The Oklahoma Sooners have a long and storied history of great head coaches over the 131 seasons that the program has played football. From Bennie Owen to Bud Wilkinson, Chuck Fairbanks to Barry Switzer, and Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley and Brent Venables, OU has had head ball coaches who have been among the most recognizable in the entire sport.
Oklahoma has had 23 full-time head coaches in the program’s history, and those coaches have hired hundreds of assistants over the years. Many of those assistants are well-known for their time in Norman, and many of them went on to become head coaches elsewhere.
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However, there are some major names in the coaching world that some fans may have forgotten spent at least one season coaching at Oklahoma. Though none of these eight coaches were ever OU’s head coach, many of them went on to become head coaches for other teams long after their days with the Sooners had ended.
Here are eight coaches who worked at Oklahoma that you may have forgotten spent some time with the Sooners.
1. Jimmy Johnson (1970-1972)
Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson celebrates after receiving his Hall of Fame ring during a presentation at halftime during the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.
The legendary Jimmy Johnson was the head coach at Oklahoma State before his incredibly successful run as Miami’s head coach, winning the national title in 1987. Then, of course, he coached the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl wins in the 1990s, assembling a dynasty in Big D.
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Before all of that, Johnson was the defensive line coach at Oklahoma from 1970 to 1972 under Fairbanks. That led him to two stints as a defensive coordinator at Arkansas and Pittsburgh, before he landed the head gig in Stillwater that sent him on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
2. Mack Brown (1984)
You’ve probably heard this one, but Mack Brown’s final stop before he was a head coach for decades was at Oklahoma as the offensive coordinator under Switzer in 1984. He would go on to be the head coach at Tulane and North Carolina, before he got the Texas gig in 1998.
Brown led OU’s biggest rival until 2013, and came back to coach at North Carolina from 2019 to 2024. Fortunately for the Sooners, Stoops never had too much trouble with Brown in the Red River Rivalry, winning nine out of 15 matchups between the two. Both coaches walked away with one national title to their name.
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3. Jim Donnan (1985-1989)
Oct 3, 1998; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Jim Donnan on the field prior to the game against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Former Marshall and Georgia head coach Jim Donnan spent five years as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator, working under both Switzer and his successor, Gary Gibbs. His time with the Sooners got him the job coaching the Thundering Herd, where he won a Division 1-AA title in 1992.
During his time with the Bulldogs (1996 to 2000), Donnan was reportedly one of athletic director Joe Castiglione’s candidates to become Oklahoma’s head coach after the 1998 season. Donnan and a slew of others lost out on the job to Stoops, Florida’s defensive coordinator, and the rest is history.
4. Larry Coker (1990-1992)
(01/03/2002) Miami head coach Larry Coker rides on his players shoulders and holds up his finger after the Hurricanes defeated Nebraska in the Bowl Championship Series in the Rose Bowl, January 3, in Pasadena, CA. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY ORG XMIT: COKER JUBO MT135.JPG
Gibbs hired Larry Coker to replace Donnan as the OC in 1990, and he spent three seasons in Norman. The Oklahoma native left for another assistant gig at Ohio State, before taking the offensive coordinator job at Miami under Butch Davis.
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Coker helped Davis turn the Hurricanes into a powerhouse again, and when Davis left for the NFL, Coker was chosen to replace him. He coached the 2001 national championship team for the Hurricanes, which is largely considered one of the greatest college football teams of all-time. He coaches the ‘Canes until 2006.
5. Sam Pittman (1997-1998)
Arkansas’ head coach Sam Pittman points to his players and Arkansas fans with his cane after Arkansas defeated Texas Tech 36-26 in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, December 27, 2024.
Sam Pittman is another Oklahoma native, and he was OU’s offensive line coach under John Blake in 1997 and 1998. Pittman was regarded as an excellent o-line coach for decades, before he finally became Arkansas’ head coach in 2020.
With the Razorbacks, Pittman oversaw some peaks and some valleys, but lasted five-plus seasons in Fayetteville before he was fired last season. Though his time at OU comes during a stint many fans would like to forget, Pittman has mentored some top-notch offensive linemen during his long coaching career.
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6. Rex Ryan (1998)
Rex Ryan was head coach of the Buffalo Bills for two seasons, from 2015 through 15 games of the 2016 season. Ryan compiled a record of 15-16 (.484 winning %) during his tenure.
Another Oklahoma native, Rex Ryan is obviously well-known for his time as the head coach of the NFL’s New York Jets, where he led the team to consecutive AFC Championship Game appearances in 2009 and 2010. He was also the coach of the division-rival Buffalo Bills for two seasons in 2015 and 2016.
Before that though, Ryan was Blake’s defensive coordinator during his final season in charge in 1998. Though that job lasted just one year, the polarizing coach parlayed it into a job with the Baltimore Ravens, where he rose through the ranks and became the defensive coordinator. His work in Baltimore got him the Jets job, where he led the franchise’s most successful run in recent memory.
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7. Steve Spurrier Jr. (1999-2001, 2016)
WKU Hilltoppers assistant head coach Steve Spurrier Jr. congratulates the team for a win over Charlotte.
Steve Spurrier Jr. coached wide receivers at Oklahoma during the first three years of the Stoops era (1999-2001), helping the program win the national championship in 2000. His father was Stoops’ final boss before he became a head coach, andson ended up spending two different stints in Norman.
After time in the NFL with Washington, a season at Arizona, and a long run at South Carolina, Spurrier spent the 2016 season as an offensive analyst, helping the Sooners win another Big 12 title. Though he has yet to become a head coach, Spurrier has worked for some coaching legends, and has had a couple of stints as an OC as well. He’s currently an offensive analyst at Florida.
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8. Bo Pelini (2004)
Nov 28, 2014; Iowa City, IA, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Bo Pelini looks on during their game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
Here’s another one you might already know about. Bo Pelini spent just one year at Oklahoma, serving as the co-defensive coordinator on Stoops’ staff in 2004. He worked alongside Venables after Mike Stoops left to be the head coach at Arizona. He came to OU after being Nebraska’s DC/interim head coach in 2003.
Pelini would then leave to be LSU’s DC from 2005 to 2007, helping the Tigers win the national title in his final year in Baton Rouge. He would become the head coach at Nebraska the following season, where he lasted until 2014. He beat the Sooners just once during his time with the Cornhuskers, losing twice to his former boss Stoops.
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Honorable Mention: Galen Hall (1966-1983)
GAINSVILLE,FLORIDA – SEPTEMBER 9: Head coach Galen Hall moves looks on the field during a game against Ole Miss at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 9,1989 in Gainsville,Florida. Ole Miss defeated Florida Gators 24-19. (Photo by: Allen Dean Steele/Getty Images)
Before Brown, Donnan, and Coker were at the controls of the offense in Norman, that honor was held by Galen Hall. He coached wide receivers under Jim Mackenzie and Fairbanks until Switzer got the head job after the 1972 season. Hall was promoted to offensive coordinator, where he served until he was not retained on Switzer’s staff after the 1983 season.
From there, Hall became the OC at Florida, which lasted less than a year before he was promoted to head coach. He coached the Gators until 1989, and his replacement was none other than Steve Spurrier. After, stints coaching in various professional leagues, Hall was also the offensive coordinator at Penn State from 2004 to 2011.
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Honorable Mention: Watson Brown (1993-1994)
Head coach Watson Brown of the UAB Blazers watches on from the sidelines during their game against the Georgia Bulldogs on September 16, 2006 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.
Watson Brown was the head coach at Austin Peay, Cincinnati, Rice, and Vanderbilt before he was the offensive coordinator at OU for two seasons under Gibbs after Coker’s departure. The ’93 and ’94 seasons were Gibbs’ last two years at the helm in Norman before Howard Schnellenberger replaced him.
When Schnellenberger took over at OU, Brown took the head coaching job at UAB, where he served until 2006, when he left to take the Tennessee Tech job. He coached there until 2015.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Assistant coaches you may not have known worked at OU
