Oklahoma Sooners Football - Report: Oklahoma hiring Bennie Wylie as strength & conditioning coach

According to a report from FootballScoop.com, Bennie Wylie will be Jerry Schmidt’s replacement as head strength and conditioning coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. Wylie was previously in charge of S&C at Texas Tech, Tennessee and Texas and also had a four-year stint as an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys. He was also featured on NBC’s Strong (he won the competition in 2016) and currently owns and operates a private strength and conditioning business in Abilene, TX.

Wylie is a very well-respected individual who has plenty of experience, so he seems to check off plenty of boxes. The connection with Lincoln Riley is also present, as Wylie was Texas Tech’s S&C guy during Riley’s time in Lubbock.

In an ESPN article from 2012 detailing his role at the University of Texas, Wylie stated, “I’m every position coach’s No. 1 assistant. That’s how I view myself. Every single guy is different. I may have one running back that needs to be patted on the back and one RB that needs to be rubbed on the back. I may have another that needs to be pushed in the back”.

As was the case with Jerry Schmidt, Wylie seems like the type of person who is as much a life coach as he is a strength and conditioning coach. Past players have often credited Schmitty with making men out of them, and Wylie seems to have had the same impact one those he has coached and mentored in the past. I think it’s safe to say that players and fans are going to like him.