Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy isn’t shy about where he stands on Jake Maikkula.
Heading into the 2026 season, Nagy is all in on the Sooners’ center, and he made that clear on The Franchise Morning Show at SEC Media Days. After watching Maikkula’s offseason progress, Nagy said the veteran lineman looks like a future pro.
“Jake Maikkula didn’t even show up on campus last year until June,” Nagy said. “Didn’t know the offense.
Didn’t know the guys around him. He looked incredible this spring.
He’s gonna be one of the top centers drafted.”
Maikkula arrived in Norman last year as a post-spring transfer portal pickup from Stanford, which meant he missed the usual spring buildup because of the coaching change there. Even with that late start, he carved out a major role for Bill Bedenbaugh’s offensive line, appearing in 11 games and starting 10 times at center.
His season could have been even longer. A serious infection kept him out of the regular-season finale and Oklahoma’s College Football Playoff game against Alabama.
By March, Maikkula said the program had helped him bounce back.
"Our staff did an incredible job of taking care of me, getting me right with nutrition and weight room," he said in March. "(I'm) feeling back. If anything, feeling even better."
Now he’s back in the mix as one of the louder voices on the offensive line, and Oklahoma will need that presence as it tries to improve its rushing attack. At 6-foot-6 and entering his redshirt senior year, Maikkula is focused on the season ahead, but Nagy is already thinking beyond it.
“I spent a lot of my summer on vacation just catching up with my friends around the NFL, and they spend their summers watching tape at their leisure; they watch their guys for the fall,” Nagy said. “And like I said, Jake’s an NFL center.
He’s going to start at the next level. I say that because I’m not trying to put pressure on Jake; I just know how good he is.”
Nagy pointed to the traits that make him so confident in Maikkula’s future.
“He’s a really good athlete. He’s smart.
He’s tough,” Nagy said. “He doesn’t say a lot, but he leads through his toughness.
He’s really a tough dude.”
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