Brent Venables is heading into his third season in charge of the Oklahoma Sooners in 2024. After making several changes to his coaching staff, he is looking to lead the team to immediate success in the SEC.
Who has Venables brought in to replace several high-profile departures? Let’s look at the Oklahoma coaching staff for the 2024 college football campaign.
Oklahoma Sooners Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Brent Venables
Venables was named the 23rd head coach of the Sooners in 2021 following Lincoln Riley’s decision to leave Norman to head west and take charge of USC. In his two years as the Oklahoma head coach, Venables has a 16-10 record, including two bowl game losses.
It marks Venables’ first foray into the head coaching landscape, as he returned to Oklahoma following a decade as defensive coordinator with Clemson. Before joining the Tigers, Venables was the defensive coordinator with the Sooners between 1999 and 2011. During that period, the Sooners won a National Championship and seven Big 12 Championships.
Venables was reportedly targeted for several college head coaching vacancies before deciding to move to Clemson in 2011.
A veteran coach, the Sooners’ leader has a reputation for being a defensive mastermind, and his ability to develop players on that side of the ball has been unparalleled over the last decade.
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers: Zac Alley
Zac Alley is the new Co-Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach in Norman for 2024 after Venables mutually parted ways with his predecessor, Ted Roof. Alley joins after two seasons as defensive coordinator with Jacksonville State, and the 30-year-old is seen as one of the best up-and-coming assistants in the country.
The co-defensive coordinator worked alongside Venables at the start of his career — between 2011 and 2018 — when he was a student assistant and graduate assistant with Clemson.
Alley also coached linebackers at Boise State in 2019 before being promoted to co-special teams coordinator with the Broncos. In 2021, Alley was hired as defensive coordinator at Louisiana-Monroe.
Becoming DC with the Warhawks made Alley the youngest defensive coordinator in the FBS, and he was given the opportunity on the advice of Venables. He then became DC with Jacksonville State, following Rich Rodriguez to the Gamecocks.
Venables has been Alley’s mentor throughout his career, and he now gets an opportunity to learn even more as the Sooners head to the SEC.
- Clemson (Student Assistant, 2011-2014 and Graduate Assistant, 2015-2018)
- Boise State (Linebackers Coach, 2019 and Co-Special Teams Coordinator, 2020)
- Louisiana-Monroe (Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach, 2021)
- Jacksonville State (Defensive Coordinator, 2022-2023)
- Oklahoma (Co-Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach, 2024-Present)
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks: Seth Littrell
2024 will be Seth Littrell’s first season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with Oklahoma. He was promoted at the end of the 2023 season, replacing the outgoing Jeff Lebby.
Littrell joined the Sooners’ coaching staff in 2023 as an offensive analyst, rejoining his alma mater, having played running back in Norman between 1997 and 2000.
Before linking up with Venables in Oklahoma, Littrell spent seven seasons as head coach of North Texas, finishing with a 44-44 record. The Sooners’ OC led the Mean Green to their first nine-win season in 40 years in 2017 and followed it up with another nine-win season in 2018. However, North Texas was 0-5 under Littrell in bowl games.
Littrell’s coaching career began in 2002 when he joined Kansas as a graduate assistant. In 2005, he became the running backs coach with Texas Tech before landing as running backs and tight ends coach with Arizona in 2010.
With the Wildcats, Litrell got his first offensive coordinator position, where he stayed for two seasons. Following Arizona, he became OC with Indiana between 2012 and 2013 before heading to North Carolina in 2014.
As OC with the Tar Heels, the team finished 11-3 in 2015, earning Littrell high praise and the North Texas head coaching opportunity.
- Kansas (Graduate Assistant, 2002-2004)
- Texas Tech (Running Backs, 2005-2008)
- Arizona (Running Backs and Tight Ends Coach, 2009 and Offensive Coordinator, 2010-2011)
- Indiana ( Offensive Coordinator, 2012-2013)
- North Carolina (Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator and Tight Ends Coach 2014-2015)
- North Texas (Head Coach, 2016-2022)
- Oklahoma (Offensive Analyst, 2023)
- Oklahoma (Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach, 2024-Present)
Associate Head Coach/Co-Defensive Coordinator/DTs: Todd Bates
Todd Bates followed Venables from Clemson in 2022 to become co-defensive coordinator and defensive tackles coach. The Sooners’ coach worked under Venables with the Tigers between 2017 and 2021, coaching the defensive line.
Under his leadership, the Clemson defensive line produced several NFL players, including Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence, Bryan Bresee, and Clelin Ferrell.
Before working at Clemson, Bates coached the defensive line at Idaho State (2011-2012), East Central Community College (2013), and Jacksonville State (2014-2016).
Assistant Head Coach for Defense/Co-Defensive Coordinator/Pass Defense/Cornerbacks Coach: Jay Valai
Jay Valai holds many roles on the Oklahoma coaching staff after joining the Sooners in 2022. The coach is a former Wisconsin DB who was named a team captain and earned second-team All-Big Ten honors between 2006 and 2010.
His first coaching venture was with the Georgia Bulldogs, where he worked as a defensive quality coach under Kirby Smart between 2016 and 2017. Valai then headed to the NFL to be a DQC for the Kansas City Chiefs before returning to the college game, taking a job as a cornerbacks coach with Rutgers.
Further stops at Texas (2020) and Alabama (2021) as a cornerbacks coach lay ahead for Valai before he was hired by Venables.
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends: Joe Jon Finley
Joe Jon Finley was named tight ends coach in Oklahoma in 2021 and kept on by Venables at the start of his reign. In 2024, Finley was also named co-offensive coordinator alongside Littrell.
Finley played for Oklahoma between 2004 and 2007 and rejoined the Sooners as a graduate assistant in 2012. The former tight end went on to coach his position at Missouri, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss, coaching standout talents such as Albert Okwuegbunam, Jalen Wydermyer, and Kenny Yeboah.
Offensive Line Coach: Bill Bedenbaugh
Bill Bedenbaugh has been on the Oklahoma coaching staff since 2013 and is one of the country’s best offensive line coaches.
Bedenbaugh has developed several high-profile NFL starters, including Anton Harrison, Creed Humphrey, Orlando Brown, and Lane Johnson. An incredible 10 of his offensive linemen were drafted between 2015 and 2023.
Defensive Ends Coach: Miguel Chavis
Miguel Chavis spent five years working under Venables with the Tigers in a defensive player development role before following his coach to Oklahoma in 2021. He now serves as the team’s defensive ends coach. A former Clemson defensive tackle, Chavis played between 2007 and 2010, winning four bowl games.
Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach: Emmett Jones
Emmett Jones was hired as Oklahoma’s passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2023. Before joining the Sooner, Jones served in the same role at Texas Tech and Kansas and was a high school coach between 2006 and 2014.
Running Backs Coach: DeMarco Murray
DeMarco Murray was a superstar as a player, and now he is helping to develop the next generation of great Sooner running backs. Murray is the Sooners’ all-time all-purpose yards and touchdowns leader and was drafted in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. An outstanding NFL career followed, including winning NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2014.
Following the end of an illustrious playing career, Murray ventured into coaching with Arizona in 2019 before quickly finding his way onto the Oklahoma coaching staff in 2020. Eric Gray, Kennedy Brooks, and Rhamondre Stevenson are some running backs developed under his tutelage in Norman.
Safeties Coach: Brandon Hall
Brandon Hall has had an extensive coaching journey but was hired back to his alma mater in 2022. Hall’s career began in Norman in 1998 as a student assistant before spending time as co-defensive coordinator of Central Oklahoma.
He then found himself back in Oklahoma in 2011 as a defensive quality coach before coaching on the Auburn team that made the national title game in 2013.
Between 2014 and 2017, Hall was defensive coordinator at Jacksonville State before holding special teams and defensive coordinator roles with Troy between 2018 and 2021.
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