Veteran draft expert Todd McShay reveals how Jim Nagy’s front-office structure has transformed the Sooners into a pro-style powerhouse, outpacing rival programs to become college football's premier blueprint
Todd McShay doesn’t usually throw around blanket praise without a reason. When the longtime NFL Draft analyst went on with Barstool Sports' Brandon Walker on The Brandon Walker College Football Show, he made it clear he believes Oklahoma has built something other programs are now trying to copy.
“What Jim Nagy is doing for that program as the general manager, they have built at Oklahoma. They have built the model. I can tell you now because I'm dealing with a lot of these GMs in college. That front office for the Oklahoma Sooners is the model that everyone is chasing right now. Everything that was pitched from Mike Lombardi and Bill Belichick about the 33rd NFL team, it's what's actually going on in Norman.”
That’s a strong statement. McShay spends his time talking to people across college football and the NFL, and his read is that Norman has become the blueprint.
The “33rd team” idea that got sold hard at North Carolina with Belichick and Lombardi is, in his view, already functioning at Oklahoma in a more practical way.
Jim Nagy’s background explains a lot of why the structure works. Before taking over as Oklahoma’s general manager, he spent years as executive director of the Senior Bowl and had a long run in the NFL focused on talent evaluation. That experience shows up in how the Sooners approach roster building, the portal, and high school recruiting. He knows what NFL teams actually value, and that knowledge filters into how Oklahoma evaluates and develops players.
The reporting structure matters too. Nagy was not hired by Brent Venables. He was brought in by former athletics director Joe Castiglione and operates alongside the head coach rather than strictly under him.
The setup is collaborative.
Nagy’s lane is roster management, recruiting, and NIL pieces so Venables can stay focused on coaching and the day-to-day of the team. That separation of duties is a big part of what people mean when they talk about an NFL-style model in college football.
The on-field and roster results have started to back it up. Oklahoma’s 2027 high school class has ranked among the strongest in recent program history under this structure. The portal work has been targeted rather than chaotic, and the program has begun producing more consistent NFL Draft output after a quieter stretch. Those things don’t happen by accident. They come from having someone whose full-time job is managing the roster pipeline while the head coach runs the team.
McShay’s comparison to the North Carolina experiment is the sharpest part of the quote. UNC sold the idea of a true NFL-style operation with big names attached. McShay’s point is that the version actually functioning at a high level is the one in Norman.
The “Temu version” joke writes itself — flashy branding on one side, a quieter but more effective operation on the other.
That doesn’t mean the general-manager model is the only way to win. Curt Cignetti just won a national championship at Indiana without a GM and with heavy control over his own program. Different structures can work when the right person is running them. Cignetti’s success is a useful reminder that there isn’t one perfect system. Some coaches thrive with full authority. Others benefit from having a strong personnel counterpart who handles the roster grind.
For Oklahoma, the current setup appears to fit the people involved. Venables is a coach who wants to coach. Nagy is a personnel executive with a long track record of evaluating talent. Keeping those roles clear has allowed both to operate in their strengths. The recruiting momentum and the way the roster has been managed the last couple of cycles suggest the division of labor is paying off.
McShay’s comments will circulate because they come from someone who talks to GMs and scouts for a living. When he says Oklahoma is the model others are chasing, it’s based on conversations happening across the industry, not just outside observation.
Programs looking to modernize their personnel departments are studying what Norman is doing — the structure, the lanes of responsibility, and the results.
None of this guarantees wins on Saturdays. A strong front office can build a roster, but the team still has to play. What it does provide is a more sustainable way to keep talent flowing in and development aligned with what the next level actually wants. That’s the part McShay is pointing to as the real “33rd team” work already happening in Norman.
Oklahoma still has to prove it where it counts. But having a respected draft analyst describe the front office as the model everyone else is chasing is a notable piece of outside validation.
The structure is in place. The results are starting to show.
Now the on-field product has to keep catching up to the reputation the front office is building.
