According to Matt Zenitz of 247Sports, J.R. Sandlin, the director of player personnel and recruiting for the OU football team, is leaving Norman. It is anticipated that Sandlin, who has spent the last two years with the Sooners, would be appointed as SMU’s general manager of football and assistant athletic director.
As a key member of coach Brent Venables’ team, he has been in charge of most of OU’s recruiting initiatives. Sandlin worked at Jacksonville State for eight years as the senior executive head coach, tight ends coach, and recruiting coordinator before moving to Norman.
As of this now, it’s unclear how OU plans to replace Sandlin. It wouldn’t be shocking if OU hired someone to take on the position of general manager, as those positions are becoming increasingly prevalent in college football. At OU, Sandlin was responsible for organizing recruitment events and assisting with talent evaluation. He played a crucial supporting role for the Sooners in the background.
As first reported by 247Sports on Monday, SoonerScoop has confirmed that OU plans to appoint Jolie Ale as its next director of on-campus recruitment. Ale is taking over for Lee Davis, who left OU for UCF, in this job, which is different from Sandlin’s. Ale worked in community relations for the Los Angeles Chargers for the previous year. She has prior recruitment experience from 2017 to 2020 at USC and Utah (2021–2022).
There is a significant recruiting cycle at OU coming up. According to On3’s industry team rankings, the 2025 class is presently rated 11th. And with a busy spring and summer ahead, Oklahoma will probably want to find a replacement for Sandlin as soon as possible.
