02-07-2025
ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. offers high praise to Oklahoma Sooners GM Jim Nagy
Jim Nagy has yet go through his first college football season at Oklahoma, but is already earning high praise.
The Sooners hired Nagy as their first-ever general manager in February to help construct Oklahoma's roster. He had plenty of experience building rosters already, having served as the Executive Director of the Senior Bowl since 2018. Before that, Nagy spent 18 seasons in various scouting capacities with four different NFL teams.
ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr., long known as the dean of college-to-pro talent evaluation, knows Nagy well. The two have held a relationship for decades. And on Tuesday, during the first episode of "The Dari Nowkhah Show," on KREF in Norman, Kiper offered his thoughts on Nagy.
"I think it's great for Oklahoma, great for Jim," Kiper said. "Like I said, I don't think there's a better evaluator of talent out there."
Nagy's decision to join a college program over returning to the NFL surprised Kiper. Considering Nagy's experience in the professional ranks, the analyst tabbed him for an NFL GM job.
"But, hey, with the transfer portal and the way things have changed in college football, it's led us now to a situation where we have GMs in college football, directors of football operations, basically," Kiper said. "NFL front offices are now college football front offices. Jim benefited from that, but I really thought he'd be back in the NFL."
Oklahoma has the 50th-ranked transfer portal class of 2025 in On3Sports' rankings, which account for both portal exits and entries. Over at 247Sports, the Sooners are ranked 12th, though it accounts only for the players who have transferred in.
Headlining OU's 2025 portal class are former Washington State quarterback John Mateer and former California-Berkeley running back Jaydn Ott. The two are expected, along with new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, to improve on last year's offense that ranked 113th in FBS.
The Sooners are banking on Nagy and his front office staff's ability to evaluate talent to give them an edge on the recruiting trail.
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