Report: Jamar Cain Leaving Oklahoma for USC

In his short time in Norman, the Sooners' defensive end/outside linebackers coach has productive on the field as well as on the recruiting trail.

John E. Hoover|

Report: Jamar Cain Leaving Oklahoma for USC

Even as Brent Venables settles into his office, Lincoln Riley is still having an impact on the Oklahoma football team.

According to college football insider Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, Riley has landed Oklahoma defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Jamar Cain.

SOURCE: OU's Jamar Cain is expected to join Lincoln Riley's staff at USC. Cain who has coached in the Pac-12 and has a lot of West Coast ties, is considered one of the country's top recruiters.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 6, 2021

Riley hired Cain in January 2020 to coach Ronnie Perkins, Nik Bonitto and the Sooners’ edge rushers, who became impactful players in 2020 and 2021.

With Cain, OU’s sacks and tackles-for-loss totals have experienced a surge the last two seasons. Perkins came off a mid-season suspension last year and quickly emerged as the Sooners’ best defender, while Bonitto became a Pro Football Focus All-American.

Cain, who coached previously at North Dakota State, Fresno State and Arizona State, also has landed some enticing recruits at his position, including 2021 freshmen Ethan Downs, Clayton Smith and Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge.

Published Dec 6, 2021

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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