The Football Brainiacs

I know a lot of you are itching to know more about what, if any, changes will still be made on the coaching front. I haven’t been overly vocal as far as what I’ve heard over the past couple months for various reasons, the most obvious of which is that things can change.

I’m sure you all had been hearing, like we had, for a long time that Bobby Jack Wright would be retiring and likely taking another role with the program. But the announcement continued to be pushed back to the point that no matter how strong a source is, you start questioning if it was really going to happen this time (as it had obviously been rumored for a couple years now).

I say all that to say this; I’m going to share a few things I’ve heard, because I had it corroborated by someone who has been dead on throughout this whole process. So I’m just trying to share with you some of what I’ve heard. Mainly because it’s from what I consider to be a reliable source, but also because we know that you want to know what’s going on and there is so little in the way of information currently available. We’re continuing to strive to approach these changes, and all the talk/rumors/that come along with them, in the most responsible way possible. We’re not looking to just throw out idle speculation just for the sake of doing so.

With that said, here is some of what we’ve been hearing.

– Most of you may have noticed that we have not been mentioning Tim Kish in any of the Open Posts lately. The fact is I have not spoken to a recruit for some time who has told me Kish has been in communication with them. Perhaps this is just a coincidence, or maybe I’m just not talking to the right kids. But his, at least, perceived absence from the recruiting scene only adds to what we’ve been hearing for quite some time, which is that it’s unlikely Kish will be coaching at OU next season.

– When that change may occur, officially? I don’t know. We keep hearing after Signing Day is possible, but then you go back to the Coach Wright deal. And we started to believe that change might not come until after NSD as well, but it was obviously made official earlier this week. So if I’m being perfectly honest, at this point, I don’t know when you can expect to hear something regarding Kish.

If he’s not actively recruiting kids, as would appear to be the case, then I’m not really sure I see any particular reason for the delay. But Bob clearly has his reasons, so we just continue to wait.

– I have been told that during the meeting we reported occurred between Stoops and David Boren a few weeks back (not the subsequent meeting that occurred only a week or two ago, but an earlier meeting that we reported), the two discussed the standard at Oklahoma being no less than competing for national championships. That this could not be met with the current staff and that changes obviously had to be made.

– I have heard for a while now that one of those changes would be Mike Stoops as the defensive coordinator. Early on, as far back as a month or two ago, I had heard there was a very real chance Mike would either leave or take another position within the program. However, this just seemed very unlikely to me.

When we found out he was interviewing for the LSU job, then it seemed clear there was at least some merit to what we’d been told. Shortly thereafter, though, Mike had his defensive coordinator title changed to co-dc when Bob announced Jerry Montgomery’s promotion.

It’s also worth noting Mike’s presence on the recruiting side of things, and the fact he has planned in-home visits this week and next. More and more in observing what was happening and talking to various sources, it seemed that whatever change was going to happen regarding Mike had already happened. Namely, that he would simply be a co-DC as opposed to the lone guy in charge of the defense.

However, I was informed last night that changes regarding Mike may not necessarily be done. There is still a possibility (emphasis on possibility, because at this point no matter how sure someone is when they tell me…it still just seems somewhat inconceivable Bob would make a change with his brother) that Mike could be moved into some other type of role within the program. Whether that is as a position coach, or a quality control position, or some type of position they create for him, the details of which have obviously yet to be decided (assuming, of course, that’s even the direction they ultimately decide to go).

Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean Mike is going anywhere, or that he won’t be OU’s co-DC next season. That hasn’t been decided yet. Bob could just as easily decide that Mike, along with help from Montgomery, is the guy to get things turned around. We’re simply relaying what we’ve heard for those of you out there who had already written off the possibility, however slim it may or may not be, of anything changing with regards to the DC position.

– We addressed the DBs coach spot yesterday on the site, and we’re continuing to work on tracking down some of the names being considered for the WRs coach opening. But there’s just very little out there right now other than mostly speculation.

One name you can take off any potential list, however, is Dave Nichol, who worked with new OU offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley at ECU. Nichol will be named Riley’s replacement as the new OC at Eastern Carolina.