Oklahoma expected to bring back Sooners alum as support staffer

Oklahoma is expected to hire former Sooners and NFL offensive lineman Phil Loadholt as a support staffer, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz.

Loadholt retired from the NFL after the 2015 season, and he spent this past season working as an offensive line analyst for Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin.

Loadholt, a native of Fountain, Colorado, attended Fountain-Fort Carson high school, where he was a two-way lineman, team captain and two-time All-State selection. As a senior in high school, he originally committed to play football at Colorado, but he later decommitted due to reported academic issues and attended junior college. While at Garden City Community College, Loadholt blossomed into one of the nation’s top JUCO products, a four-star product that ranked as the No. 1 JUCO OT in the nation. He then committed to Oklahoma and had a very successful playing career.

While in Norman, Loadholt blocked for the likes of Sam Bradford and DeMarco Murray, and he helped construct one of the nation’s top offenses at the time. In his senior season at Oklahoma, his blocking helped Bradford win the Heisman Trophy, while the Sooners won their third consecutive Big 12 title and earned a trip to the national title game.

After his Oklahoma career, Loadholt was selected in the second round, with the 54th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He became a stalwart of the Vikings’ offensive line, starting all 89 of the games in which he appeared. In his rookie season alone, Loadholt stepped into a starting role at right tackle, blocking for Brett Farve, and helped lead Minnesota to the NFC Championship game. He was named to the NFL All-Rookie team by Sporting News and the Pro Football Writers Association of America, helping the Vikings offense reach a No. 5 ranking in the NFL In total offense.

Loadholt continued to start every game for his second, third and fourth season in the NFL, until he eventually signed a three-year, $25 million contract with the Vikings ahead of the 2015 season. As late as 2014, Loadholt continued his trajectory as an elite blocker, and Pro Football Focus even named him one of the NFL’s top lineman, but after an injury sent him to the injured reserve in late 2014, his career started to reach its end. In 2015, after another injury — this time, a torn Achilles — he announced his retirement.