Open Post | Wednesday, Jan. 7th

Image via Ravenwoodfootball.com

Van Jefferson: Just spoke to UGA WR commit, Van Jefferson out of Tennessee and he has told us that he will be visiting Oklahoma next weekend. He will be coming in with Vanderbilt LB commit, Josh Smith.

Interesting coincidence is that our own Ryan Broyles knows Van Jefferson and his father, Shawn Jefferson. Shawn Jefferson coached Broyles in his first season in the NFL. I (K) talked to Broyles earlier and he had a lot of good things to say about Van and of course his father. Van said “I can’t wait to get down there” and genuinely seems excited about the trip to Norman.

He also said that coach Montgomery and coach Gundy are recruiting him. Montgomery is also recruiting LB prospect, Josh Smith. Van Jefferson’s father is currently the wide receivers coach of the Tennessee Titans and before that was the wide receivers coach at Detroit for a number of years.

178 Comments

  • JSam says:

    Hmmm……

  • ccmosaic says:

    We need to get this kid. No way his dad is a WR coach and the kid not know how to get open. Get this kid!

  • OU Boomer says:

    What are the odds we get both Jefferson’s to commit to OU that weekend???

  • Hotrod33 says:

    I love how Coaches Gundy and Monty are recruiting their butts off to get the best players available. This kinda tell me that there are going to me more changes coming to the staff if you think about it.

  • Big Higg says:

    With those two recruiting him, I’m gonna go ahead & predict the flip

  • Ed Cotter says:

    Can’t wait to see how the two young men like their visits. BOOMER!!

  • L'Carpetron Dookmarriot says:

    Monty is recruiting OU’s whole class. Never seen anything like that before.

  • Stephen Dale says:

    If Jefferson has ‘deep speed’ , he might get a lot of playing time in 2015. Playing time is there for the taking………….

  • Lane Gilstrap says:

    6 foot 2, 183lbs, 4.56 40 time and great route runner. Sounds like a winner. Go get em Monty!!!

  • j l says:

    Interesting, Rivals said we werent even recruiting jefferson up until this point. Wonder how we are getting in with him so late in the process?
    him and smith are buddies i guess?

  • Lane Gilstrap says:

    See if his dad needs a job too.

    • Super K says:

      lol

      • soonerjunky says:

        I think Lane is serious. I’d offer father and son

        • Super K says:

          The son told me he’d commit on the spot if it happened haha

          • Steven says:

            On a real note, We’ve heard a lot of names for OC, but none for specifically the WR coaching spot. Have any names been floated yet, or are we just playing the waiting game?

          • Doobie74OU says:

            They have been saying we can only hire 2 offensive coaches to fill spots so probably waiting to see if the OC they hire will also coach either WR or QB and then hire a guy to coach the other one so will need to hire OC first!

          • Hotrod33 says:

            Say hire the OC that can coach qb’s and then go get a very good wr coach to deal with only them. Then get input from all the offensive coaches for the game plan and go rock this thing.

          • Doobie74OU says:

            Amen!!!

          • soonerjunky says:

            Wr coach an co offensive coordinator

          • JD says:

            Is his dad coming too…is he even on the radar or waiting for the OC hire first

          • KellyB says:

            Looks like a good kid…at least from the picture

        • Lane Gilstrap says:

          I am serious. If he can coach in the NFL then I’d say he’s qualified. But yes, the OC should be first and if he coaches qbs then why not?

    • Justin Keller says:

      I would chuckle a lil if they seriously offered him WR coach though. Here is the guy that coached Megatron and the kid with physical comparisons to Megatron (DGB) already declaring for the draft lol. Would that not have been a best case scenerio for DGB getting one more year of preparation?! I’m over DGB though, moving on.

  • Zack says:

    How great would it be to take 2 of Georgia’s former recruits. Allen and jefferson. I didn’t like our chances with him until you said gundy and monty. Just add him and smith to our commit list monty will make it happen.

  • Indy_sooner says:

    I don’t think Van Jefferson travels cross country w/o knowing who the next OC is so its a great sign. Either way, I love the interest!
    Edit: Calling it, Jefferson for OC !

  • Stephen says:

    I mean, he’s no Dahu Green but I’d be pleased if he were to become a Sooner. (:

    • Zack says:

      Hopefully the new oc and wr coaches look at him and say dahu come to Norman.

      • Stephen says:

        Hopefully we can get someone that can develop these big WR’s that just sit on the bench. No offense to the smaller guys but I’m tired of a trio of small guys we use.

        • Ed Cotter says:

          I know what you mean. I was expecting to see some of these bigger guys even this year to get those jump balls on fade routes, but nope.

        • Zack says:

          Well I’m pretty certain the first wr move will be neal to the slot and probably start young, smallwood or todd where neal lined up. But also I don’t expect us to line our receivers in the exact same spots each time. The next coach needs to take advantage of stacking receivers and overloading one side at times.

          • Stephen says:

            Yeah, there was little to no creativity in our formations this year.

          • D Hunter Sanchez says:

            Neal drops passes, cannot get consistent separation, and so far, is not a threat to get deep. Or it’s Knight and Thomas. I prefer Shep, Quick, and Westbrook and rotate the bigger WR’s…and incoming freshmen.

          • Zack says:

            I forgot about westbrook. But I think neal was playing out of position all year he’s not an outside receiver but I think he has some ability if used in the slot. Westbrook and quick should definitely get a ton of time in the slot as well. But they have to develop todd mead and smallwood. I bet those 3 would be beasts at baylor so why not at ou?

          • coach K says:

            Jeff mead played behind Neal outside all season. Neal didn’t practice the last month and Jeff took every rep in practice for him. He is better than the other receivers outside right now so unless someone makes a jump he would be the guy to take that spot.

          • Zack says:

            Then why wasn’t neal benched in the bowl game?

          • coach K says:

            Neal was benched the last month of the season when he didn’t practice so why would he be benched in the bowl game. The kid was Jurt and would get a shot before games to be able to play.

  • soonerbred4ever says:

    OU definitely has the A team recruiters on it.

  • nicjams says:

    They need to make Monty a millionaire. That dude is extremely invaluable to say the least.

  • Doobie74OU says:

    Can Monty Gundy & Bedenbaugh pull a trifecta of Allen, Jefferson , & Smith? I think yes they can!!!

  • SoonerFan11 says:

    Wonder if his dad wants to coach our WR’s…. I thought he was an early enrollee too???

  • hushnpa says:

    so future coach here as well if we can get him , or him and his dad 🙂

  • JD says:

    I’m not sure how I’d feel about a father son package on the team

  • Paul Lott says:

    This class could get very interesting.

  • Mizuno44 says:

    Forgive me if this has already been mentioned and also for the source, per Dean Blevins:

    Jan. 7, 3:10 p.m.- Just spoke with a coaching source who was told by a Big 12 offensive coordinator that he believes OU has interest and “may have even already contacted” Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost. The coaching source tells me Frost might be more interested than most think because of his history as Nebraska’s starting QB and healthy rivalry for conference rival Oklahoma.

    • Hotrod33 says:

      I guess we’ll see. I can’t believe Dean. It is a lot of speculation on his part most of the time.

      • Mizuno44 says:

        I’m with you, but the first I’ve seen that even potentially sniffed out this air biscuit.

    • D Hunter Sanchez says:

      Being new to this forum, it seems that Dean B has a bad rep…last I saw him he was backing up T Lott. I guess he makes up his news?

      • Mizuno44 says:

        I hear you bro, however my guy instinct says there is something to this, and we will spend the necessary cash to dangle a whole bunch of carrots.

        • Zack says:

          With dean I think he gets one fact and tries to run with it and make it his story. Not saying he makes everything up out of nowhere but there is usually some embellishing. Hope he’s right and I hope frost is willing to take the job. Oregon is a better gig right now but if he is a part of a turn around at ou then Nebraska will back the truck up to his house.

        • Boomer4life says:

          OU would just have to overcome Nike money in the process.

      • Steve Johns says:

        Backed up Steve Davis before that. Deano was like a lot of others, great high school athlete, just didn’t transfer to college. Best sport was basketball. As for his “breaking news” he’s not very reliable.

    • soonerthunder says:

      Yes, we’ll see but “b/c of his . . . healthy rivalry for conference rival OU” doesn’t make sense. Is Blevins saying something like this: a former OU player would definitely be interested in coaching at UT b/c OU had a healthy rivalry with UT? Doesn’t make sense. Either a guy is interested or he’s not, it looks to me like, and having a healthy rivalry with OU while at Neb would have NOTHING IN THE WORLD to do with being interested in OU. Am I missing something or does that just not make sense?

      • L'Carpetron Dookmarriot says:

        Ever heard of Darrell Royal?

        • soonerthunder says:

          Yep. Sure have. Was he interested b/c of the rivalry or b/c he was interested in being a HC at a great football university? Doubt the rivalry w/UT is what caused him to become UT’s coach.

          • L'Carpetron Dookmarriot says:

            Probably should ask Mr. Royal that…

          • soonerthunder says:

            since he’s dead, I guess I’ll pass. But I don’t think anyone gets interested in another school BECAUSE they are rivals, but BECAUSE they want the good job. Dumb reasoning I guess I just don’t get.

          • L'Carpetron Dookmarriot says:

            Right. You’re arguing with a quote from Dean Blevins and, I’ll take a wild guess, not knowing Scott Frost.

      • Mizuno44 says:

        I’m with all of you posting about the reliability of the source, it’s DB. There’s really no way of knowing until after the NC game, it would be irresponsible for all parties to do anything that might cause problems during the preparation before the game. With that said, I do think there is interest on both sides for an unknown reason ($$ seems to be a motivating factor for some) for sand everything is in neutral for a bit.

      • JD says:

        I’m sure if you think about, A player at a rival school will have a certain amount of respect for the other school…that’s pretty much what is being said…let’s not over think it though and think that is the very reason he would take the job (since it was the rival school). We have a coach on our staff right now that played at our rival. I doubt he came here because we were his rival..He probably came on board because of the winning tradition and respect he has for the school, coaching staff, and experience he could gain from such a move

      • soonerthunder says:

        I guess I don’t understand the way Blevins “reasons” at times. He throws these nonsensical statements out there and when you think about them you go “What?” If Foster wants to come to OU I would bet it has NOTHING TO DO WITH HAVING A RIVALRY WITH OU, and everything to do w/money, an opportunity to better his football coaching future, maybe even getting back closer to family/friends.

      • Jake says:

        Healthy rivalry with Nebbish, yes.
        Healthy rivalry with UT, nope. Nothing healthy about it.
        One rivalry was about respect and the other is hate.
        Two different deals.
        But I still don’t see how that has any bearin on where’d you want to coach other than a familiarity with expectations.

        • soonerthunder says:

          I agree. Hate losing to either, but UT never can stomach. All the more reason why Royals didn’t go b/c of rivalry; he went b/c it’s a great coaching job.

      • Mizuno44 says:

        Agree. What if though, Oregon wins the NC and your QB is leaving for the NFL? Does his stock go down if they have a couple of terrible seasons afterwards? If he thinks that might happen, he knows his roster, why not move to a school who will double his salary, and are also extremely motivated to revive their program. It could be safer when comparing his potential situation soon.

        • Hotrod33 says:

          Oregon would pony up as much money as OU will. Don’t forget they have Phil Knight and I bet he would do anything to keep him.

          • soonerthunder says:

            My question is why hasn’t Oregon paid him more already? We paid Heupel more than they are paying Foster I believe.

          • Hotrod33 says:

            Good question. Maybe they didn’t realize how good he is until now because someone like OU is maybe going after him. This could get interesting for both teams on how bad do they want him. These next two weeks will be fun to watch if that is the case.

          • D Hunter Sanchez says:

            No. The effectiveness of Oregon’s O goes back to HC Belotti, then reached another gear under Kelly. Now under Scott. I think he isn’t paid because Knight knows it’s the system and the QB. However, we can say Oregon reached another level this year. Was it Frost or Marcus?

    • Lane Gilstrap says:

      He’s probably trying to get a raise. The best way to do that is to take interviews and get offers.

      • soonerthunder says:

        Without a doubt. I’d do the same thing if I was him. But that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t come here. Might see it as an opportunity plus he might come b/c they never offered him until OU offered him. He sees other OCs (Heupel) getting more while he does more may be opportunity to say: “You had a chnace to pay me what I was worth, what other programs are paying OCs, and you didn’t do it.”

        • D Hunter Sanchez says:

          Agree. In addition, there is some thought that Mariotta is a system QB. The system has been around before Scott arrived. By coming to OU and “fixing/restarting” a broken race car, he will stand out apart from Oregon’s system.

  • Onikuno says:

    So OU’s tag team champions of recruiting are getting both Jefferson AND Smith on campus at the same time? Gimmie a HELL YEAH!

  • KellyB says:

    Jefferson could be a diamond in the rough, plus Westbook is an absolute gem. I spoke with a UT guy whose cousin played 7-on-7 with Westbrook. Said Dede was an absolute freak and [admirably] said “you guys got an absolute stud. just wait and see.” With Shep, Quick, Westbrook, Andrews, et al. I’m optimistic we can develop a strong core of receivers — and QB — to go along with a vicious RB attack of Perine, Ford, Ross and Mixon. WOW

    • JD says:

      Jefferson is pretty highly ranked…I wouldn’t give him the “diamond in the rough” label…very polished wr (dad is wr coach..go fig) with good route running and nice height..speed could be faster but has a little wiggle…the route running is top notch and will get a lesser talent open

    • soonerbred4ever says:

      Don’t forget Anderson who enrolled this week. He’s a heck of a runningback.

  • curt gomer says:

    Imagine if OU can land these two TN guys, Kareem Orr, Wariboko, Antoine Stephens, Daishon Neal, Arthur McGinnis,Nate Dalton and Justin Reid. Murray and Lampkin would flip. Get Shannon and Mixon back from suspension and bring in Frost as OC. All this has at least a chance of happening. How pumped would we all be come September!!

    • oumike23 says:

      Interesting note. In 2007 Frost was co-defensive coordinator at Northern Iowa. How many coaches have been a defensive and offensive coordinator at college level?

    • JD says:

      My guess at db is Patterson, Stephens, and we’d take Reid too but we’re really running out of room but I feel best about the first two being sooners…would love to have Reid as well

    • lebval15 says:

      I believe we only have 5 or 6 spots left so max we could get about half of those guys.

    • soonerthunder says:

      What makes you think that would cause murray and lampkin to flip. A&M or UT might argue they’ve had as good a year, or better, and I don’t see them flipping to other teams that might have a good year recruiting just b/c they had a good yr recruiting. I’m excited and I think it will offer OU lots of excitement, but I don’t think it insures people will flip.

      • curt gomer says:

        If you took it that us landing those guys i mentioned would make them flip thats not what i meant. just theres been talk/rumors they could flip so just saying its possible.

    • Fear The Magic says:

      you forgot Patterson

  • Guest says:

    Is it just me, or is everyone calling for Mike’s head forgetting that a good offense is the best defense. Yes, there were a lot of questionable formations this past year. but if we get a OC who can control time of position and keep the Defense from playing behind. this defense could be monstrous. I am not sure what that stats are, but I would bet my paycheck that the 2014 Defense was on the field longer than just about any defense in the country. that my friends is a recipe for disaster.

    • Mizuno44 says:

      Bret, thank you! Last time I checked, whoever has the most points in a game wins.

    • RBear says:

      This D was nickle and dimed to death this year because that’s what they gave the opposing O’s, large cushions that allowed long, time-consuming drives. You’re right that our O’s continued 3 and out’s didn’t help much but the fault lies on both sides of the ball really. That’s why folks are wanting the changes to address both O and D coaching.

    • soonerthunder says:

      I don’t think the O was the biggest problem–it was the D. However, that said, the O wasn’t as good as it should have been. Last year with Bell it was terrible. Everyone could see he couldn’t throw the ball down field and crowded the LOS. It was better this year w/TK (and last), but we didn’t have originality. The WRs might not could have gotten open with anyone coaching them with the play-calling, IMO. We had too good of an OL to not be better. But our D was terrible, IMO, and the main reason we lost, not the O and yes, I know the O made some horrible mistakes, but surely if we had made more stops those O mistakes wouldn’t even have mattered. Anyway, Stoops is right in his Press conference–everyone was at fault–including him!

    • D Hunter Sanchez says:

      Great point. You need to be able to put teams in passing situations (Bama) and crush the QB with Striker etc…OU would get up 17-0, and the offense would keep the pressure on with few turnovers.

  • wubear says:

    Same high school as Wesley Horky, the long snapper we brought in this past year FWIW.

  • Tim Walsh says:

    Crazy – I am sitting in the Ravenwood parking lot right now to pick up my daughter. Van is the real deal. Everyone else looks in slow motion as this guy moves on the field. Would be a huge steal.

  • Easy2120 says:

    Could this be a hint that dad is in the running for the WR coach position?

  • Jeff says:

    Pretty good player, thank god OU has there best recruiters on them

  • EasTex says:

    This last four weeks before NSD are a tense time for coaches, trying to flip other school’s recruits while holding on to the one’s already committed.
    /patience

  • RBear says:

    Just had a thought on why the thought of being an OC at OU would make Frost’s mouth water; the Big XII defenses!

    • EasTex says:

      Could be, but I don’t think the Pac12 defenses gave him dry mouth.

      • RBear says:

        Prob not but I suspect “ours” are a tad more porous.

        • EasTex says:

          I would think the biggest attraction would be a new setting which is closer to home, a fresh opportunity to prove what he is capable of and not just the caretaker of a successful system that was already in place.

          • RBear says:

            I’m sure there are a lot of things that make this opportunity attractive to a lot of candidates- hopefully whoever we land is very hungry and it’s a contagious hunger the infects the entire staff and team.

          • EasTex says:

            I certainly remember what a gutty, competitive player he was at Nebraska. It would seem his “gut fire” is still burning.

          • JD says:

            Correct. Come here and wake up our offense while we make it to the playoffs would pretty much guarantee HC offers

          • EasTex says:

            I have no problem with a new OC padding his resume if he helps OU’s drive for championships.

          • soonerthunder says:

            A guy who leaves for a HC means he did something right while he was with us. And there are lots of good coaches out there if you are willing to pay the money.

          • Zack says:

            Like JD said (doubt it’s runnels but would be cool if it was) the team isn’t that far off especially on offense. Had things been just slightly better then we probably wouldn’t be addressing these “needs” but I’m with you. It wouldn’t bother me one bit if a guy comes here as a stepping stone.

          • JD says:

            In the Stoops era only Heuple and Norvelle didn’t move on to HC jobs..that’s pretty good odds right there!

          • Zack says:

            Especially since by most accounts this offense is garbage, if a guy comes in and turns that around to help get ou to the playoff then he will get offers. Especially frost. Which I know some think there’s no way but for whatever reason oregon isn’t paying him too much.

          • RBear says:

            Right. And Stoops eluded to that very thing in his presser.

          • Zack says:

            He alluded to it all year with the over use of “execution” but to execute a little better on 3rd down and it’s almost certain we would have been 11-1. We ranked 48 or 49th I think in 3rd down conversions

          • RBear says:

            I was referring to Stoops eluding to what makes the OC job attractive is that many who have come through here have landed HC jobs.

          • JD says:

            and another thing…potential OCs have to realize we really aren’t that far off…a few tweaks here and there and stay healthy

          • RBear says:

            great schemes (can) make great players

          • boomersooner says:

            so, they lose to ohio st(no national championship….still), then they lose frost to us and we go on to win the title next yr=wear it!! that’s what you get for cheating. you still ain’t recovered that onside kick

          • EasTex says:

            Sure hope they don’t have a Pac12 officiating crew Monday night.

        • soonerthunder says:

          Or our offenses are a lot better overall than everyone else’s. Look at Alabama last year. Held everyone to 10 pts or under except LSU 17 pts and Auburn (@ Aub) 28 in regulation. A&M (w/Big 12 recruited players) and OU, 42 and 45 pts respectively and OU w/a FR QB w/only 3 starts under his belt and Heupel as OC. And I could go on and on. With QBs like Weeden, Bradford, McCoy, Tannehill, RGIII, Petty, etc, etc, etc, it might just make ANYBODY’S defense look a tad more porous. (Those QBs aren’t from the SEC, BTW, although they are in the NFL.)

  • AlvinMack55 says:

    Has there been anything more with John Houston or did OU just get a courtesy spot in his Top 5? I was just wondering if the coaches are still actively trying to land him.

    • Zack says:

      I would feel better if monty was his recruiter but my guess is it’s kish and just like last year he’s not gonna close a highly rated kid out of junipero.

  • curt gomer says:

    baylor offer now for DB Stephens. Why is he just now getting all the offers? academics?

    • Zack says:

      You may be on to something. Maybe he just improved his act. But also he’s a guy that is purely potential since he only had one year as a corner once we jumped in and offered then everyone wanted him. Hopefully our offer stands out since I think it was the first big time offer. Him and dalton would be great additions even though they’re raw players.
      But we have to find a guy to develop them

      • curt gomer says:

        Thats for sure, Probably in the next week rivals,247 will give another star to his rating all because of these offers.

    • Super K says:

      Yes he didn’t have a test score until a couple weeks ago. He did very well on the ACT

  • Martin says:

    I agree there would have to be some connection to make Van look at OU at this point in time.

  • J.K. Abbott says:

    Van would be a great get. He’s a Prue D Stud!

  • Brian says:

    What does OU’s CB board look like right now? How do they rank?

    I see Orr, Stephens, Patterson, and Dalton. Anyone else?

  • Mysterio1 says:

    Two of our best recruiters on this kid? The staff must really want him.

  • Jeremy Phillips says:

    Bob Shoop no longer in play for LSU DC.. He’s staying at Penn St…. Chances Mike gets involved with LSU again? They seem to have struck out with everyone else so far..

  • Carl Carter says:

    What is the status on Jaylon Lane?