The landscape of collegiate athletics is evolving at a pace that would impress even a superhero with superspeed like The Flash. Seemingly, something new is popping up weekly, and universities across the country are forced to adapt on the fly with little to no buffer periods.
Name, image and likeness licensing may be the biggest change to the college landscape. Its impact on the game has been certifiably seismic.
Oklahoma has embraced it head-on as a university and, more specifically, an athletic department. It has increased its name, image and likeness backing and used prominent Oklahoma figures to help endorse and spread the word about its importance to the fan base.
Internally, Oklahoma is also making sure it has leaders who can spearhead the Sooners trek through this brave new world.
To do that, the university announced Curtis Lofton as Oklahoma’s first general manager. It also announced a partnership with Jake Rosenberg, former Philadelphia Eagles vice president of football administration.
Next level 📈
Announcing a new structure for recruiting operations, including the naming of Curtis Lofton as Football GM and a partnership with former Philadelphia Eagles VP of Football Administration, Jake Rosenberg.
🔗 https://t.co/NtJFi78phL | #OUDNA pic.twitter.com/zN35DVK73U
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) July 11, 2024
In short, Lofton’s announcement also included the formation of a football front office — similar to what you would see in the NFL. The focus is to keep Oklahoma’s football program at the forefront of talent analysis, acquisition and retention in this ever-changing landscape.
“We’re seeing things we’ve never seen before in the recruiting process,” football coach Brent Venables said in a statement released by the university. “To Oklahoma, we know how to adapt, and this new approach to managing our recruiting operations represents our forward thinking and agility. Winning takes all of us, and I am confident in Curtis and the rest of our staff and their commitment to continuing to elevate Oklahoma Football.”
Lofton will play a critical advisory role in identifying high school and transfer portal talent and building the overall roster makeup for Venables.
Rosenberg’s addition is to counsel the Sooners due to his partnership with The Athlete Group – a consulting firm designed to help sports programs solve their biggest challenges – where he is currently leading the agency’s efforts in collegiate sports.
In his 12-plus years with the Eagles, Rosenberg contributed critical oversight on player signings and acquisitions, salary cap management, contract negotiations, compliance with the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, roster building, strategic planning and more.
His wealth of experience and knowledge will be valuable assets to Lofton as he and Venables put their heads together to push Oklahoma in the right direction.
The hire of Lofton comes after he spent two years as the director with Oklahoma’s football’s SOUL mission player development program. SOUL mission works to create first-class, impactful student-athletes and prepare them to be servant leaders and sustain a lifestyle of winning. He also was Oklahoma’s NFL liaison.
“In today’s landscape, we know building teams and recruiting athletes requires more innovative thinking and focused leadership,” said Oklahoma Vice President and Athletic Director Joe Castiglione. “What we have in this new structure and our partnership with Jake is a path forward to position OU Football – and eventually, the rest of our programs – for success in the new world.”
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