NORMAN — Oklahoma has found its new defensive line coach. Multiple reports out of Michigan proclaimed Michigan defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery has accepted the same job at OU.
GoBlueWolverine.com, the Scout affiliate that covers Michigan, was the first to report Montgomery’s hiring.
An OU official could not confirm the report Saturday afternoon. Potential recruits for OU’s 2014 signing class were already tweeting that they had been contacted by Montgomery on OU’s behalf.
“I had no idea he was leaving to go to Oklahoma,” four-star defensive end Andrew Williams from McDonough, Ga., told the ESPN.com website WolverineNation. “He said he still thinks (Michigan) is a great place, but now he’s going to recruit me even harder at Oklahoma.”
Montgomery, 33, replaces Jackie Shipp, who was fired 11 days ago as the Sooners’ defensive tackles coach after 14 seasons.
Montgomery joined the Michigan staff in 2011. The Iowa graduate was previously the defensive line coach at Wyoming and Northern Iowa. He also spent one month as a member of Kevin Wilson’s staff at Indiana before jumping to Michigan.
Rivals.com credits Montgomery with signing four 4-star recruits and one 5-star recruit for the Wolverines this month. His ability is something OU’s staff has needed. He will be the youngest member of the Sooners’ current staff. Co-offensive coordinator Josh Heupel is 34.
OU still has one offensive staff position left to fill.
John Shinn
Follow me @john_shinn
jshinn@normantranscript.com
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