How much power does new OU general manager Jim Nagy have? | Berry Tramel's ScissorTales

Stanford hired Andrew Luck as its football general manager, and less than four months later, Luck fired Stanford coach Troy Taylor.

So thats what they mean by the NFL model coming to college football.

The GM-is-the-boss power structure is the National Football Leagues most common.

There are others.

The coach-is-the-boss of the general manager.

The owner-calls-all-the-shots.

Whatever label we want to pin on dysfunctional franchises like the Jets and Jaguars.

Now college football has massive payrolls, unfettered free agency and agents with soaring power; universities realize they better hire people who know that landscape.

I guess Luck, Stanford royalty as a graduate and star NFL quarterback, qualifies.

And for the record, Taylor was fired with cause.

Combine a 6-18 record with reportedly mistreating people, and the decision is easy.

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Isidore poses threat to all public charters Brent Venables on OU footballs NIL: Over half of our roster making six figures plus Stitt: Order addresses 'rumors' about costly contractors replacing state employees But what interests us out here on the prairie is not that Taylor was fired.

Its who fired him.

The GMs job description is interesting to us voyeurs.

We know that talent collection is the prime directive for general managers like OUs new hire, Jim Nagy.

Nagys job is to find the best ballplayers he can and get them into crimson and cream.

But thats not what has us most curious.

What we really want to know is a GMs power .

Does a GM have hiring and firing privileges as it pertains to the coaching staff? Who has veto power on a recruit, the GM or the coach? The answer is different at different places.

And the answer could be a moving target.

Whats protocol now might not be protocol two years from now.

The Friday ScissorTales salute Jalen Williams improvement for the Thunder, reveal a surprising supporter of Kelvin Sampson and offer some interesting data on Bud Wilkinsons glory days.

But we start with the nature of college footballs newest job.

When we met Nagy last month, he talked about finding talent and collaboration.

He showed no interest in a power grab.

But Nagy also said this: This is a really cool opportunity.

I think a lot of schools right now are saying theyre going to a new model and maybe not really fully embracing a new model.

I really felt that from the leadership here that they were ready to embrace this.

And Im just excited to get to work with Coach (Brent) Venables.

I mean, this is going to be a great partnership.

Venables certainly endorsed Nagy publicly.

And the university administration certainly seems to be interested in change.

Two losing seasons in three years and accelerating costs makes most people open to new ideas.

OU brought in retired AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson as an advisor to revamp the Sooner athletic budget and develop the new football structure to make it more similar to the pros.

I dont know how selling cell phone and internet service equates to beating the Green Bay Packers or the Texas Longhorns, but I guess it never hurts to have sharp people on your side.

Most national observers say the Stanford way is not the norm.

First off, its Stanford, and theyve always done things a little different on the San Francisco Peninsula.

Limiting salaries.

Sponsoring 36 athletic programs.

Plus, current Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir is a lame duck, having announced his resignation, effective in June.

Luck stepped into a power vacuum.

But these are the early days of the college football makeover.

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione is 67.

Hes been the AD for 27 years.

Will the next OU AD oversee Sooner football, or just the other sports? Is Nagy being groomed to eventually take over for Joe C.? Nobody is saying and maybe nobody knows.

Nagy certainly didnt seem like he was on any kind of a power trip.

He kept talking about partnerships and collaboration for talent acquisition, which frankly is a lot more important than who gets to go thumbs up or thumbs down on Venables.

The former will decide whether the latter is even asked.

And Nagy swears the talent side will be absolutely synergic.

I thrive in a collaborative format, so thats what were going to do, Nagy said.

Everyone that comes in the building its not going to be Brents guy, its not going to be my guy.

Its going to be an Oklahoma guy.

And the staffs guy.

Thats what I believe and Ive seen it work.

I think its the only way.

Nagy comes from a culture of collaboration.

Before his days running the Senior Bowl, Nagy spent his NFL time with the Seahawks and Patriots.

In Seattle, Pete Carroll basically hired GM John Schneider and had final say on personnel decisions.

In New England, Bill Belichick was the authority.

So Nagy comes from cultures of preeminent coaches.

That seems to be what Mike Gundy wants in Stillwater.

Gundy the other day said OSU needs more talent evaluators but that he feels most comfortable serving as his own general manager.

Said he didnt know what hed do with his time, if he wasnt heavily involved in the talent harvest.

Gundy is not much of a hands-on head coach on the practice field.

He lets his coaches coach.

Gundy spends a bunch of time in the tower, just watching.

But surely Gundy knows that a real GM would take over the money negotiations, which all of a sudden are vital to the process.

But from OSU to Stanford and all points in between, the general manager job will vary from school to school.

At least for now.

Things change quickly these days.

Surprise support for Sampson The support for Kelvin Sampson in this part of the country is quite impressive.

Oh, Ive got a friend whos a big Kansas fan, and he said he was pulling for Florida in the NCAA Championship Game on Monday night.

Doesnt like the way Sampsons teams play.

But most Sooners and Sooner rivals seemed to have wished Sampsons Houston Cougars could have knocked off the Gators.

Alas, Florida won 65-63.

One Sampson supporter came from a most interesting place.

The OSU football office.

Man, I hated that for Kelvin last night, Mike Gundy said Tuesday.

I dont watch any basketball, but I watched him.

I really like Kelvin.

Hes a hell of a coach.

Houston committed turnovers on its final four possessions.

I felt awful for him, Gundy said.

Gosh, I hated that.

I couldnt believe it.

Gundy was an OSU assistant coach when Sampson was hired as the Sooner basketball coach in 1994.

Gundy soon moved on to Baylor and Maryland, before returning to Stillwater as part of Les Miles staff in 2001.

Sampson still was going strong then.

Gundy was named OSUs head coach in January 2005.

Sampson left for Indiana in March 2006.

Jalen Williams shines for Thunder Jalen Williams made the NBA All-Star Game in February, but lets be honest, his play was a little disappointing.

His raw numbers were up from his breakout sophomore season in 2023-24, but his efficiency was down.

You didnt really notice it much, since the Thunder was winning so much, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was getting all kinds of help from teammates.

Then in mid-March, Williams missed seven straight games with a hip injury.

He returned March 27, and in the eight games since, Williams is playing the best basketball of his life.

The Santa Clara version of the Jalen/Jaylin Williams name-a-likes scored 33 points on 12-of-23 shooting Wednesday night as the Thunder routed the Phoenix Suns 125-112 and secured homecourt advantage throughout its playoff run.

And the Thunder did it without Gilgeous-Alexander, who took a night off.

No matter.

Williams was sensational, matching his second-highest total of the season.

We have a group of guys that like to compete night in and night out, no matter whos playing and whos not, Williams said.

Weve just done a really good job with that.

In the last eight games, Williams is averaging 24.0 points on 52.6 percent field-goal shooting and 39.4 3-point shooting.

Thats up from the 21.3/.478/.362 numbers he had posted through mid-March.

Hes had a really good stretch, Mark Daigneault said.

Hes had some very loud games and has played well.

Hes quietly improved.

When we think of players improving, we think of younger players or raw players or players that are physically underdeveloped, but hes still a young player, hes still only in his third season, hes still improving.

Hes a completely different player than he was at the beginning of the season.

A lot of the investments he made early in the season and even into the summer, the force hes played with, the pullup 3s, increasing his 3-point volume, all that stuff seems to be coming together for him right now.

That force? Williams has shot 5.6 foul shots per game since returning from injury.

In mid-March, his season total was 4.2 per game.

Big difference.

The Thunder playoff push begins in nine days, and this kind of play from Santa Clara makes a big difference.

An improving all-star is a wonderful benefit.

Mailbag: Bud Wilkinsons defense College football history never goes out of style with me.

Don: Berry, I have a brain teaser for ya.

How many shutouts did Oklahoma have during its 47-game winning streak? Answer: 22.

And if you include the 1958 season, when the Sooners were 10-1; they had a total of 27 shutouts from 1953 through 1958 (a total 64 games).

They also had another 14 games in which opponents scored but one touchdown.

A total of 41 games out of 64 in which opponents either were held scoreless or to one TD.

Buds teams played defense.

And get this: Only one team during those six seasons (scored) more than two touchdowns.

And that was Colorado; and they did it three times.

Why? Dallas Ward, the Colorado coach, still ran the single wing a massed blocking offense that teams were not equipped to stop.

Fortunately, the Sooners won all three of the games.

Berry: Great information from Don.

Colorado indeed was OUs chief Big Seven.

From October 1947 until Halloween 1959, the Sooners were 70-0-1 in conference play.

The lone tie was against Colorado.

During that span, OU played more one-possession finishes (five) against Colorado than the rest of the conference combined (three; Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas, one each).

The List: Final Fours without a title Houstons loss in the NCAA Championship Game pads the Cougars lead in a category that is both dubious and interesting.

Here are the schools with the most mens Final Four trips but without a championship: 1.

Houston 7: The Cougars reached the Final Four in 1968, 1969, 1982, 1983, 1984, 2021 and 2025.

They lost in the final in 1983 (North Carolina State), 1984 (Georgetown) and 2025 (Florida).

2.

Oklahoma 5: The Sooners reached the Final Four in 1939, 1947, 1988, 2002 and 2016.

OU reached the finals in 1947 and 1988.

3.

Illinois 5: The Illini reached the Final Four in 1949, 1951, 1952, 1989 and 2005.

Illinois was runnerup in 2005.

4.

Kansas State 4: The Wildcats reached the Final Four in 1948, 1951, 1958 and 1964.

K-State was runnerup in 1951.

4.

Louisiana State 4: The Tigers reached the Final Four in 1953, 1981, 1986 and 2006.

LSU never has reached the championship game.

6.

Iowa 3: The Hawkeyes reached the Final Four in 1955, 1956 and 1980.

Iowa made the finals in 1956.

6.

Purdue 3: The Boilermakers made the Final Four in 1969, 1980 and 2024.

They reached the finals in 1969 and 2024.

6.

Texas 3: The Longhorns made the Final Four in 1943, 1947 and 2003.

UT never has reached the title game..

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