ARDMORE — The Sooners officially have the program's first general manager.

The OU board of regents officially approved Curtis Lofton as the program's general manager on Friday, increasing his 2024 salary from $101,500 to $300,000. Lofton, a former OU player, joined coach Brent Venables' staff as a director of SOUL Mission in 2022.

Lofton has spent the last two seasons in that role, but will now transition to general manager as the program prepares for its move to the Southeastern Conference on July 1. Lofton will have various responsibilities in this role, particularly taking on more leadership when it comes to the program's name, image and likeness efforts.

"For a position like Curtis is now moving into, recognizing the dynamic world we've experienced but we know will continue to evolve going forward in the area of talent identification, assessment, recruitment (and retention)," OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said. "...Putting Curtis in the position of general manager to work side by side with Woody Glass and his administrative role, one being very focused on all of the aspects of the talent and the roster build and how things are changing dynamically, and then (putting the right structure alongside Venables), along with his assistant coaching staff to be in the best position to take on the world going forward.

"We just needed to create a much more targeted and focused approach to our whole roster and the way it's built and retained."

Lofton played three seasons under Venables, then OU's defensive coordinator, from 2005-2007, earning Big 12 Player of the Year in 2007. The Kingfisher native was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons with the No. 37 pick in the 2008 draft.

"Curtis was never a bashful player when he was here," Castiglione said. He's very affable, outgoing. He understood his role, and he embraced leadership in the role he was in when he was a player. If you watched his career in the NFL, he was a leader on the teams that he played (on). Between his teammates and ownership, they also looked at Curtis' other skills than just the talent on the field itself.

"He decided to come back to his home state of Oklahoma and be here because this is where he wanted to raise his family. Coach Venables, when he came back, identified Curtis as someone he wanted to bring on staff in the area of overseeing SOUL Mission. We've gotten to be around Curtis and he brings a lot of perspective and I think his experiences have really helped position him to take on this new role."

There's been a lot of speculation about Moser's contract since the end of last season, when the OU men's basketball team narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament.

However, the regents voted to approve a $100,000 raise for Moser in the 2024-25 season, raising his salary to $3.2 million. Moser will also receive an additional $100,000 raise every July 1 for the remainder of his contract, which runs through the 2027-28 season.

It was an important vote of confidence for Moser, as the Sooners finished 20-12 last season in his third year at the helm.

"We thought, given what our team accomplished this year, it was definitely important to show Coach Moser that we appreciate him and what he's providing in leadership," Castiglione said.

In addition to Moser, assistants Ryan Humphrey and Armon Gates both received one-year extensions through the 2024-25 season. Both also received slight raises, as Humphrey will make $466,000 next season while Gates will make $414,000.

But Moser and the Sooners know the task ahead. It took a string of very unlikely events, including numerous bid steals that left them as the first team out of the field, for the Sooners to miss the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24, but they've failed to make the big dance in each of Moser's first three seasons in Norman. Heading into the SEC, the pressure is on for the Sooners to find postseason success.

"We were disappointed not getting into the NCAA Tournament, but it took many anomalies that have not been seen in the day leading up to the NCAA Tournament to keep us out," Castiglione said. "We've been either the first team out or amongst the first teams out two of the last three years, and so as disappointed as we are, we are not shying away from the expectation or our goal of getting in the tournament, and once getting in the tournament, being successful. (Moser) wants that. He embraces that, and nobody was more disappointed than the team.

"We're not going to change our goals. We're not going to change our expectation of being in the tournament, but it just felt like it was the right thing to do to show him and his assistants that we really appreciate the hard work they're putting into the program, the way they're growing the program itself, and how hard he works externally. Nobody goes around and tries to build interest like he does."

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