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Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma reportedly hiring Arkansas State DC Nate Dreiling as defensive assistant

Derek Peterson

By Derek Peterson

Published:

Oklahoma is hiring Arkansas State defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling as its new linebackers coach, according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Sooner Scoop’s Georgia Stoia reported on Friday that Dreiling was the top target. Multiple reports on Saturday confirmed that Dreiling had informed Arkansas State he will be leaving for Oklahoma. It’s the second job Dreiling has accepted in the last month; he was just named the Red Wolves’ defensive coordinator on Jan. 3.

Dreiling, 34, spent the 2024 season as the defensive coordinator and interim head coach at Utah State. He is viewed as a rising assistant in the college ranks and has 5 years of experience already coordinating college defenses.

According to Stoia, Dreiling is not expected to have a coordinator title in Norman. The Sooners pivoted in his direction after whiffing on Ohio State DC Jim Knowles, who turned down a strong offer from Oklahoma to take the same position at Penn State.

Utah State went just 4-8 last season after firing coach Blake Anderson in the summer. The defense struggled, but there were signs of activity in specific key areas. The Aggies ranked in the 72nd percentile for havoc rate, per Game on Paper. They were also in the 56th percentile for passing explosive play rate. The front also produced 28 sacks and 72 tackles for loss in 12 games, both of which were top 50 marks nationally.

Dreiling has previous experience as a safety coach and coordinator at Pittsburg State (2017-19), an analyst at Oregon (2020), a run game coordinator and inside linebacker coach at Southeast Missouri State (2021), and a coordinator at New Mexico State (2022-23).

He’ll have some talent to work with in Norman next season. The Sooners return linebackers Kip Lewis and Samuel Omosigho. They also landed former Oklahoma State linebacker Kendal Daniels in the transfer portal. He’ll also have one of the top defensive minds in the sport to bounce ideas off of in coach Brent Venables.

The Sooners are looking for more success in Year 2 in the SEC. OU went 6-7 this past season, putting Venables in a must-win spot in 2025.

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.

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