Oklahoma’s Assistant GM heads east for a bigger opportunity at West Virginia!

Is Rich Rodriguez aiming to shape West Virginia like Oklahoma?

According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports and 247Sports, West Virginia is tapping Oklahoma assistant GM Chuck Lillie to take on the role of their new general manager.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rich Rodriguez is clearly eyeing a strategic rebuild at West Virginia by pulling talent from Oklahoma’s ranks.

This marks the second time Rodriguez has lured someone from the Sooners’ staff since returning as head coach at West Virginia on December 12. On December 28, he hired former OU co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Zac Alley to be his assistant head coach and defensive coordinator—a reunion that goes back to their days together at Jacksonville State.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, Rodriguez is tapping Chuck Lillie, Oklahoma’s assistant general manager, to take the same position at West Virginia. Lillie, who only spent one season in Norman, was brought in by Brent Venables from Kansas State, where he served as a scouting analyst for four years. Lillie’s college roots go back to Clemson, where he worked under Venables as a defensive graduate assistant when the Tigers won the national title in 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At OU, Lillie worked under Curtis Lofton, the Sooners’ general manager, who holds responsibilities for developing recruitment strategies, roster management, and scouting. With college football increasingly embracing the general manager role in the age of NIL, Rodriguez is clearly building his staff with familiarity and expertise from OU’s operations.