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The end of the season means the start of a lot of changes for Oklahoma football. After a very disappointing 6-6 season in its first year in the SEC, the Sooners are making a lot of changes heading into year two in college football's best conference.
On Monday, Oklahoma brought in Ben Arbuckle to be its new offensive coordinator after a very successful stint in the same position at Washington State. Arbuckle will be replacing Seth Littrell, who was fired after seven games this season. Arbuckle has led the Cougars to a top 10 offense in the nation this season and Oklahoma will be hoping to see similar results in 2025.
On Tuesday, Oklahoma made another very interesting move. The Sooners are bringing in former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson as an executive advisor to the president and athletic director. Stephenson will oversee football and Oklahoma's $20 million payments to athletes due to the funds from the House settlement, according to Zach Barnett of Football Scoop.
Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione released the following statement announcing the hire.
“[Stephenson] will help guide us into restructuring our budget for this new world of college sports and into developing a football structure with elements similar to professional sports teams,” the statement read, per Barnett. “This includes building out a more expansive General Manager function and developing a dynamic model that will allow OU Football to become a national gold-standard around talent acquisition, portal management, and player development.”
This is a somewhat unprecedented move in college sports, but it is one that more schools could look into as the sport becomes more professionalized with so much money changing hands and ending up with the players. Gabe Ikard, a former Oklahoma football player and current radio personality around the Sooners, cleared up Stephenson's role in a social media post on Tuesday.
“Randall Stephenson will essentially serve the role of NFL team president,” Ikard wrote on X, formerly Twitter, following the hire. “He’ll oversee the GM, scouting staff, sports medicine, sports science & S&C. It will allow OU’s coaches to focus on football & player development.”
As Oklahoma looks to establish itself as a powerhouse in the SEC similar to what it was in the Big 12, this move could prove to be the type of progressive leap that gets it ahead of the curve.
