The Oklahoma Sooners look to have completed their coaching staff under head coach Brent Venables. On Sunday, the program officially announced the teams’ newest position coaches to join Venables’s staff in Norman. Those two assistants are cornerbacks coach LaMar Morgan and running backs coach Deland McCullough.
“I’m incredibly excited about the addition of two fantastic football coaches, great men, great leaders,” Venables said in the press release. “Our players are going to love learning under them. Both jobs were highly coveted, and we went through exhaustive searches for both positions. Deland and LaMar separated from the pack with their extensive experience, their knowledge and their ability to teach, lead, fit in with our staff and connect on the recruiting trail. There was no compromise in any of those areas and both knocked it out of the park during the interview process. Our players will be the beneficiaries of their leadership, coaching and development.”
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Morgan and McCullough are replacing Jay Valai and DeMarco Murray, respectively. Both took jobs in the NFL, with Valai now on the Buffalo Bills and Murray on the Kansas City Chiefs. That meant that the Sooners had to make some unexpected coaching changes this offseason, but Oklahoma seems satisfied with the hires they made.
“These are guys who had several other NFL and college opportunities but chose to come to Norman,” Venables said. “They recognize the value of the Oklahoma brand, the players they can recruit and the staff they can align with. They were both looking for a place to call home, a place where they felt they could win a championship and step into an environment where they can win at the highest level, be with great people and coach great players.”
Morgan joins an excellent defensive staff in Norman that includes associate head coach/co-defensive coordinator/run defense coordinator/defensive tackles coach Todd Bates, defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis, inside linebackers coach Nate Dreiling, assistant linebackers coach/outside linebackers coach Wes Goodwin, and safeties coach Brandon Hall. For the second-straight year, Venables will call the plays on defense, and will act as the de-facto defensive coordinator.
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Morgan was most recently at Michigan for the last two seasons, and he’s a 14-year coaching veteran. He enters a great situation with Oklahoma’s CBs, as last year’s primary starters, Eli Bowen and Courtland Guillory, are returning in 2026. With Venables keeping full control of the defense again this season, he chose to hire another experienced coach to make sure the Sooners don’t slip at the cornerback spot.
“The most impressive thing about LaMar during the interview process was his football acumen,” Venables said. “He’s got extensive experience as a play-caller, and that was among a handful of factors that separated him from the rest of the pack. What also stood out is who he is as a teacher. He’s a great relationship-driven coach and I love his passion, his fire, his energy and the details he coaches with, as well as how he’s able to motivate and get the best out of his guys. He’s a fantastic recruiter, wonderful human being, husband and father. As a coach, he’s tough and demanding, but the players are going to love his passion and energy he brings to the building every single day.”
“This is a storied program, and everybody knows the OU logo,” Morgan said. “No matter where you are in the country, whenever the Sooners play, everybody’s paying attention. The opportunity to join a staff that is respected across college football — from offense to defense to special teams — was important to me. It’s awesome to be around that and a part of that. You always want to find ways to better yourself as a coach and a person, and the best way to do that is be around people who have ‘been there, done that,’ in terms of having success at every level. And that’s what you see here at OU. For me, specifically on defense, when you walk in that staff room and see multiple guys who have been developing and growing as people and coaches, this is a great opportunity. Multiple guys have been coordinators and Coach Venables is a very accomplished one himself. That’s all very attractive as a young coach. My mom was a dyslexia teacher, so I realize the importance of education. I want to be an elite teacher. I want to take a young man when he gets here at 17 or 18 years old and teach him the game, teach him about life and what it means to be a Sooner. Those are very important things in this transactional climate of today. I want to be a transformational coach who gets players to really buy into the brotherhood here. The standard here is really, really high, and we have to work with our guys to strive to get better each and every day.”
McCullough is joining the offensive staff in Norman that includes offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ben Arbuckle, pass game coordinator/wide receivers coach Emmett Jones, tight ends coach Jason Witten, and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh. The Sooners will return their play-caller on offense this season, as Arbuckle will again have full control of that side of the ball.
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McCullough was with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025, but spent three seasons at Notre Dame prior to last season. He’s had multiple stints at the college and NFL levels, and has been credited with helping to develop former Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love, who is set to become a first-round draft choice in April. With the OU offense needing a boost in the run game in 2026, the Sooners went out and hired a veteran coach who has been coaching RBs since 2011.
“Deland has an impeccable reputation as a leader, a teacher and a motivator,” Venables said. “His experience is exceptional and he had a strong reputation going into the interview process. We had a previous relationship, but that was a parent-coach relationship. Now we were recruiting him in a different way. I just love Deland’s respect for and desire to align with a university power like Oklahoma. He had great familiarity with some of our players from the recruiting process while he was at Notre Dame. I was really just excited for his hunger to be at a place like OU. On top of everything else, there was just great alignment between us. From a development and leadership standpoint, he’s going to have tremendous impact on day one.”
“I’ve been blessed to coach at every level of this game,” McCullough said. “What’s been consistent everywhere I’ve been is development and production at the running back position. Our players will be detailed, dependable and disciplined. That standard does not change. Oklahoma represents grit, tradition and championship expectation. I’ve recruited several of the backs in this room and built strong relationships here. Now it’s about raising the ceiling and competing at the highest level in the SEC. I’ve been around great coaches who taught me to be an expert at your position. That’s something I take seriously. When our guys step on the field, what we teach holds. They’re prepared, confident and ready to perform.”
Morgan and McCullough join Witten (who replaced Joe Jon Finley when he was fired) as the three new position coaches on Venables’ staff for 2026. The coaching staff is rounded out by special teams coordinator Doug Deakin, Director of Sports Enhancement and Strength and Conditioning James Dobson, and key offensive assistants in John Kuceyeski and Kevin Wilson. General Manager Jim Nagy and Elite Performance Liaison Jerry Schmidt are also key figures for OU Football.
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Now that Oklahoma’s position coaches are in place, the Sooners can look ahead to spring ball next month, and the spring game on April 18th, before summer workouts, media days, and fall camps bring us closer to Week 1.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: OU officially adds their two newest assistants to the coaching staff
