Oklahoma has been quietly reshaping the people side of its athletic department this offseason, and the latest addition might be one of the most important ones you don't see on a Saturday.
Abigail O'Connor bid farewell to Michigan on social media recently, and sources share she's leaving Ann Arbor after eight years to join the University of Oklahoma as Associate AD, Performance Nutrition.
In her new role she will oversee performance nutrition across all sports, with a stated emphasis on continuity of care for student-athletes. For anyone who has spent time inside a performance staff, that phrase matters. Nutrition is one of the areas where turnover quietly costs programs, and O'Connor's charge in Norman is to build something that holds up across sports and across staffs.
O'Connor is not a name that pops on a coaching search graphic, but inside the building she has a serious reputation. She joined Michigan in February of 2018 and rose to Director of Football Performance Nutrition, working hand in hand with the strength and conditioning and athletic training staffs on the day-to-day health and development of the football roster. Those eight years covered a lot, including the run that ended with Michigan cutting down the nets on a national title. The people who fuel and recover a roster that deep don't get the headlines, but coaches know exactly how much that work is worth.
Her path to Michigan tells you plenty about the foundation. Before Ann Arbor, O'Connor was the assistant director of performance nutrition and primary football dietitian at Minnesota, and she got her start in the field at Houston, where she worked across all sports as an intern and program coordinator. A Texas native, she played softball at Southwestern University, earned a biology degree there, then picked up a master's in nutrition from Texas A&M while working in the Exercise and Sport Nutrition Lab. She is a Registered Dietitian, a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach. That last credential is the tell. She speaks the same language as the people in the weight room.
The move also reunites O'Connor with Mark Taurisani, Oklahoma's Deputy Athletics Director for Sport Administration. The two crossed paths at Michigan, where Taurisani served as Director of Football Operations from 2018 to 2020 before stops at Illinois and, this past May, his arrival in Norman. Taurisani spent 17 years working alongside Bret Bielema, including a run at Arkansas, and has built a reputation as an operations and support-staff builder. Getting a trusted performance nutrition lead into the building fits the kind of infrastructure he tends to put together.
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