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NORMAN — When Roger Denny was announced as Oklahoma’s next athletic director, questions swirled around who would be in charge of what and who would report directly to who.
How involved would Randall Stephenson still be in his new role as chair of athletics?
Does Denny report solely to OU president Joseph Harroz Jr.?
Who oversees football?
The three men — Denny, Harroz and Stephenson — did their best to dispel any preconceived notions Wednesday during a ceremony held inside the MidFirst Bank East Stadium Club high above Owen Field.
Denny will assume the role of director of athletics, taking the duties of overseeing football from Stephenson.
More: From lawyer to OU athletic director, how Roger Denny took unconventional path
“(Stephenson) is moving now into this role, which is not operating,” Harroz said. “His role is advisory. It's a governance component that is very different from the operating work he was doing for football. We have the AD, he reports directly to me, and Randall is in a governance role as chair of athletics and special adviser to the two of us.
“It's external input that Roger and I know that we need to help structure the best decisions.”
Fifteen months ago, Harroz called on Stephenson to help the university in an unpaid role as chair of football and special adviser to the president during an unprecedented time in collegiate athletics. Harroz said the former AT&T CEO was working 65 hour weeks before hiring football general manager Jim Nagy.
It appears he’ll now take a step back to let the man he hired — one who brings an unconventional law background and four years as Illinois’ deputy athletic director — take the reins.
“He needs to step into the role, right?” Stephenson said. “I'm here to support these guys in whatever way they need my help. But right now, we need to position Roger into this role and let him establish himself in the organization.”
One thing was clear Wednesday — the world of college athletics, specifically at OU, is a far cry from where it was when Joe Castiglione was hired in April 1998.
More: What sold OU leadership on hiring new athletic director Roger Denny? 'This guy’s a weapon'
When Denny dug into the weeds of what Stephenson helped engineer by hiring general manager Jim Nagy, he found it wasn’t too dissimilar to the vision he had at Illinois.
Like Nagy’s group, Denny tried at Illinois to separate evaluation and recruiting as much as he could from coaching. Also similar to Nagy’s system, the Fighting Illini had a high school scouting group, as well as a college scouting group.
“They're inspiring a lot of change around the industry, which is exactly what Oklahoma should do,” Denny said of Nagy and his front office staff. "It's a slightly different model than what I'm accustomed to, but ultimately, the principles behind it are very similar.”
During the ceremony, Harroz said being a blue blood program doesn’t automatically lead to success anymore. Denny concurs and feels OU has taken the necessary steps to ensure it’s competitive in this era of parity.
“The hire of Jim Nagy was the first step in that,” Denny said. “You used to be able, to some extent, buy your way to a championship. Now, you can't just show up with more resources than everyone else, and expect to win. It's all about how you allocate those resources and the decisions you make.
“I hope I’m the next step in that process.”
More: OU Board of Regents to consider contracts of Roger Denny, Jason Witten, others
In addition to his law expertise and his experience helping turn Illinois into a winner, Denny also brings knowledge of construction projects.
At Polsinelli PC, Denny represented a large municipality in financing an entertainment district surrounding an MLB stadium — a noteworthy parallel as OU continues to advocate for a mixed-use district north of campus that would house an arena for the Sooners’ basketball programs.
“The thing I learned from that is, you’ve just got to keep plugging away at it and plugging away at it,” Denny said. “Every time it turns and you think the deal might be falling apart, or whatever it is.
“Big projects like that aren't easy, and a lot of them fall apart just because of the fatigue that comes with them. The real work that goes into it is keeping the folks engaged as that fatigue sets in so no one ever loses sight of all the reasons on the front end we said that were so important. That's what we'll look to do. We’ll continue to plug away until we get that built.”
Denny was also involved in renovations to Illinois’ football stadium, an experience that will suit him well as OU undergoes its own stadium transformation process.
The OU Board of Regents has already approved the design for west side stadium renovations, which includes 47 suites, 64 loge boxes, approximately 4,000 new club seats and more improved fan amenities with construction anticipated to commence following the 2027 season.
“You have to give people a reason to show up and engage with what you're doing,” Denny said. “That’s an all day, everything type of deal. That's not something you do every 10 years and close the doors and come back 10 years later and do it again.”
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at [email protected] or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma introduces new AD Roger Denny, but who will he report to?
Continue reading...
How involved would Randall Stephenson still be in his new role as chair of athletics?
Does Denny report solely to OU president Joseph Harroz Jr.?
Who oversees football?
The three men — Denny, Harroz and Stephenson — did their best to dispel any preconceived notions Wednesday during a ceremony held inside the MidFirst Bank East Stadium Club high above Owen Field.
Denny will assume the role of director of athletics, taking the duties of overseeing football from Stephenson.
More: From lawyer to OU athletic director, how Roger Denny took unconventional path
“(Stephenson) is moving now into this role, which is not operating,” Harroz said. “His role is advisory. It's a governance component that is very different from the operating work he was doing for football. We have the AD, he reports directly to me, and Randall is in a governance role as chair of athletics and special adviser to the two of us.
“It's external input that Roger and I know that we need to help structure the best decisions.”
Fifteen months ago, Harroz called on Stephenson to help the university in an unpaid role as chair of football and special adviser to the president during an unprecedented time in collegiate athletics. Harroz said the former AT&T CEO was working 65 hour weeks before hiring football general manager Jim Nagy.
It appears he’ll now take a step back to let the man he hired — one who brings an unconventional law background and four years as Illinois’ deputy athletic director — take the reins.
“He needs to step into the role, right?” Stephenson said. “I'm here to support these guys in whatever way they need my help. But right now, we need to position Roger into this role and let him establish himself in the organization.”
One thing was clear Wednesday — the world of college athletics, specifically at OU, is a far cry from where it was when Joe Castiglione was hired in April 1998.
More: What sold OU leadership on hiring new athletic director Roger Denny? 'This guy’s a weapon'
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Roger Denny sees alignment with OU football GM Jim Nagy’s front office staff
When Denny dug into the weeds of what Stephenson helped engineer by hiring general manager Jim Nagy, he found it wasn’t too dissimilar to the vision he had at Illinois.
Like Nagy’s group, Denny tried at Illinois to separate evaluation and recruiting as much as he could from coaching. Also similar to Nagy’s system, the Fighting Illini had a high school scouting group, as well as a college scouting group.
“They're inspiring a lot of change around the industry, which is exactly what Oklahoma should do,” Denny said of Nagy and his front office staff. "It's a slightly different model than what I'm accustomed to, but ultimately, the principles behind it are very similar.”
During the ceremony, Harroz said being a blue blood program doesn’t automatically lead to success anymore. Denny concurs and feels OU has taken the necessary steps to ensure it’s competitive in this era of parity.
“The hire of Jim Nagy was the first step in that,” Denny said. “You used to be able, to some extent, buy your way to a championship. Now, you can't just show up with more resources than everyone else, and expect to win. It's all about how you allocate those resources and the decisions you make.
“I hope I’m the next step in that process.”
More: OU Board of Regents to consider contracts of Roger Denny, Jason Witten, others
You must be registered for see images attach
Roger Denny talks entertainment district, OU football stadium upgrades
In addition to his law expertise and his experience helping turn Illinois into a winner, Denny also brings knowledge of construction projects.
At Polsinelli PC, Denny represented a large municipality in financing an entertainment district surrounding an MLB stadium — a noteworthy parallel as OU continues to advocate for a mixed-use district north of campus that would house an arena for the Sooners’ basketball programs.
“The thing I learned from that is, you’ve just got to keep plugging away at it and plugging away at it,” Denny said. “Every time it turns and you think the deal might be falling apart, or whatever it is.
“Big projects like that aren't easy, and a lot of them fall apart just because of the fatigue that comes with them. The real work that goes into it is keeping the folks engaged as that fatigue sets in so no one ever loses sight of all the reasons on the front end we said that were so important. That's what we'll look to do. We’ll continue to plug away until we get that built.”
Denny was also involved in renovations to Illinois’ football stadium, an experience that will suit him well as OU undergoes its own stadium transformation process.
The OU Board of Regents has already approved the design for west side stadium renovations, which includes 47 suites, 64 loge boxes, approximately 4,000 new club seats and more improved fan amenities with construction anticipated to commence following the 2027 season.
“You have to give people a reason to show up and engage with what you're doing,” Denny said. “That’s an all day, everything type of deal. That's not something you do every 10 years and close the doors and come back 10 years later and do it again.”
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at [email protected] or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma introduces new AD Roger Denny, but who will he report to?
Continue reading...
