Sooners lose coach
Longtime strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt is leaving Oklahoma to accept a similar job at Texas A&M under new coach Jimbo Fisher.
NORMAN — Another Oklahoma football institution is leaving.
A little more than six months after longtime football coach Bob Stoops retired, his second hire is stepping away from the program as well.
Longtime strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt will accept a similar job at Texas A&M under new coach Jimbo Fisher.
Dusty Dvoracek, of ESPN and The Sports Animal, first reported Schmidt’s departure. Dvoracek played for the Sooners and trained under Schmidt.
“Coach Smitty made men of all of us,” former Sooners wide receiver Ryan Broyles posted on Twitter. “Can’t thank him enough for instilling many traits in me that I will forever be (grateful) for.”
Schmidt's departure follows closely on the heels of Texas A&M's hiring of Jerry Montgomery to coach on the defensive line for the Aggies.
Montgomery spent two seasons in a similar role at Oklahoma, building a reputation as a strong recruiter and being elevated to co-defensive coordinator not long before leaving for a job with the Green Bay Packers in 2015.
Schmidt also has Texas ties. His wife, Robin, is from the state.
Schmidt was often brought up by players as a reason for their success and development and was often their most regular contact with the staff during the offseason.
He outlasted Stoops, who retired last offseason. After serving a year under Lincoln Riley, Schmidt is headed to College Station, Texas.
"He's been incredible for a long period of time," Stoops said in 2014. "He's had five, six NFL teams try to hire him through the years, but he really likes working with young guys this age because they develop so much from freshmen to seniors. It's like night and day. That's what he really enjoys. The guys that want to be drafted and reach their maximum potential? They love it. Guys who don't wanna work, it's not so good. You look at the Sam Bradfords, the Gerald McCoys, and on and on and on — Corey Nelson, Trey Millard — he's everything they want."
Schmidt was hired almost immediately after Stoops was hired after the 1998 season. He had worked with Stoops at Florida since 1996.
Before bringing Schmidt aboard, only Stoops’ brother Mike was on staff already.
When Schmidt arrived in Norman, he quickly developed a reputation for working the Sooners hard and getting fiery when they failed to meet his expectations.
In January 1999, just a few days after arriving on campus, Schmidt took his players through a tough 20-minute workout of running, calisthenics and other drills.
Scott Kempenich, an offensive lineman preparing for his junior season, thought the workout was done when Schmidt gathered the players close.
“Y’all ready to get going?” Schmidt said.
“Everybody about died,” Kempenich said nearly two years later as the Sooners’ were on the cusp of a national title.
Before arriving at Florida, Schmidt worked at Notre Dame and Oklahoma State.
He has worked with six Heisman Trophy winners, including three at Oklahoma — Jason White, Bradford and Baker Mayfield. He also worked with Florida’s Danny Wuerffel, Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders and Notre Dame’s Tim Brown.
In 1991, he was named the Collegiate Strength Coach of the Year by USA Fitness.