GREAT NEWS: Oklahoma Sooners fans’ favorite has returned
Former Oklahoma defensive back Jeremiah Criddell is returning to his alma mater to help with the Sooners’ secondary this season.
A familiar name is returning to Norman as part of Oklahoma’s support staff as the team prepares for its first SEC season.
Former Oklahoma defensive back Jeremiah Criddell will return to his alma mater as the Sooners’ assistant defensive backs coach, he revealed on Instagram late Tuesday night. Criddell most recently worked as a support staff member at Mississippi State under new Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby, who was OU’s offensive coordinator the previous two seasons. Criddell spent the 2023 season as a defensive graduate assistant at South Florida, where he worked with the Bulls’ cornerbacks and nickels.
Criddell, a former four-star prospect from Mater Dei in Santa Ana, California, signed with Oklahoma as part of the 2019 recruiting class under former head coach Lincoln Riley. According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, he is the No. 164 overall player in the 2019 class, as well as the 15th-ranked safety in the nation and the 22nd-best prospect from California that cycle.
Criddell was part of an Oklahoma signing class that ranked sixth in the 247Sports Composite team rankings in 2019, and he was the highest-rated defensive recruit in the Sooners’ class.
Criddell played 17 games at Oklahoma over three seasons before retiring medically prior to the start of spring workouts in 2022 owing to a series of concussions he suffered during his career. Criddell played one of his 17 career games at Oklahoma, starting at cornerback against Baylor in the Sooners’ regular-season finale in 2020. He played 421 snaps in his career, splitting time between the secondary and special teams, where he was a member of the kickoff return and kickoff coverage teams, as well as the punt return and field goal blocking units.
Criddell finished his career with 15 total tackles, 12 of which came during his redshirt freshman season in 2020.
Upon retiring, Criddell announced he was joining Oklahoma’s staff as a student assistant while he finished out his degree during the 2022 season. That was followed by stops at USF and Mississippi State before now rejoining his alma mater just ahead of the 2024 season.
