Regents approve Zac Alley's contract; Bedenbaugh, Bates receive raises

NORMAN — New Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Zac Alley's contract was approved by the OU board of regents on Tuesday.

Alley will make a base salary of $850,000 a year through Jan. 31, 2027. He will receive $50,000 raises in 2025 and 2026.

In addition, the OU board of regents voted to further amend the contracts for Bill Bedenbaugh and Todd Bates. Bedenbaugh, who's contract had been extended to 2026 back in January, received an additional year to his contract, which now runs through Jan. 31, 2027.

Bedenbaugh's salary will be $1.05 million in 2024-25, $1.20 million in 2025-26 and $1.25 million in 2026-27. The OU offensive line coach, who's been with the program since 2012 received a $50,000 raise in January and received an additional $180,000 raise on Tuesday.

His new annual salary makes him the first non-coordinator at Oklahoma to make more than $1 million in annual salary.

Bates' contract remains through Jan. 31, 2027, but he received an additional raise of $100,000 during Tuesday's meeting, increasing his annual salary to $800,000. He will receive stay bonuses of $50,000 in 2025 and 2026.

A one-year contract for new special teams analyst Douglas Deakin was approved with an annual salary of $180,000.

With the changes on Tuesday, the contracts for the majority of the Sooners' assistant coaches run through 2027. The exceptions are wide receivers coach Emmett Jones, defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis, cornerbacks coach Jay Valai and running backs coach DeMarco Murray, whose contracts all run through 2026.

The Sooners are now set to pay their football assistant coaches a total of $7.189 million in 2024, an increase of more than $60,000 from last year.