A lot of people were enamored with the details of Oklahoma football coach Lincoln Riley’s contract that was approved Tuesday by the Board of Regents.

It’s pretty easy to see why. The Board approved Riley’s new contract that added two more years to his contract to go through 2025 and to have him making more than $7.5 million per year in that span and becoming the highest paid coach in the Big 12 conference.

It showed how much OU is putting its faith in Riley, and also how Riley has the pure belief he’s in charge of something incredibly special in Norman that not even the NFL can sway him.

Look further, though, there might have been an even more telling number from Tuesday. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch is now going to be making $1.8 million, a raise of $400,000 from last season and that proves OU is for real about continuing to turn around the defense. In the process, Grinch now becomes the highest paid assistant ever in OU’s history.

The questions were all there last year about whether OU would break the bank to really get a defensive coordinator that could change the attitude and the culture once again for the Sooners.

Athletic director Joe Castiglione and the rest of OU’s brass did just that in not only hiring Grinch, but doling out the $1.4 million number.

Following an outstanding first year under Grinch and #SpeedD, you knew Grinch earned the right to be rewarded. But the question loomed as to whether OU would make that leap.

Once again, the Sooners have done that. It’s not just Grinch. OU’s commitment toward the defensive staff was shown in a strong way Tuesday.

Heading into the 2020 season, no OU defensive assistant makes less than $435,000, with Calvin Thibodeaux, Brian Odom and first-year coach Jamar Cain all at that mark.

Thibodeaux and Odom, in particular, made huge jumps this time around with raises of $60,000. Cornerbacks coach Roy Manning is now at $470,000, up from $425,000 in 2019.

Those numbers tell you how the Sooners feel about the first year under Grinch, but there’s yet another number that does it, too.

All coaches were granted two-year deals and that says a lot about the faith OU has in this being the group that officially has OU back among the elite defenses in the country.

OU has clearly never had an offensive problem since Riley arrived in 2015. And all the offensive coaches earned raises as well Tuesday. But everybody knows for OU to get beyond just making the college football playoff, it starts with the defense.

These weren’t token raises, though, as it had felt in the past with some defensive coaches getting the smallest of the smallest bumps. The 2019 group earned them through all the ups and downs. The hardest part of a transformation project is the initial one. OU can officially check that box.

And can do so knowing Grinch is going to be the one calling the shots and leading the way.