Oklahoma Adds New Coach to Defensive Staff, per Report

Brent Venables has seemingly bolstered his defense once again.

Former Northern Arizona linebackers coach Aaron Cheatwood announced on Monday that he will join Oklahoma’s defensive staff for the 2026 season. It is presumed that Cheatwood will be a defensive analyst for the Sooners.

Last LB dinner in Flagstaff! Love this group of guys. Thank you @NAU_Football for everything over the past two years. Super excited for the next chapter! Boomer Sooner! pic.twitter.com/zKVQS02VKS
— Aaron Cheatwood (@Coach_Cheatwood) March 17, 2026

Cheatwood comes to Norman after spending the last two seasons in Flagstaff.

In 2025, three of his linebackers earned either All-Big Sky or FCS All-American honors. His position group combined for 24 tackles for loss and 14 sacks.

His linebacker corps was similarly strong in 2024, as three Lumberjacks at the position were named to the All-Big Sky teams. That year, Northern Arizona’s defense ranked 15th nationally in the FCS in scoring defense (18.8 points allowed per game) and 18th in total defense (316.5 yards allowed per game).

Prior to his time at NAU, Cheatwood was a defensive analyst at New Mexico State, which competes at the FBS level in Conference USA. He has also coached at Garden City Community College, Arizona Western College and Yuma Catholic High School (Arizona).

Cheatwood is the second coach to join Oklahoma’s defensive staff during the 2026 offseason.

The Sooners hired LaMar Morgan as their new cornerbacks coach, following Jay Valai’s departure. Morgan came to Oklahoma after prior stops at Michigan, Houston, Vanderbilt and several other Division I programs. Valai, who spent four seasons as the Sooners’ cornerbacks coach, opted to take the same role with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

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In addition to OU’s new defensive hires, the Sooners have hired two new offensive assistants during this offseason.

Oklahoma enlisted NFL legend Jason Witten to be its new tight ends coach in January after parting ways with Joe Jon Finley. Witten came to Norman after spending five seasons as the head coach at Liberty Christian School in Texas.

The Sooners replaced longtime running backs coach DeMarco Murray with Deland McCullough, who held the same position with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025. McCullough spent three years on Notre Dame’s staff before that.

Oklahoma is looking to build on its 2025 season in which it went 10-3 and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. The Sooners won four games in a row — against Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri and LSU — to end the regular season and punch their ticket in the CFP.

OU will begin its 2026 campaign against UTEP on Sept. 5.