New Oklahoma Sooners general manager Jim Nagy makes emphatic statement on where Sooners need to improve to be SEC-ready
A few weeks after the hire of longtime NFL and Senior Bowl executive Jim Nagy as general manager of the Oklahoma Sooners was announced, Nagy has begun to settle down and begin his work in preparing to oversee all football duties. His main duty leading the Sooners' program will be ensuring the Sooners are competing […]
A few weeks after the hire of longtime NFL and Senior Bowl executive Jim Nagy as general manager of the Oklahoma Sooners was announced, Nagy has begun to settle down and begin his work in preparing to oversee all football duties.
His main duty leading the Sooners' program will be ensuring the Sooners are competing for conference and national championships every season. The expectations are high, but this has been the story of the Oklahoma Sooners for decades.
Part of doing so is ensuring the Sooners are among the best programs in the SEC, the most difficult conference to win in college football. Where does that start for him? In his own words: "the trenches".
In a recent video produced by the Sooners, Nagy was asked where competing in the SEC starts, and he leaned on his experience in the NFL to provide the answer:
"The biggest thing when you transition into the SEC is you have to get big in the trenches. You have to be big and talented up front on both sides of the ball. That's been the calling card of this league for forever, you know? Going back to my time in the NFL, if you want good defensive linemen, you're looking first at the SEC…that's our first order of business, we have to step it up there because that's what the SEC is all about."
Fortunately, the Sooners have already begun taking steps to do that. They return what could be the best defensive line in college football next season, led by R Mason Thomas and Jayden Jackson, and the offensive line returns its entire starting group and brought in two talented tackle recruits in five-star Michael Fasusi and four-star Ryan Fodje.
However, to compete consistently with the likes of Georgia at the top, Oklahoma has to continue investing better and better up front to match the freakish talent the Bulldogs, and before them, the Alabama Crimson Tide, have produced, especially on defense.
