OT: Football Talk

[SoonerBounce13]

we should be recruiting better talent and have done so historically, up until this coaching staff.

Tells me all I need to know about your opinion

 

[WichitaSooner]

I think when you don't improve from one game to the next on things such as unforced errors it rests solely on the coach. with as many resources that are put into this program we should be recruiting better talent and have done so historically, up until this coaching staff. They're either just not as good as projected or practices/preparations are not as good as they have been in years previous. I think BV simply does not pay much attention to the offense in preseason and it's caught up with him now. The quick nepotist higher of Litrell spoke volumes to me. Unfortunately we have to endure as I don't think anyone's buying him out of a $45 million contract

The talent issue shows up not only in our record, but the number of guys drafted and invited to the combine. Last year was our worst draft class in years. This year, the only two guys sure to be drafted are Stutsmam and Bowman … guys signed by the prior staff. We are three years in. That’s a long time in the portal era. Brent should have been able to bring in high level talent by this point. A couple of the defensive freshmen this season have me excited, but we will see how they develop. The guy everyone was so excited about from a talent and potential standpoint last year was PJ, and he has yet to accomplish anything of note in two full seasons. And the offense is just embarrassing. We could hire the best OC around, but without massive upgrades at pretty much every position, we will have a pretty low ceiling next season.

 

[Sooner04]

And the offense is just embarrassing. We could hire the best OC around, but without massive upgrades at pretty much every position, we will have a pretty low ceiling next season.

I disagree a little there. A proper re-tooling of the O-line would do wonders. Not handing the ball to the other team would also go a long way.
People get so bogged down in recruiting. "Oh we have to keep DeMarco......he recruits so well!" At some point this stuff needs to translate into on-field production.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I disagree a little there. A proper re-tooling of the O-line would do wonders. Not handing the ball to the other team would also go a long way.
People get so bogged down in recruiting. "Oh we have to keep DeMarco......he recruits so well!" At some point this stuff needs to translate into on-field production.

I agree to an extent, though I think our talent is really lagging at TE and QB, and even RB (unless Robinson and Tatum prove to be dudes). Even if Arnold could eliminate most of his mistakes, I haven't seen nearly enough upside from him to think he could ever be in the top half of the conference. Agree completely on DeMarco. The annual mishandling of playing time at RB is hard to watch. The Robinson situation alone is enough to call the competency of the staff into question.

I agree with what Teddy said in the most recent pod. They have to hit some home runs in the portal, meaning quality over quantity. Bringing in several O-linemen who were decent players at Group of Five programs won't help us. And Brent needs to remember what his job title is and not earmark most of the NIL budget for defenders.

 

[stormspencer]

Our O-line is bad....no need to rehash that as everyone can see it. The other most glaring thing I see when I look at other teams is that they have better athletes in space. I saw it in the Texas, South Carolina, Ole Miss, and even the Mizzou game (they look bigger and stronger). Even when we are healthy, we are middle of the pack (at best) in this conference when it comes to skill.....which was sobering. The defense has been good so far, but they are far from elite. We need to get more production/pressure from the edge for sure and I think our CB play (with not having Gentry Williams) is average at best.

 

[mict085]

I wonder if Brent will step down with his wife’s health being what it is. It’s been a really difficult season and we haven’t had any breaks. That’s a lot on one man’s plate. Tough situation.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I wonder if Brent will step down with his wife’s health being what it is. It’s been a really difficult season and we haven’t had any breaks. That’s a lot on one man’s plate. Tough situation.

I highly doubt it but in all honesty, he seems different this year. Not as intense. I thought it was just the tough season but obviously it’s more.

This guy grew up under Snyder working all night. Not really possible with his wife’s issues.

Him picking someone he trusts on offense and letting them control it makes more sense now. He literally didn’t have time to be completely invested

 

[WaymanFan]

Our O-line is bad....no need to rehash that as everyone can see it. The other most glaring thing I see when I look at other teams is that they have better athletes in space. I saw it in the Texas, South Carolina, Ole Miss, and even the Mizzou game (they look bigger and stronger). Even when we are healthy, we are middle of the pack (at best) in this conference when it comes to skill.....which was sobering. The defense has been good so far, but they are far from elite. We need to get more production/pressure from the edge for sure and I think our CB play (with not having Gentry Williams) is average at best.

The offensive line issues have been my #1 pet peeve with this team all year long. I get it that NIL reigns supreme over all, but this should be an easy position group to recruit to. There are 64 starting OTs in the NFL. SIX played at Oklahoma, including one HOF lock and another probably HOF'er. OU also has the best center in the NFL and a high-end OG. Most of them were coached by Bedanbaugh. How the coaches can't sell that while packaged will NIL money is perplexing. Recruiting this position group is loaded with a lot of low-hanging fruit.

 

[BoulderSooner]

The offensive line issues have been my #1 pet peeve with this team all year long. I get it that NIL reigns supreme over all, but this should be an easy position group to recruit to. There are 64 starting OTs in the NFL. SIX played at Oklahoma, including one HOF lock and another probably HOF'er. OU also has the best center in the NFL and a high-end OG. Most of them were coached by Bedanbaugh. How the coaches can't sell that while packaged will NIL money is perplexing. Recruiting this position group is loaded with a lot of low-hanging fruit.

they have also had massive injuries on the oline ... the RT that played the entire game vs Missouri was the 3rd string RT .. (they have had to use 4 different centers ) ..

the top 2 LT's were also out for that game ..

 

[WichitaSooner]

they have also had massive injuries on the oline ... the RT that played the entire game vs Missouri was the 3rd string RT .. (they have had to use 4 different centers ) ..

the top 2 LT's were also out for that game ..

The line was a known weakness before the season, before anyone was hurt. They brought in a bunch of mediocre or worse players in the portal. The USC guy is a perfect example of what a disaster that group is. I remember Gabe’s discussion when he signed; basically, he viewed him as a depth piece who he clearly wasn’t impressed with. By the start of the season, dude was starting because the rest of the group was so bad. And the guys we have signed and “developed “ out of high school the past two or three cycles haven’t gotten better. If our line had stayed perfectly healthy, it would still be a well below average group.

 

[mict085]

I highly doubt it but in all honesty, he seems different this year. Not as intense. I thought it was just the tough season but obviously it’s more.

This guy grew up under Snyder working all night. Not really possible with his wife’s issues.

Him picking someone he trusts on offense and letting them control it makes more sense now. He literally didn’t have time to be completely invested

He looked really down recently and his wife’s diagnosis doesn’t sound promising. With everything that’s going on, it could be easily overwhelming.

 

[Soonerguy06]

I think i speak for the majority of fans this year when I say, 'this season is over, let's stay positive and hope for the best next year!'

I've stopped watching every minute of the games for a couple of years now (hurts my heart), and this year I think i've watched the least, however I do still keep up with them online during game day, etc. I'm very much not looking forward to Bama & LSU, but thankfully there won't be any expectations for us in those matchups. I hope we go out there and have some pride and surprise people, but this year has given me little to zero optimism. Goodness, how things have changed in just 5 years for this program!

 

[stormspencer]

The line was a known weakness before the season, before anyone was hurt. They brought in a bunch of mediocre or worse players in the portal. The USC guy is a perfect example of what a disaster that group is. I remember Gabe’s discussion when he signed; basically, he viewed him as a depth piece who he clearly wasn’t impressed with. By the start of the season, dude was starting because the rest of the group was so bad. And the guys we have signed and “developed “ out of high school the past two or three cycles haven’t gotten better. If our line had stayed perfectly healthy, it would still be a well below average group.

Yes, development (and in a couple of cases attrition) have been a problem the last 3+ seasons. The last time I can say we had a "good" line was the 2019 season...and we also had a great running QB in Hurts. When I say not being "good", I'm not referring to individual players, I'm speaking more to the sum of the parts. The "sum" has been trending down several years now. We were able to mask some of the downward trajectory on the line due to Lebby's schemes the last two years, but we really need to see significant improvement up front next year or you have to at least contemplate bringing in a new voice.....and it pains me to say it because I am huge Bedenbaugh fan.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Yes, development (and in a couple of cases attrition) have been a problem the last 3+ seasons. The last time I can say we had a "good" line was the 2019 season...and we also had a great running QB in Hurts. When I say not being "good", I'm not referring to individual players, I'm speaking more to the sum of the parts. The "sum" has been trending down several years now. We were able to mask some of the downward trajectory on the line due to Lebby's schemes the last two years, but we really need to see significant improvement up front next year or you have to at least contemplate bringing in a new voice.....and it pains me to say it because I am huge Bedenbaugh fan.

It's hard to know what to make of Bill B. Clearly he has been very successful in the past, and it sounds like lots of NFL people think very highly of him. But it's also true that even good coaches reach a point where, for whatever reason, they aren't as good as they used to be. Could be age, could be a failure to adapt to the portal, could be all sorts of things. But what has struck me for three or four years now is listening to Gabe (who LOVES Bill) talk each week during the season about the poor technique that our guys play with. Even guys without much talent should be expected to improve their technique (pad level, footwork, the way they use their hands), and it just doesn't seem like that has happened for the past few years.

Will be interesting to see who the new OC is and whether he will want to bring in some of his own staff. Would also be nice if whoever we hire could bring along a great QB and a couple O-linemen!

 

[Soonerguy06]

Looks like Sperry, who is a four-star QB we had committed flipped to fsu, I thought he was gung ho for the Sooners even moved to Carl Albert HS to be closer to the program. Just thought I'd mention it in case it hasn't been covered in a thread here already. Sounds like we may have some decommitments coming.

 

[cbertus6]

Looks like Sperry, who is a four-star QB we had committed flipped to fsu, I thought he was gung ho for the Sooners even moved to Carl Albert HS to be closer to the program. Just thought I'd mention it in case it hasn't been covered in a thread here already. Sounds like we may have some decommitments coming.

Losing Sperry in the grand scheme of things is a nothing burger. I doubt he would have ever played at OU. That being said, it is certainly possible that this is a sign for what’s to come in the next few weeks

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I think it is pretty obvious that BV has zeroed in on his guy and this guy (tulane's OC or WSU's OC) has a qb that will be coming with him. And that was the main reason for sperry flipping.

But yeah, flipping to FSU is really really odd

 

[BCSooners]

Losing Sperry in the grand scheme of things is a nothing burger. I doubt he would have ever played at OU. That being said, it is certainly possible that this is a sign for what’s to come in the next few weeks

I agree. I never thought he was going to be a starter at OU. Of course now he’ll go to FSU, be a multi year starter, and get drafted.

 

[daqman]

if only mike leach were still alive to tell brent who to hire as oc.

 

[WichitaSooner]

It’s just staggering how bad our offensive staff and head coach are. On an offense that struggles to walk and chew gum, we had Robinson on the scout team for the majority of the season? Also, let’s keep trying to use Sharp in important situations. Meanwhile, the quarterback Brent staked the future on threw for 15 yards in the first quarter, a week after passing for 70-some yards.