Oklahoma didn’t waste any time once the transfer portal opened after the 2025 regular season. General manager Jim Nagy and his staff moved quickly, and the Sooners came out of a 10-3 season with a College Football Playoff berth in the Brent Venables era still looking for answers in a few key spots.
The biggest offensive need was easy to spot. Outside of Isaiah Sategna, Oklahoma didn’t have enough steady production at wide receiver.
Sategna finished third in the SEC with 965 yards and eight touchdowns, but the Sooners needed more help around him. They went after it by bringing in Texas wide receiver Parker Livingstone and Virginia wide receiver Trell Harris.
Defensively, the concern was depth at linebacker. Oklahoma had lost Kobie McKinzie and Sammy Omosigho to the transfer portal, and there was uncertainty about whether Owen Heinecke would get another year when the portal window opened.
That left Kip Lewis as the only returning linebacker with much experience. Heinecke eventually received an injunction, which cleared the way for him to play this season, but the Sooners still added another body in Cole Sullivan from Michigan, who posted 44 tackles last season.
Former ESPN “College GameDay” analyst David Pollack liked what Oklahoma did.
"I think there's a whole lot to like when you think about guys that they added," Pollack said on 'See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack.'"... Parker Livingstone, just kind of fun to add a guy from Texas.
Arch (Manning's) roommate... Trell Harris from Virginia.
He was great a year ago. He was top 10 in receiving in the ACC.
He did a good job. He's another big-bodied guy.
You bring in Cole Sullivan from Michigan. So, you add a bunch of pieces."
Pollack’s point was straightforward: this wasn’t about chasing headlines. Oklahoma identified its weak spots and attacked them. Livingstone, Harris and Sullivan give the Sooners proven production and needed depth on both sides of the ball.
If those additions deliver, Oklahoma won’t just be trying to repeat a playoff trip. It’ll be in position to push for more.
In Other News...
Oklahoma Fans Have Every Reason To Be Furious Over This Tradition
The familiar tunnel ritual in Norman has deeper roots than a lot of college football fans realize. Play Like A Champion Today first showed up at Oklahoma under Bud Wilkinson in the late 1940s, when it was used as a motivational sign for Sooners players, and the original version is still part of the stadium experience today.
Notre Dame later introduced a similar sign under Lou Holtz about four decades after Wilkinsons version, and the phrase became widely linked with the Fighting Irish after it was shown on television. For Oklahoma, though, the tradition has never really left home, with players still tapping the sign before games and the program keeping its own version front and center even as the broader credit has drifted elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Norman Just Claimed A College Football Honor That Feels So Oklahoma
Norman is about to turn one of its most recognizable landmarks into a piece of college football marketing, after the City Council approved a 10-year agreement with Dr Pepper to put the Fansville logo on a water tower. The deal brings a fresh look to the skyline and a little extra money to the city, with the agreement valued at $500,000 and an initial payment helping cover the paint job.
The update fits a place that has long sold itself on football culture, and it comes with a built-in connection to Sooners lore through Brian Bosworth and the ad campaigns fictional college town. The tower is expected to be finished around Oct. 15, 2026, so it will not be ready for the season opener against UTEP, but it should give Norman a very Oklahoma kind of landmark for years to come. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Just Won Another Alabama Battle Fans Will Love
A growing Alabama pipeline has become part of Oklahomas recruiting story, and the latest addition only strengthens the connection. Jaylen Scott, a 2027 safety from Mobile and a consensus four-star prospect, picked the Sooners after drawing interest from several major programs, giving Oklahoma another name to point to as it keeps landing talent from a state that has long been fertile ground for SEC powers.
Scott said the coaching staffs engagement stood out to him, and so did his long-running bond with fellow Oklahoma commit Jamison Roberts. The two have known each other for years, and that familiar connection helped make Norman feel a little more like home, while Scott is already nudging other Alabama prospects toward the same path and helping sell the idea of a growing Sooners presence in his home state. [Read more 🡒]