as executive director of the Senior Bowl in Mobile, which gave him a deep feel for the state and its talent. That familiarity has helped Oklahoma identify and land players in a place that has traditionally belonged to Alabama and Auburn.
The Sooners have used that edge to land Scott and Roberts even though neither had been offered by Alabama at the time, with both players later climbing in the recruiting rankings after Oklahoma had already secured them. Moore fit the same pattern in the 2026 class.
And this isn’t just about Alabama. Nagy has also helped Oklahoma tap into talent at home while opening new routes into California, Arizona and Utah, giving the Sooners more ways to stay aggressive on the recruiting trail. But the Alabama line is the one that stands out right now, especially with Oklahoma willing to go into SEC country and take what’s there if the Crimson Tide and Kalen DeBoer aren’t going to make the move first.
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Oklahoma Just Got A Huge New Roster Question This Offseason
A federal judges latest ruling could create an unexpected layer of uncertainty around Oklahomas offseason roster, opening the door for some players to pursue a fifth college season even after exhausting four years of eligibility. The decision applies to athletes from the 2022 recruiting class and arrives despite the NCAAs planned five-in-five rule, which was not supposed to take effect until the 2027 recruiting class, giving programs across the country another potential round of roster movement to monitor.
For the Sooners, the issue is especially notable because several players on the 2025 roster could fall into that window and suddenly have a choice to make after the 2026 NFL Draft. If any of those players decide college is still the better move, Oklahoma could be dealing with a fresh wave of roster decisions well after the usual offseason business is supposed to be settled. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Enters Camp With One Huge Question Up Front
Fall camp is about to open for Oklahoma, and with Brent Venables heading into his fifth year, the Sooners still have a familiar source of intrigue up front. The defensive tackle room has been reshaped by NFL departures, graduation and transfers, but Jayden Jackson and David Stone are back as the anchors, giving Todd Bates at least a proven starting point in a unit that was among the better-regarded parts of the defense a year ago.
What comes next is the real test, because the Sooners need that group to hold up after losing so much experience. Oklahoma has blended in transfers and freshmen to help fill the gaps, and the early weeks of camp will go a long way toward showing whether the new-look interior line can match the standard the program expects, or whether this becomes the kind of spot that takes time to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahomas 2026 Offense Hinges On One Long Awaited Change
Fall camp has arrived in Norman, and with it comes a familiar offseason priority for the Sooners: making the run game and offensive line sturdier before the 2026 season gets underway. Oklahoma has spent the buildup adding experience on both fronts, bringing in offensive lineman EMarion Harris and running backs coach Deland McCullough as part of a broader push to add physicality and depth. The goal is clear enough, even if the work is just getting started, with the opener against UTEP serving as the first chance to see whether the changes are showing up where they matter most.
For Oklahoma, this is about more than just shoring up one phase of the offense. The Sooners have returning players mixed with new additions, and the challenge now is turning that blend into a line and backfield that can hold up over a full season. The identity they are chasing is a more dependable, more physical attack, and fall camp will reveal how close they are to getting it before the spotlight tightens in September. [Read more 🡒]