Why Todd McShay Believes Oklahoma is 'The Model' in College Football

NFL draft analyst Todd McShay is intimately familiar with front office setups across the country.

In his work for The Ringer, McShay is in contact with scouts and front office personnel who canvas the country, and the work that OU general manager Jim Nagy accomplishes in tandem with head coach Brent Venables stands out.

“At Oklahoma, they have built the model. I can tell you now because I’m dealing with a lot of these GMs in college,” McShay said in an appearance on the Brandon Walker College Football Show. “That front office for the Oklahoma Sooners is the model that everyone’s chasing right now.”

Nagy has built a large scouting staff to support Venables and OU’s coaches, allowing the entire operation to identify and acquire talent while the coaching staff is free to devote as much time as possible to developing each player on the roster.

“They understand the salary cap,” McShay said. “Everything that was pitched from Mike Lombardi and Bill Belichick (at North Carolina) about the 33rd NFL team is what’s actually going on in Norman.”

Nagy has been in Norman for about 18 months, and he’s helped the Sooners tackle two transfer portal windows and he’s dug into high school recruiting with the rest of OU’s coaching staff.

Venables has enjoyed his work with Nagy to date.

“I think it’s gone really well,” Venables said earlier this month. “My job is to always look at things from a holistic standpoint, how we can get better, how we can be more efficient, and we’ve tried to do that each and every off-season.

“… They want to win. We’ve blended our culture. They’ve bought into how we do what we do. There’s a bottom-line expectation, and that’s no surprise.”

Part of what makes the whole operation work, in McShay’s view, is how everyone on staff in Norman fits into a defined role.

“Salary cap, positional value, recruiting the right players, time spent — this is the thing that gets lost,” McShay said. “… Everyone in that organization efficiently is doing the job that they are best suited to do without having to worry about all the other nonsense that can come with coaching college football these days. That’s why it’s the model.”

The continuity in Norman gives McShay another belief: that quarterback John Mateer could enjoy an outstanding season.

“The biggest thing with Mateer (last year) was I don’t know how this human being fits balls into tight spots the way he does when his mechanics are an absolute disaster,” McShay said. “And then I watch him come out at Manning Passing Academy, and listen. Until bullets fly, I’m not convinced.

“But if he’s able to, with bullets flying during the season, have the same condensed, balanced, driving the ball, hip rotation like everyone at the quarterback camp is teaching these days, I saw a different version of him. And it’s a much more reliable, consistent, trustworthy stroke and delivery process for him.”

If Mateer can carry over the mechanical work he’s done over the offseason onto the field this fall, McShay believes he can fulfill the promise he showed when moving from Washington State to Oklahoma in the portal.

“I was so hyped about Mateer last year after studying his film at Washington State and thinking about what he could be at Oklahoma,” McShay said. “And then the thumb injury happens and he literally was just grinding it out. He couldn’t even throw the ball beyond 15 yards and they still wound up in the playoff.

“I think now if he’s right… I think Oklahoma could be a dark horse and I think Mateer could be the guy that really surprises people this season.”

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