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.
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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.
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Even without as much depth as last year, the Sooners are excellent in the back seven with Kip Lewis, Owen Heinecke, Reggie Powers III, Eli Bowen, Peyton Bowen, Courtland Guillory, and ascending safety Michael Boganowski.
While the depth may have some questions, in Venables defense, there are always answers.
What went right for the Sooners, according to ESPN, was the way they attacked the transfer portal to upgrade an offense that finished 79th in scoring and 118th in rushing. Oklahoma made the College Football Playoff last year despite an offense that struggled to move the ball after John Mateer’s injury against Auburn.
To help the offense take a step with a healthy Mateer, the Sooners brought in wide receivers Trell Harris (847 yards and 5 TDs) and Parker Livingstone (516 yards, 6 TDs), tight ends Hayen Hansen (254 yards, 2 TDs) and Rocky Beers (388 yards, 7 TDs), running back Lloyd Avant (732 total yards, 6 TDs), and offensive tackle E’Marion Harris (1,694 SEC snaps).
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The offense will be better this year. How much better remains to be seen. They’ll face tough defenses like Michigan, Georgia, and Texas in the first half of the season, which should provide an early answer to the question. But the good news is that Oklahoma doesn’t need the offense to score 40 points per game to win games because the defense is good enough to slow down the best offenses and keep games close.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma Sooners offseason ranked by ESPN
