Why Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy is ‘Fired Up’ About Roger Denny’s Arrival

NORMAN — Jim Nagy’s first year in Norman was largely successful.

After joining OU’s staff in February 2025 as the Sooners’ general manager, Oklahoma went 10-3 and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. Nagy was integral in finding key transfer portal pieces for the 2025 team, and he has continued to set the Sooners up for future success with his work on the recruiting trail.

Fast forward roughly a year, and Nagy — and just about every other OU athletics staff member — had a new boss, as the university hired Roger Denny to be its new director of athletics.

It didn’t take long for Nagy to know that he and his coworkers were in good hands.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

“It was really unique,” Nagy said. “After the hire, my phone was blowing up with people at Illinois. Then at his press conference, they boarded a plane of a dozen people to come down. I’d never seen that.”

Nagy joined Oklahoma’s staff after spending eight years as the executive director of the Senior Bowl, and he worked in four different NFL front offices before that. Since his arrival in Norman, he has been responsible for leading OU’s roster management and talent acquisition endeavors.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Denny came to Oklahoma after serving as the University of Illinois’ deputy director of athletics from 2021 to 2026.

At Illinois, Denny helped turn around the Fighting Illini’s football program and regain its status as one of the nation’s top men’s basketball programs. Denny was crucial to the school’s athletic fundraising efforts and landed a record $100 million donation. He also oversaw the university’s business strategy and name-image-likeness operations.

There’s no debating the success that Denny achieved while at Illinois, and Nagy believes that his experience and expertise can take OU’s football program to new heights.

“They were doing some really cool things at Illinois football that we’re not here that had kind of been a goal of mine to get to that point,” Nagy said. “Now that he’s coming from a place where they’re already doing some of that stuff, yeah, I’m fired up.”

At his introductory press conference in January, Denny revealed that Illinois’ football front office ran in a very similar way to Oklahoma’s. Ultimately, Denny believes that the shared knowledge between Nagy and himself can lead OU to the promised land.

“I think (OU’s front office is) inspiring a lot of change around the industry, which is exactly what Oklahoma should do,” Denny said. “Our expectation is championships, that’s where I’d like our football to be. Now it’s up to me to continue working with (OU coach) Brent Venables and Jim Nagy to make sure that they’ve got what they need to go out and lead us to that point.”Oklahoma will begin its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.