How did ESPN rank Oklahoma's offseason?

Yahoo Sports2h ago21 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

ESPN ranked the Oklahoma Sooners' offseason as the sixth best in the SEC, highlighting key additions and coaching changes. Notably, the hiring of Jason Witten as tight ends coach has already shown positive results.

Key points

Oklahoma ranked sixth in ESPN's offseason evaluation
Jason Witten hired as tight ends coach
Witten's impact includes recruiting five-star prospect
Oklahoma's defense was among the best in 2026
Offensive improvements noted for the Sooners

Mentioned in this story

Jason Witten

Seneca DriverOklahoma SoonersSEC

How did ESPN rank Oklahoma's offseason?

The Oklahoma Sooners had quite the offseason. They added impact pieces to improve the offensive side of the ball and retained key pieces for a defense that was one of the best in the nation in 2026. But how does it stack up against the rest of the SEC? ESPN ranked every Power Four program's offseason, and the Sooners came in at No. 6 in the deepest conference in college football.

ESPN called the biggest coaching move the hire of tight ends coach Jason Witten. Witten, a future NFL Hall of Fame inductee, was one of the best tight ends in the NFL during his time with the Dallas Cowboys. He had a successful run coaching high school ball in North Texas before taking the tight ends job with the Sooners.

He made a quick impact by earning the commitment of five-star tight end prospect Seneca Driver. In the more immediate future, he's moved the needle in the Sooners' tight end room, showing in the spring game that Oklahoma has improved at the tight end position. Hayden Hansen and Rocky Beers were impactful in the running game and proved more than capable pass catchers.

Witten was a great hire, restoring confidence in tight end recruiting, and he brings a similar energy to the practice field as head coach Brent Venables. But that wasn't the only great hire Oklahoma made this offseason to its coaching staff.

Deland McCullough is widely respected as one of the best running backs coaches in the sport and has proven capable of not only recruiting but getting the best out of the players he has, even when he didn't have the most talented players at his disposal.

ESPN discussed what went wrong for the Sooners was the loss of defensive line standouts R Mason Thomas, Gracen Halton, Damonic Williams, and Marvin Jones, Jr. It was inevitable that Oklahoma would develop stars and eventually lose those stars to the draft. But Oklahoma has talent along the defensive line in David Stone, a projected first round pick in the 2027 NFL draft, Jayden Jackson, and Taylor Wein. Former five-star defensive end Adepoju Adebawore and former four-star defensive end Danny Okoye will battle for snaps opposite Wein, who was one of the best players Oklahoma had on defense last year.