OU names Roger Denny next AD - Effective 15 Feb (Presser notes added 28 Jan)

Toby Rowland
@TRowOU

I asked someone inside Illinois’ Athletic Department to tell me about Roger Denny. They said…

“He has great knowledge of the business side of sports…almost like the media business knowledge you need to be commissioner of a conference. We will miss him.”

Everything on social media has been positive. He faces his first test with Moser.

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These notes are all from John Hoover twitter posts who is at the press conference. He does a great job and you can go to his account if want to see them:

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Harroz: "I knew immediately the answer for me (to find Joe C's replacement) was to draw upon all of my leadership skills and find Randall Stephenson."

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Harroz on Bennie Owen: "There are two directions, backwards or forwards, and those words from Bennie are equally true today. There is no staying where you are. The fact that we've been Blue Bloods for a very long time does not matter. Today needs something else. We have to earn our keep today, just as they did before."

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Harroz references OU's landmark Supreme Court case (w Georgia) v. the NCAA that allowed school to own their own media rights:
"You'd only have basically one game broadcast a year, and the University of Oklahoma sued the NCAA, OU and Georgia, in that historic case, and in that case, for the first time, it was said the NCAA violated antitrust law by holding and possessing all of the television rights. And that that could not continue."

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Harroz on new AD Roger Denny: "When we started going through the attributes that we needed for this moment, we began to realize very quickly that the skills brought were exactly what we needed at this moment in time."

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Harroz: "(Denny) built a set of skills there that, when we went through our matrix of what are the skills we're looking for, you can just listen to these skills and think about how they resonate in the environment we're in today: deep work in the law firm working through intellectual property and licensing media rights and contracts, nil-related structures, labor law and collective bargaining -- and be under no misinterpretation ... The reality is collective bargaining is coming."

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Harroz: "As we went through this process, I can tell you we know how important this is. Had the Regents more than one once say, 'Do not, do not mess this up.' So I pointed at Randall."

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Harroz: "I was like, 'I know you have the talent. Sounds like you're wise and credible, but I got to know you're a dog.' That sounds crazy, but you got to know, right? When coaches look at athletes, they want to know somebody is not just talented, but there's somebody who attacks, somebody that knows how to win, wants to win and does win. And the response I got from him was 'Absolutely.' Terrific. I knew it was him at that point."

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Harroz: "We have the right person."

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Board of Regents Chair Anita Holloway: "I want to thank President Harroz, Randall Stevenson, Jake Rosenberg and the entire search committee for bringing us to this point today. We know the diligence that you all put into the efforts to identify and hire Roger are going to pay dividends to our athletic programs for years to come."

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Holloway: "Roger, no pressure, but you do have really big shoes to fill. So we expect a long tenure, lots of national championships and a culture of winning the right way."

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Holloway: "To the Illinois athletic department, thank you for being here today. That says volumes. And Roger, I guess I'm expecting the next big announcement will be a home and home with Illinois. Our students do love to travel."

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Harroz on Randall Stevenson: "Fifteen months ago, Joe C. and I went to Randall and said, 'We need your help. Can you help out? Can you assess where we are and help us understand what's taking place?' And Randall came in -- and a lot of folks will give their advice; they'll talk about what you should do -- Randall rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Randall came in and, I'm telling you right now -- there's no hyperbole to this, from the time that he started until the time Jim Nagy was hired (as GM), every week was 65 hours of work by him every single week, pouring into it."

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Harroz: "We would not be where we are today -- across the board, we would not have had a 10-2 season in football, we would not be where we are right now without Randall Stevenson, and he gives his time in places that are noteworthy."

Cont…

Cont…

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New OU athletic director Roger Denny: "To Jake Rosenberg, this is easy to say because you landed on me. But he and the team at The Athlete Group are as good as it gets, the amount of rigor and thought that they put into this thing. I've been on both sides of a search process, and I've never seen anything like it bravo to you and your team."

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Denny: "There's only one Oklahoma. This is the standard bearer in college athletics. This program is defined by an unmatched expectation to compete for titles across generations, you look at it it's 47 straight wins. Coach, Switzer with three titles, Coach Stoops has number seven. It's seven Heismans. You look out there, you think of 167 straight sellouts. Coach Gasso has got eight titles. coach Kindler has seven of her own. Coach Williams has nine of them. Over this department, we've got 1,000-plus all Americans. We could go on all day, but that's the OU DNA."

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Denny: " ... That's where the Sooner Magic comes from.
All that success here starts with our student athletes. Our student athletes compete under incredible pressure and visibility in the Southeastern Conference, and so that puts on us the responsibility to develop them at an elite level, physically, mentally and professionally. When our student athletes flourish. This community feels it. Every member of our staff, not just our coaches will be committed to their success."

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Denny: "Winning matters, especially here. Our student athletes come here to win. Our supporters expect us to win. We're here to support coach Venables and go get number eight. We're here to widen the gap between our softball and gymnastics teams and the rest of the field. We're here to get coach Hybl back to the mountaintop, and we're here to pour some gas on the fire that Coach Baranczyk has started in her program. There's one goal for every single program that we sponsor. That goal is not progress, it's not wins -- it's championships."

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Denny: " ... For us to fulfill that potential, we're going to have to match an incredible legacy and history of support with an underdog spirit and work ethic. It's who I am. It's the only way I know how to do it. It's how a kid from the sticks in North Carolina ends up as a partner in the fastest growing law firm in the country. It's how the deputy AD at Illinois becomes the head guy at Oklahoma."

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Denny: "I'm not going to do this alone. We need all of Sooner Nation. This moment calls for alignment and action. Progress favors the first movers, but also those that are most committed to the cause. So I invite our fans, our alumni and our supporters to lean in with us now, because when we're united and committed, there's no ceiling on what we can achieve."

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Denny on Illinois AD Josh Whitman: "I'm deeply grateful to Josh and Coach Bielema and the entire Illinois athletic staff. At a moment in my life when I needed purpose and grace and trust, they gave that to me. I love you guys. I'm so proud of what we've done together."

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In thanking his parents and family, Denny stops to talk to his two sons: "To my boys, Trey and Michael.
I know you don't like to listen to your dad, but give me a minute here. I hope you're never afraid to take a risk in pursuit of something that matters to you. And when you do that, you're going to have moments of self doubt. And when that happens, I hope you remember this moment. This moment is not the culmination, but it is proof of concept, proof that at any point in your life, if you choose passion and purpose over convention, it's going to take you exactly where you need to be."

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Denny's closing remarks: "Oklahoma is the most respected brand in college athletics. Reputation was earned through competitive excellence, passionate support and an incredible bond between this program, its alumni and its fans. That bond carries a ton of responsibility, and I take that responsibility seriously. I'm so energized by what lies ahead for this program. I believe deeply in our ability to define a whole new level of success here, and I'm so grateful you all have given me the opportunity to lead that pursuit. Thank you. Boomer Sooner."

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Harroz closing remarks: "In a world that has become a nation so much red versus blue, the most red, white and blue thing we do is college athletics. It brings us together. It gives us purpose. It has us cheering as individuals in a way that allows us to belong and be part of the group." ...

End

Jesse Crittenden
@JesseCrittenden

The OU regents approved a four-year, $5 million deal for new Sooners AD Roger Denny.

Denny will earn a base salary of $1.25 million.

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The Regents also approved new raises/extensions for nearly every Sooners football staffer.

Here are the new annual salary amounts:

Jason Witten: $675k
Todd Bates: $1.15M
Bill Bedenbaugh: $1.2M
Miguel Chavis: $1M
Lake Dawson: $330k
Doug Deakin: $500k
James Dobson: $700k
Nate Dreiling: $635k
Brandon Hall: $785k
Emmett Jones: $675k
John Kuceyeski: $250k
Jay Valai: $785k
Kevin Wilson: $500k

I am not sure Joe C left all of our coaching staffs better than he found them. Except for hiring Stoops, and successfully replacing Sherri, I don't think coaching of major sports improved under Joe C. Here is who he inherited. I could be wrong, but firing Blake was a no-brainer, but I give Joe C credit for Stoops but that seemed more like Sooner Magic than Joe C, but what do I know?

When Joe Castiglione took office as the Athletics Director (AD) at the University of Oklahoma (OU) on April 30, 1998, he inherited the following head coaches for the university's major athletic programs:
Major Program Head Coaches (April 1998)
Football: John Blake (1996–1998). Castiglione eventually fired Blake after the 1998 season and made Bob Stoops his first major hire in December 1998.
Men's Basketball: Kelvin Sampson (1994–2006). Sampson was already the coach and met with Castiglione during the AD hiring process.
Women's Basketball: Sherri Coale (1996–2021).
Baseball: Larry Cochell (1991–2005).
Softball: Patty Gasso (1995–Present). She was hired by the previous AD, Donnie Duncan.