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Report: Thad Turnipseed, Brent Venables’ Mover and Shaker, Out at Oklahoma

The Sooners have reportedly lost a big piece to the puzzle, as Thad Turnipseed is reportedly no longer the Executive Director of Football Administration.
Ross Lovelace|
BART BOATWRIGHT/Staff-Greenville

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Ever since Brent Venables arrived in Norman, Thad Turnipseed was the visionary behind his operation. Venables counted on Turnipseed to oversee many of the future projects and help restore Oklahoma's greatness off the field.

But after just over a year on staff, it appears Turnipseed is effectively out at Oklahoma. 

According to Carey Murdock of SoonerScoop and On3.com, Turnipseed is no longer the Executive Director of Football Administration.

The news is shocking, considering the Board of Regents recently approved a brand new $175 million Football Operations Facility. Turnipseed was the brains behind many of Oklahoma's facility upgrades and had a big hand in creating football dynasties at Clemson and Alabama before following Venables to Norman.

He had plans to transform Oklahoma's football facilities into the best in college football. It appears the Football Operations Facility will still go up, but Turnipseed won't be running the project. His original contract was set at two years, paying $350k per year, which leaves six months left until his deal expired.

On3 reported the departure has been portrayed as a resignation.

Previously, Turnipseed said Oklahoma was going to be "the next dynasty in college football" on The Oklahoma Breakdown Podcast.

The reason for the split between Turnipseed and Oklahoma is unknown and there has been no official statement from Venables, Turnipseed or OU.

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Ross Lovelace
ROSS LOVELACE

Ross has covered the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Oklahoma Sooners since 2018. He's made guest appearances on various radio stations and the Sooners On SI podcast. Ross enjoys public speaking and has done so at multiple churches and high schools across the OKC metro area. In addition to writing, Ross has been the Play-by-Play announcer for Crossings’ basketball and football programs since 2020. In high school, Ross started with Thunder Digest, where he discovered his passion for writing. From there, he worked for the OU Daily as a women's basketball reporter and worked for Sooners On SI and Thunder On SI. Ross holds a bachelor's degree in Public Relations and a minor in Communication from the University of Oklahoma. Born and raised in Oklahoma City, Ross played basketball and wrote for his own Thunder blog at Crossings High School in OKC. He enjoys reading, New York Jets football and a week at the beach. Ross and his wife live in New Orleans, where he is a Marketing and Volunteer Coordinator at the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and the New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee. His Twitter handle is @Rosslovelace.

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