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Oklahoma Football Assistants Get Raises, Contract Extensions

Dennis Simmons and Cale Gundy got salary bumps, while the rest of the staff received new extended terms on their existing contracts.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma Football Assistants Get Raises, Contract Extensions
Oklahoma Football Assistants Get Raises, Contract Extensions /

When Lincoln Riley promoted outside receivers coach Dennis Simmons to assistant head coach this offseason, it meant a nice raise for Simmons.

That raise came through on Thursday when the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents approved a $90,000 salary increase for Simmons, plus a $20,000 bump for inside receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator Cale Gundy, as well as extensions for the rest of the staff.

Gundy, offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator Bill Bedenbaugh, defensive ends coach Jamar Cain, cornerbacks coach Roy Manning, running backs coach DeMarco Murray, inside linebackers coach Brian Odom, defensive tackles coach Calvin Thibodeaux and strength and fitness coach Bennie Wylie all got their contracts extended through 2023.

Contracts for Simmons and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch were extended through 2024.

In April, OU regents approved a three-year, $1.53 million contract for new tight ends/H-backs coach Joe Jon Finley.

OU assistant coach salaries

What Oklahoma football assistant coaches will make in 2021:

  • Alex Grinch, defensive coordinator/safeties: $1.8 million
  • Bill Bedenbaugh, co-offensive coordinator/offensive line: $810,000
  • Cale Gundy, co-offensive coordinator/inside receivers: $600,000 (up from $580,000)
  • Dennis Simmons, associate HC/outside receivers: $600,000 (up from $510,000)
  • Roy Manning, cornerbacks: $470,000
  • Calvin Thibodeaux, defensive line: $435,000
  • Brian Odom, inside linebackers: $435,000
  • Jamar Cain, defensive ends/outside linebackers: $435,000
  • DeMarco Murray, running backs: $350,000 
Published
John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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