Oklahoma Sooners coach proves fans shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, earning well-deserved payday

Sooners’ defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis earns a tremendous pay raise, proving fans judged him too early.

AJ Schulte — College Football Trending News Writer
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Defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis goes through drills as the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU ) hold fall football camp outside Gaylord Family/Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Aug. 8, 2022 in Norman, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman]
STEVE SISNEY / USA TODAY NETWORK

When Brent Venables was first hired as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, he brought over a couple of assistant coaches with him from the Clemson Tigers. The biggest poach, of course, was defensive tackles coach Todd Bates, who recruited and developed numerous NFL talents while at Clemson.

However, another coach from the Tigers came with him, and it was received with much less enthusiasm by Oklahoma fans. Miguel Chavis, a graduate assistant at Clemson, was hired as defensive ends coach. Immediately, the move was criticized because of Chavis’s lack of experience, made even worse by the departure of Jamar Cain, an accomplished coach in the same role, for a different SEC school.

Now, four years later, Chavis has been rewarded with a massive payday, becoming one of the highest-paid coaches on the Sooners’ staff.

Miguel Chavis proof you can’t judge a staff too early

In his first couple of seasons with the Sooners, Chavis didn’t do much to improve his image. Even as the team recruited players like R Mason Thomas and PJ Adebawore, the pass rush wasn’t consistent up front. Even in a 10-win 2023, the team managed just 25 sacks and linebacker Danny Stutsman was second on the team in sacks with three.

However, that all changed in 2024. As Chavis found his stride as a coach, so too did Oklahoma’s pass rush. R Mason Thomas boasted nine sacks, while Ethan Downs, Trace Ford, Caiden Woullard, and Adebawore combined for nine sacks of their own, and the team jumped up to 38 sacks. The 2025 season, however, was the ultimate crown for Chavis. Taylor Wein and Thomas combined for 13 sacks, while Marvin Jones Jr., Danny Okoye, and Adebawore tacked on another seven of their own.

Chavis has become one of the best recruiters and developers on Oklahoma’s staff. Despite a rocky start to his image with Sooners fans, Chavis has become a beloved coach on staff, proving that fans simply have to let things play out before we rush to wanting to push out a coach. Turns out that Brent Venables can hire a pretty good staff. Who could have guessed?

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