Football question

SoonerDutch said:
Scoop is the gold standard for FB but as others have pointed out, most of their content is available for free on YT and the podcasts. They are pretty nonbiased, both in terms of recruiting & team stuff. The board is worth it if you like reading the content, also like general dumbassery with the member antics.

Of the mentioned injuries, would say Bowen’s is most concerning. Not implying he is seriously injured, just that it seems to be lingering & more impactful from returning to practice/games.

I am also assuming that Jayden Gibson will not play/contribute meaningfully this season but that’s not necessarily new.
Click to expand...
Jayden should be commanding nearly $0.00 of NIL at this point. Process him or let him audition with little to no NIL
 
SoonerDutch said:
Scoop is the gold standard for FB but as others have pointed out, most of their content is available for free on YT and the podcasts.
Click to expand...

I'm partial to TFB. They have a slightly different model and way of presenting information, but they are very dialed in and don't post click-bait crap that is misleading.
 
Also, I think some of you are going to be shocked at just how much better the team is this year.

It's clear this is a fantastic staff and roster, and honestly, I don't think the results of the last 2-3 seasons has reflected that. Sometimes crap happens. Sometimes a rebuild/retool needs to be done a certain way. Other than picking Arnold to start last season and running DG off, I don't have a ton of criticism for the decisions this staff has made. BV's in game calls haven't lost us a bunch of games. I understand why he gave Seth Littrell the OC job last year. It didn't work out, but I understand the reasoning behind it. Yes, BV has to own that, but he was also pretty quick to move on.

The team is going to win a lot of games this year.
 
WTSooner said:
Also, I think some of you are going to be shocked at just how much better the team is this year.

It's clear this is a fantastic staff and roster, and honestly, I don't think the results of the last 2-3 seasons has reflected that. Sometimes crap happens. Sometimes a rebuild/retool needs to be done a certain way. Other than picking Arnold to start last season and running DG off, I don't have a ton of criticism for the decisions this staff has made. BV's in game calls haven't lost us a bunch of games. I understand why he gave Seth Littrell the OC job last year. It didn't work out, but I understand the reasoning behind it. Yes, BV has to own that, but he was also pretty quick to move on.

The team is going to win a lot of games this year.
Click to expand...
Who are you?
 
WTSooner said:
Also, I think some of you are going to be shocked at just how much better the team is this year.

It's clear this is a fantastic staff and roster, and honestly, I don't think the results of the last 2-3 seasons has reflected that. Sometimes crap happens. Sometimes a rebuild/retool needs to be done a certain way. Other than picking Arnold to start last season and running DG off, I don't have a ton of criticism for the decisions this staff has made. BV's in game calls haven't lost us a bunch of games. I understand why he gave Seth Littrell the OC job last year. It didn't work out, but I understand the reasoning behind it. Yes, BV has to own that, but he was also pretty quick to move on.

The team is going to win a lot of games this year.
Click to expand...
I have been reading a series where The Athletic's draft experts have ranked the top 20 or more prospects at every position over the past couple weeks. OU has very few guys near the top of any of those lists, and at some positions, don't have any guys listed, period. I listen to the pods where all the OU media guys discuss position battles, and it feels like there are lots of spots where we have a few good-but-not-great guys battling for roles. I don't think that wins a lot of games in the SEC. You need studs -- guys who will be first or second round picks, and I still think we are quite a ways from that.

And I very much disagree on Brent. I think he is one of the worst in-game coaches I have seen. I am a Raiders fan, and last season was like a dark comedy for me each weekend, seeing whether Brent or Antonio Pierce would screw up more basic in-game decisions.
 
WichitaSooner said:
And I very much disagree on Brent. I think he is one of the worst in-game coaches I have seen. I am a Raiders fan, and last season was like a dark comedy for me each weekend, seeing whether Brent or Antonio Pierce would screw up more basic in-game decisions.
Click to expand...

I'm honestly not sure whether Brent is a good in-game coach or not. The injury bug, especially at WR last year, was so severe that I don't know how even the best head coach in America would have squeezed out more than 1-2 victories than what we got. That said, there are some obvious red flags related to Brent. First off, do we even know he'd have a job right now if Dillon Gabriel didn't bail him out against Texas in 2023? Brent has gotten a lot of mileage out of that one win. Secondly, while that win against Alabama was special, Brent did not have his team ready to compete the following game against LSU. That was a bad look. Getting obliterated by Texas in his other two years is disconcerting as well. Finally, he badly mishandled the QB position. Gabriel should have finished his college career at OU much like Ewers did at Texas. If the 5-star backup is not as good, so be it.

There is one thing I am happy about regarding Brent. While I prefer a 56-53 win over any loss, I don't get much enjoyment out of watching a 56-53 game unless it's a defensive college basketball game. We had too many of those in the Lincoln Riley era and I'm relieved that we now have a defense at least capable of getting an occasional stop. Of course, I would be ecstatic if we could generate even a poor man's Lincoln Riley offense.

Bottom line: Brent is under a lot of pressure to win this year, or the future AD's first hire will be a new football coach.
 
WaymanFan said:
I'm honestly not sure whether Brent is a good in-game coach or not. The injury bug, especially at WR last year, was so severe that I don't know how even the best head coach in America would have squeezed out more than 1-2 victories than what we got. That said, there are some obvious red flags related to Brent. First off, do we even know he'd have a job right now if Dillon Gabriel didn't bail him out against Texas in 2023? Brent has gotten a lot of mileage out of that one win. Secondly, while that win against Alabama was special, Brent did not have his team ready to compete the following game against LSU. That was a bad look. Getting obliterated by Texas in his other two years is disconcerting as well. Finally, he badly mishandled the QB position. Gabriel should have finished his college career at OU much like Ewers did at Texas. If the 5-star backup is not as good, so be it.

There is one thing I am happy about regarding Brent. While I prefer a 56-53 win over any loss, I don't get much enjoyment out of watching a 56-53 game unless it's a defensive college basketball game. We had too many of those in the Lincoln Riley era and I'm relieved that we now have a defense at least capable of getting an occasional stop. Of course, I would be ecstatic if we could generate even a poor man's Lincoln Riley offense.

Bottom line: Brent is under a lot of pressure to win this year, or the future AD's first hire will be a new football coach.
Click to expand...
The only reason I don’t give him the injury bug as an excuse is because he was brutal in-game the first two seasons. In fact, the KU and OSU games in 2023 are the two games I think of most when I think about his game day coaching. I was in Lawrence and it’s honestly one of the worst coached games I’ve seen in any sport.

Here is what will be interesting IMO. So many fans and media members have spent months praising this roster and saying that we will be much, much better. They say we have upgraded the staff, too. So, if we flounder again and lose 5 or 6 games, will people finally admit that he isn’t the guy and that we aren’t remotely on the right track? My hunch is that the biggest Venables apologists will just point to the schedule as the newest excuse.

And I’ll be the first one to happily take my lumps and admit that I was the wrong if they end up winning 9+ games this season.
 
WichitaSooner said:
The only reason I don’t give him the injury bug as an excuse is because he was brutal in-game the first two seasons. In fact, the KU and OSU games in 2023 are the two games I think of most when I think about his game day coaching. I was in Lawrence and it’s honestly one of the worst coached games I’ve seen in any sport.

Here is what will be interesting IMO. So many fans and media members have spent months praising this roster and saying that we will be much, much better. They say we have upgraded the staff, too. So, if we flounder again and lose 5 or 6 games, will people finally admit that he isn’t the guy and that we aren’t remotely on the right track? My hunch is that the biggest Venables apologists will just point to the schedule as the newest excuse.

And I’ll be the first one to happily take my lumps and admit that I was the wrong if they end up winning 9+ games this season.
Click to expand...
if he doesn't win 8 regular season games he is getting fired .. (and if it is 8 wins with 4 blow out losses he still might get fired)
 
WTSooner said:
Also, I think some of you are going to be shocked at just how much better the team is this year.

It's clear this is a fantastic staff and roster, and honestly, I don't think the results of the last 2-3 seasons has reflected that. Sometimes crap happens. Sometimes a rebuild/retool needs to be done a certain way. Other than picking Arnold to start last season and running DG off, I don't have a ton of criticism for the decisions this staff has made. BV's in game calls haven't lost us a bunch of games. I understand why he gave Seth Littrell the OC job last year. It didn't work out, but I understand the reasoning behind it. Yes, BV has to own that, but he was also pretty quick to move on.

The team is going to win a lot of games this year.
Click to expand...
Of course there was a "reasoning", even i wouldn't posit that bv threw darts at a board to choose him. It was a very moronic reason (and "influenced"/forced by JC), but, sure, it was a reason.. but it was malpractice to do it. We had the HOTTEST OC spot in the entire sport.. and we choose a retread/fired coach simply bc he played at OU and he was already at OU. Real trailblazers.
 
BoulderSooner said:
if he doesn't win 8 regular season games he is getting fired .. (and if it is 8 wins with 4 blow out losses he still might get fired)
Click to expand...
I doubt it, but here's hoping (i bet he'd survive with a 7 win season even). I'm a big bv doubter bc why wouldn't I be at this point? He speaks nicely and says good things about leadership concepts.. but i don't think hes intelligent, hes not an organized, focused, good leader as a HC, and has done typical lazy incestuous football hires.. good luck.

please just go off instead and win us a ship and make me look dumb
 
hoopsaustin said:
Of course there was a "reasoning", even i wouldn't posit that bv threw darts at a board to choose him. It was a very moronic reason (and "influenced"/forced by JC), but, sure, it was a reason.. but it was malpractice to do it. We had the HOTTEST OC spot in the entire sport.. and we choose a retread/fired coach simply bc he played at OU and he was already at OU. Real trailblazers.
Click to expand...
Mentioned it before, but I have good sources saying Joe C did not force or even encourage the Littrell/Finley duo for OC. On the other hand, he did have a strong influence on choosing Arbuckle. So criticism is fair game there if it goes poorly.
 
notaburner said:
Mentioned it before, but I have good sources saying Joe C did not force or even encourage the Littrell/Finley duo for OC. On the other hand, he did have a strong influence on choosing Arbuckle. So criticism is fair game there if it goes poorly.
Click to expand...
I have no inside sources so I have no idea what the truth is on those hirings, but Seth/Finley were disasters, and that was obvious even without the benefit of hindsight. And in general, I think the offensive staff has been bad since Brent was hired. I mean, I love DeMarco from his playing days, but think he has done a bad job coaching the RBs. Hell, most the time he doesn't even play the right guy. I am very interested to see how he handles the playing time this year. Barnes has been a below average back for three years. The next time he makes a defender miss or gets the extra yards that great backs get will be the first. Yet if history is a guide, Demarco will probably have him as the main backup to Ott to start the season mainly because he likes his pass blocking and/or doesn't trust the younger, more talented guys. That whole position is a mystery to me. Teddy and Gabe love Blaylock -- but they also loved Hicks for two summers and that guy barely got more snaps than I did in his OU career. And I rarely hear Robinson, let alone Tatum, mentioned. Tatum was supposed to be the next great back and at this rate, he will have more fumbles and blown assignments than highlights in his OU career. And Ott -- let's just say that I will only believe that he is fully healthy if he is in the starting lineup and getting the lion's share of the carries in the first half of the opener.
 
notaburner said:
Mentioned it before, but I have good sources saying Joe C did not force or even encourage the Littrell/Finley duo for OC. On the other hand, he did have a strong influence on choosing Arbuckle. So criticism is fair game there if it goes poorly.
Click to expand...
I heard Harroz had much more to do with that pairing than anybody else. Kicking Gabriel to the curb in favor of the unproven recruit was an absolute killer.
 
WichitaSooner said:
I have no inside sources so I have no idea what the truth is on those hirings, but Seth/Finley were disasters, and that was obvious even without the benefit of hindsight. And in general, I think the offensive staff has been bad since Brent was hired. I mean, I love DeMarco from his playing days, but think he has done a bad job coaching the RBs. Hell, most the time he doesn't even play the right guy. I am very interested to see how he handles the playing time this year. Barnes has been a below average back for three years. The next time he makes a defender miss or gets the extra yards that great backs get will be the first. Yet if history is a guide, Demarco will probably have him as the main backup to Ott to start the season mainly because he likes his pass blocking and/or doesn't trust the younger, more talented guys. That whole position is a mystery to me. Teddy and Gabe love Blaylock -- but they also loved Hicks for two summers and that guy barely got more snaps than I did in his OU career. And I rarely hear Robinson, let alone Tatum, mentioned. Tatum was supposed to be the next great back and at this rate, he will have more fumbles and blown assignments than highlights in his OU career. And Ott -- let's just say that I will only believe that he is fully healthy if he is in the starting lineup and getting the lion's share of the carries in the first half of the opener.
Click to expand...
It should be:
1. Ott
2. Robinson
3. Who cares

With 1 and 2 getting 80% of the carries..

but we'll prolly make it like 20% each among 5 backs and never get a solid starter that can breakout
 
Last edited:
hoopsaustin said:
It should be:
1. Ott
2. Robinson
3. Who cares

With 1 and 2 getting 80% of the carries but we'll prolly make it like 20% each among 5 backs and never get a solid starter that can breakout
Click to expand...
Exactly my fear. No clue why we rotate so many guys. They need to identity the best backup, be it X or Blaylock, and role with Ott and whoever that player is. The depth guys shouldn’t be getting meaningful snaps in competitive games unless it’s due to injury.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Question for the Board
2
Replies
31
Views
1K
BoulderSooner
BoulderSooner
C
Terminate Men's Basketball until a New Stadium Built
Replies
12
Views
572
cowboysooner
C
O
Is This Rock Bottom For the Program?
8 9 10
Replies
183
Views
6K
AnotherSoonerInTX
A
Sooner04
A Rainy Night in Fort Worth
2 3
Replies
51
Views
2K
mict085
mict085
J
Realistic timeline on transfers
Replies
9
Views
3K
WichitaSooner
W
Back
Top