An Oklahoma Sooners assistant football coach will be suspended for the team’s home opener against the Temple Owls on Friday night.
OU running backs coach DeMarco Murray committed recruiting violations when he contacted prospects and their families before an allowed time period. That’s according to a decision by the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions released on Tuesday.
The report says that over a period of 16 months, Murray contacted 17 recruits with 65 phone calls and 36 text messages during a prohibited time.
Murray claimed he was unaware a COVID-19 waiver of recruiting contact rules had expired, despite having been educated about that expiration by the school’s enforcement staff.
The university reported those violations to the NCAA and self-imposed recruiting restrictions for their entire staff, and specifically off-campus recruiting for Murray.
While Brent Venables is presumed responsible in his position as head coach, the NCAA says he was able to refute any penalties after demonstrating that he promoted the school’s compliance program and was not involved in the violations.
The full list of penalties for the school includes:
- One year of probation.
- A $5,000 fine.
- A one-game suspension for Murray during the 2024 football season.
- A prohibition against football staff calling the involved prospects during the May 29-June 11, 2022, and April 15-May 31, 2023, periods (self-imposed).
- A 20% reduction in football recruiting days in spring 2023 (self-imposed).
- A prohibition against football staff from calling or corresponding with involved prospects from Aug. 1-31, 2023 (self-imposed).
- A limitation of Murray's 2023 football recruiting days to eight, down from an average 16.4 per recruiting coach (self-imposed).
- A prohibition from off-campus recruiting for Murray during the 2023 fall evaluation period (self-imposed).
- A three-week ban on recruiting phone and electronic correspondence for the football program from Dec. 8, 2024, to March 31, 2025.
- A prohibition against unofficial visits during the first game of the 2024 season.
Track & Field violations
The NCAA’s report included more severe violations by former OU track and field coach Tim Langford, who told a female student-athlete to pay some of her scholarship funds to two male student-athletes to help them pay rent. The $2,020 in funds were from a cost-of-attendance increase.
By receiving those funds, those student-athletes received impermissible benefits which made them ineligible while competing in several competitions.
Langford denied the violations to compliance enforcement staff after he was replaced as head coach in November 2023. The NCAA says he failed to cooperate by providing false or misleading information.
Langford will serve a four-year show-cause penalty. That will make it difficult, but not impossible, for him to be hired by another institution.
Here’s a rundown of the specific penalties for the track and field program:
- A four-year show-cause order for Langford. During the first two years of the show-cause order, Langford is restricted from all athletically related duties, and any employing member school will suspend Langford for 50% of his first season. During the last two years of the show-cause order, Langford is restricted from off-campus recruiting. The show-cause order also requires Langford to attend an NCAA Regional Rules Seminar and restricts his involvement with financial aid offers.
- A reduction in men's track and field scholarships by 0.1 for the 2023-24 season (self-imposed).
- A vacation of all team track and field records in which student-athletes competed while ineligible.
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