Oklahoma Board of Regents Will Review Football Contracts, Salaries

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The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents will meet on Friday in Oklahoma City, and football contracts are on the agenda.
Foremost, OU regents will “review compensation” and consider head coach Brent Venables’ hire of Seth Littrell as the Sooners’ offensive coordinator, effective immediately. Littrell was previously an offensive analyst after the former Sooner fullback was fired from his head coaching position at North Texas.
OU assistant coach can all expect big raises, as the Sooners improved from 6-7 last year to 10-2 this season.
Co-offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley, who added the title along with his title of tight ends coach, also can expect a salary bump and contract extension.
Contacts and compensation for assistant coaches Todd Bates, Bill Bedenbaugh, Miguel Chavis, Brandon Hall, Emmett Jones, DeMarco Murray and Jay Valai as well as strength coach Jerry Schmidt, the team’s director of sports enhancement and strength and conditioning, are also on the agenda published Wednesday night.
Defensive coordinator Ted Roof’s contract, which expires in 2025, is not being renewed. OU is expected to announce the hire of Zac Alley as defensive coordinator any day, although that contract will be reviewed at the next regularly scheduled regents meeting.
New track coach James Thomas is under “consideration of employment, compensation and contract of employment,” and assistant baseball coach Todd Butler will have his contract and salary reviewed as well.
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John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.
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