Trio of Sooners assistants named to 247Sports All-Big 12 first-team coaching staff
The Oklahoma Sooners are less than seven weeks away from the start of the 2023 college football season. It’s a team that’s expected to improve from their 6-7 season after having one of the worst defenses in the country in 2022.
There’s a belief that this coaching staff can turn things around. The only question is how quickly can they. The staff has shown a proclivity for recruiting in Norman. While the results aren’t where everyone wants them, this coaching staff has proven their ability throughout their careers. Several assistants were named to 247Sports All-Big 12 team, including three first-teamers.
Here’s how 247Sports grades their assistants.
The All-Big 12 staff comprises the highest-graded coaches in the Coach Rating Index. The CRI is “a massive grading system with over 30,000 individual unit profiles and over 250,000 annual coaching result reports. If a coach was designated in an on-field role in that period in either the FBS or FCS levels, he is in the database with a career number rating and accompanying career star rating.”
Here’s a look at the coaches recognized by 247Sports.
First-Team RB Coach - DeMarco Murray
What 247Sports says:
Murray is relatively new to coaching but he has already made a huge mark in his time at Arizona and at his alma mater, Oklahoma. His running backs are among the highest-graded in the country. The Sooners’ running backs averaged nearly 6 yards per carry in 2020, and the team led the Big 12 in rushing (5.4 yards per carry and 29 touchdowns) in 2021. – Marcello, 247Sports
What Sooners Wire says:
DeMarco Murray has been everything the Sooners could have hoped for across two different coaching staffs. He helped Kennedy Brooks become one of the more productive in Sooners’ history. The New England Patriots drafted Rhamondre Stephenson, and Eric Gray’s breakout season led to his selection by the New York Giants in 2023.
The on-field results speak for themselves, and he’s got the recruiting prowess to boot. That recruiting prowess has them in a position to land the No. 1 running back, Taylor Tatum, when he commits on July 21.
First-Team TE Coach - Joe Jon Finley
What 247Sports says:
Finley is yet another former Oklahoma star to return home as one of the nation’s best position coaches. Finley has produced multiple NFL tight ends while jumping from Mizzou, Texas A&M and Ole Miss before landing in Norman in 2021.
Three of his tight ends at Mizzou landed on NFL rosters.
Ole Miss’ Kenny Yeboah led all tight ends in the SEC with an average of 19.4 yards per catch in 2020, and Texas A&M’s Jalen Wydermyer earned All-American honors as a freshman in 2019. Missouri’s Albert Okwuegbunam led all tight ends in the FBS with 11 touchdown catches in 2017.
What Sooners Wire says:
In 2022, Brayden Willis had a career year for the Oklahoma Sooners, becoming their second-leading receiver and leading the team in touchdowns. Joe Jon Finley has been a big part of helping the Sooners in the transition from Lincoln Riley to Brent Venables. Finley provided enough continuity to keep four-star tight ends Kaden Helms and Jason Llewellyn committed amidst the transition.
Possibly the biggest feather in his cap since landing in Norman came over the weekend with the recruitment of Davon Mitchell. Mitchell, a five-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle before reclassifying, has the size, frame, and ability to be an All-American and future first-round pick.
First-Team DT Coach - Todd Bates
What 247Sports says:
Bates was stellar as a defensive line coach under then-Clemson coordinator Brent Venables. He coached nine All-Americans and produced three first-round NFL Draft picks during his time at Clemson and Jacksonville State. Those three first-rounders were all selected in the 2019 NFL Draft. Bates enters his second season as Oklahoma’s defensive tackles coach under Venables, who is now the head coach. Is this the year the Sooners’ come to life in the trenches? – Marcello, 247Sports
What Sooners Wire says:
Todd Bates’ history of success speaks for itself. It’s why patience is important when considering Oklahoma’s defensive tackle production. Bates is one of the most respected recruiters in the industry, and that ability is about to bear fruit in the 2024 recruiting cycle.
That said, the Sooners need their interior defensive line to be better in 2023 for the Sooners’ defense to take the next step. Oklahoma is hoping that Jordan Kelley, Isaiah Coe, Gracen Halton, Jonah La’ulu, and transfer additions like Da’Jon Terry, Davon Sears, and Jacob Lacey can be a part of Oklahoma defense making a substantial jump in 2023.
Second-Team QB Coach - Jeff Lebby
What Sooners Wire says:
Jeff Lebby has been one of the best offensive coordinators in the country for much of the last decade, finding success at UCF, Ole Miss, and now Oklahoma. While things could have been better in the Sooners’ 6-7 season on the offensive side of the ball, that unit did enough to win more games.
The only real misstep was the offensive game plan and lead-up to the Red River Showdown. They didn’t have a plan once Texas slowed down the wildcat, and Davis Beville didn’t look prepared to throw Oklahoma back into the game.
Getting shut out by Texas left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth that the Sooners are hoping to erase in 2023.
Lebby has helped the Sooners land talented quarterbacks Jackson Arnold, Michael Hawkins, and Kevin Sperry to set the Sooners up at quarterback for years to come.
Second-Team OL Coach - Bill Bedenbaugh
What Sooners Wire says:
Winning the Joe Moore Award in 2018, Bill Bedenbaugh established himself as one of the best offensive line coaches in the country. He’s since helped develop Creed Humphrey, Orlando Brown, and recent first-round draft pick Anton Harrison.
There’s a belief in the development that takes place at Oklahoma, and that starts with Bedenbaugh.
Second-Team DB Coach - Jay Valai
![Jay Valai works with players as the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) college football team holds spring practice outside of Gaylord Family/Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on March 21, 2023 in Norman, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/XUadLfzKnCWaIsel7slhqQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcwNA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/sooners_wire_usa_today_articles_466/b84dc32b784e922b00612cf97a8a4aba)
What Sooners Wire says:
Jay Valai has garnered a strong reputation around the sport for his ability to develop and recruit. In his short time as Oklahoma’s cornerbacks coach, Valai has helped the Sooners bring in five four-star cornerbacks and helped Oklahoma secure the commitment of Jeremiah Newcombe in the 2024 class.
While we’ve yet to see any of those players take the field for a significant amount of snaps, that could change this year with Gentry Williams, Jasiah Wagoner, and Kendel Dolby all vying for playing time.
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