NAU Linebackers Coach Aaron Cheatwood Joins Oklahoma Staff as Defensive Analyst

Aaron Cheatwood spent two seasons turning Northern Arizona's linebacker corps into one of the Big Sky Conference's most decorated units. Now Brent Venables wants that expertise in Norman.

Cheatwood resigned his position as Northern Arizona's linebackers coach and defensive run-game coordinator to join Oklahoma's staff, FootballScoop reported March 17. Multiple outlets, including On3 and SoonersWire, indicated he will join the Sooners in a defensive analyst role. Cheatwood confirmed the move himself, posting about it on X under the handle @Aaron_Gelvin.

The numbers he leaves behind in Flagstaff are hard to argue with. During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Cheatwood's linebacker unit produced multiple All-Big Sky selections for the second straight season while NAU ranked 15th in FCS scoring defense and 18th in total defense. The Lumberjacks also placed among the top 40 nationally in rush defense. Head coach Brian Wright's program posted back-to-back winning seasons with Cheatwood anchoring a defense that, by Big Sky standards, was genuinely formidable. The 2026 season would have been his third in Flagstaff.

His path to Norman runs through the junior college ranks. Cheatwood began as a defensive line coach at Garden City Community College in Kansas before being elevated to defensive coordinator ahead of the 2021 season. He then spent 2023 as a defensive analyst at New Mexico State under inside linebackers coach Nate Dreiling, who now holds that same title on Venables' Oklahoma staff. That prior working relationship with Dreiling connects directly to the OU hire. SoonersWire also noted that Venables himself played two seasons of college football at Garden City CC, adding a biographical thread between Venables and Cheatwood's roots.

At Oklahoma, Cheatwood joins a defensive staff that already has considerable play-calling pedigree. On3 noted that with his addition, five assistants on Venables' staff have called defensive plays at some point in their careers: safeties coach Brandon Hall, cornerbacks coach Lamar Morgan, inside linebackers coach Nate Dreiling, outside linebackers coach Wes Goodwin, and now Cheatwood. Venables himself remains the Sooners' defensive playcaller. The OU defense ranked in the top 10 in several categories last season during a College Football Playoff run. This offseason, Venables also added Morgan, the former Michigan defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach, to replace corners coach Jay Valai, who departed for the Buffalo Bills. Former Clemson defensive tackle and nine-year NFL pro DeShawn Williams joined the staff in a defensive analyst role as well. Oklahoma hosts its first spring practice March 25.

For Northern Arizona, the departure stings. Cheatwood's exit leaves Brian Wright searching for someone to fill a key defensive leadership role just as the program attempts to build on consecutive winning seasons. Finding a linebackers coach who can sustain the production Cheatwood generated in the Big Sky will be the most pressing task on Wright's offseason checklist.