'We’re Going to Zag a Little Bit': How Oklahoma Plans to Thrive Under AD Roger Denny

NORMAN — Collegiate athletics is in a constant state of flux.

The transfer portal, paired with Name, Image and Likeness, has prompted many changes across the country, while the NCAA has shown no interest in actually overseeing college sports.

The introduction of revenue sharing in the House Settlement has many people across the country rethinking the best model for how an athletic department operates.

Some believe that athletic departments should essentially act separate of univeristies, shedding the “student-athlete” model.

Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny has other ideas.

“We’re going to zag a little bit where folks are zigging on that,” Denny told a group of local reporters on Thursday. “We are a part of this institution and we’re really proud to be a part of this institution. And our strategy is not to separate ourselves from the University. It’s to really embrace our part in the University’s mission.”

Denny plans to continue to work closely with Oklahoma president Joseph Harroz Jr., just as his predecessor Joe Casitglione did.

“So when you think about it, the “we change lives” slogan, that’s the University’s mission,” Denny said. “That’s what we’re embracing in athletics at this point: how do we become a part of that enterprise and that mission to change lives.”

That work starts with OU’s student athletes.

Denny’s goal is to continue to attract and support the best coaches to give every Sooner program the best chance to compete at the highest level on the field, while he also works to surround each program with the staff to thrive off the field, both in nutrition and in rest and recovery.

“We have 500 student-athletes that have the opportunity to get an education because of their athletic ability,” Denny said. “That’s 500 lives that, on an everyday basis, we have an opportunity to change.”

That goes for every program on campus.

There will always be plenty of attention paid to football and everything required to keep that program running up to Oklahoma’s standards.

But Denny values the investments in every sport.

In his first six months with the Sooners, he saw OU capture a national title in both women’s gymnastics and baseball, which has only reinforced in his mind that Norman is a place where every sport on campus can thrive.

“A lot of folks come out and will kind of lay claim to that “everything school” mantra,” Denny said. “Very few do in the way that we do it here, and that gets me incredibly excited and hopefully our fanbase is watching what’s happening in those other sports.”

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