Post Practice Notebook

Mike Stoops on Getting Better

– The message from Mike is that much of the issues the defense has had is “a lot of little things…execution…letting the quarterback get out…not running a blitz or a coverage the right way.”

– A theme that kept reoccurring with Mike was how one of the things that the defense seems to be grappling with is getting their players to adjust properly to the “different formations of so many different plays.” But the good news is he also talked about the need to “make our system where it’s player friendly…where they can execute and go out and play fast and understand what they’re doing and not be too complicated, but still have enough variations of our own to complicate the offense as well.” Hopefully that means there will be some simplification towards the end of the season.

– It was tough to tell whether Mike was implying that the defense has become more complicated than it was last year (and it certainly has, for example, OU played almost exclusively man coverage on the back end last year in the Baylor game) but he did clearly indicate that they were a better defense last year…at least on 3rd down execution. Talked about this year, part of their inability to get off the field is just their inability to play “clean” and to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

He didn’t indicate reasons for this, though he didn’t mention inexperience but didn’t necessarily mention it as the cause.

– Mike definitely sounded frustrated with the defense though. He said, “we just haven’t been quite good enough to win in tough situations…that’s frustrating for us all…I still believe we have great players, we just need to be able to execute better.”

– On Steven Parker, “Steven’s got incredible talent…it’s just understanding the nuances…the movement…the adjusting…being able to adapt.” What Mike seemed to be indicating is that Steven is a special player but he’s still going through that process of learning to adjust to the offensive adjustments and play without thinking so that his elite athletic ability can shine. But overall he indicated that Parker has tremendous upside and talent. “You see him getting better and better.”

– It was interesting to hear Mike talk about the teams motivation despite having two losses and facing a very steep, if not insurmountable climb, to getting back into the playoff picture. He certainly didn’t seem ready to concede that they had no chance saying, “a lot can happen in this league…there’s a lot of competitive games left. Some things need to happen for us to climb back in the race…nothing is going to help us if we lose another one, we certainly understand that…you concentrate on yourself…we just gotta go out and play…play better.”

– The word Mike used to describe the kind of defense they want to have is “versatility.” I think a lot of what OU fans are seeing on the field is a process of them trying to become more versatile and complete. Last year OU struggled against the run and changes were clearly made in an attempt to be able to get better against the run while remaining sound against the pass. That process hasn’t gone as smoothly as they would have liked it would seem but it’s clear that they continue to work towards being a more complete defense.

Wide Splits

– Last week Tapper talked about how the team spent quite a bit of time working on how to defend the wide splits that Oklahoma continues to see. This week, Jordan Phillips was asked about how much of a focus there was on defending the wide splits this week and he said:

“We’re just trying to figure out some ways that we can have them get out of those (wide splits).”

He was also asked what he thought when he first saw the wide splits and he said, “honestly, I was like ‘what am I going to do here.’ I just didn’t know what to do.”

His response becomes a little alarming, for lack of a better word, when he continued by saying that he didn’t know what do against the wide splits, “especially against K-State because they have that run pass option…I was like…I really don’t know what to do.” He said that the he felt the wide splits really schemed him out of the play (which is obviously a win for K. State).

Jordan did indicate that they have sufficiently prepared for the wide splits and said, “we will be ready next time it happens.”

Super K’s Commentary on the Wide Splits: As a general matter, wide splits are something that you have to attack but you need to do something that the defense seems somewhat reluctant to do, which is put your corners on a true island in man coverage because you have to get your safeties involved. Against the splits you want to have a lot of gap exchange because your offensive linemen are going to be man blocking for the most part. But anytime you start blitzing a line backer or getting a lot of movement with wide splits, you can open up run lanes, especially if you get your blitzer chipped. The safeties can act as…safeties…meaning they offer you support in your gap integrity and allow you to be more aggressive up front while still being sound against the run in the case there is a possible mistake. In general much of Oklahoma’s defensive problems, while nuanced, can still be summed up in what I believe to be a lack of aggression and risk. That shows up in their secondary alignment, in the calls and it showed up against the wide splits.

The Offense

Durron Neal talked about the hot topic with wide receiver core, Sterling Shepard’s rib injury due to the camera in the corner of the end zone: “ That’s him (his toughness). We battle through a lot of injuries and we take pride on stepping up and making plays for our team. Just lean on each other like brothers like we’ve always done.”

– Iowa State plays a lot one-on-one coverage. Durron was asked if he was excited about it: “Always. If you can’t beat one on one coverage you shouldn’t be playing.”

Durron was asked about Iowa States physical bump and run and how he liked playing against that: “ We love that as receivers. You lick your chops knowing you have to get ready for stuff like that. It’s one on one. That’s what you like. It’ll bring the competitiveness out of you.”

– Durron was then asked how he thought Trevor Knight played outside of the pick six: “ He looked like the Trevor Knight of the Sugar Bowl. It was good to see him get into a rhythm and get his confidence back up. He started finding guys down field and we got the offense going.”

– Asked what it’s like going up against Sanchez in practice every day: “ It’s fun. I go against Julian more, but in camp, before Shep and I switched sides, I went against him a lot. He’s a great competitor. That’s why he’s a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award.  He’s one of the best DB’s in the country.  I’m glad he’s on our team.”

Jay Norvell then came into the room and talked for an extensive amount of time. He’s always a great interview. He talked a lot on the young guys and DGB’s progression.

– Norvell  was first asked on how they went through the bye week as an offensive/wide receiver unit:  “Pretty typical off week. We wanted to focus on some things we aren’t real strong at and, obviously, work with some of the young guys and put them in some tougher situations.”

– Norvell on Trevor Knight: “He had a good game. He was zeroed in and accurate. It was good. We got a lot of people involved and we’ll continue to do that.”

– Norvell and media had a good laugh at Neal’s comment that he better beat one on one or he shouldn’t be playing college football. Norvell’s response was classic. “ He better believe that or I’m playing the wrong guy.”

– He then got serious and elaborated more on the question: “Durron is really confident.  He’s been very patient throughout his career.  He’s really enjoying playing, and he’s playing well.  He continues to improve. As the year goes on, different players are going to get different opportunities. I’m Durron will have more as the year goes on.”

– Sheppard and Neal have been great leaders this year. They’ve been vocal and leading through action and work ethic. Norvell was asked if it was something that was taught by others that have come through the program: “They’ve had good examples on how to practice and prepare.  Those two need to pass it down to the younger players. We talk about that a lot.”

– The offense has been inconsistent this season. Norvell explained how they need to go about getting more big plays: “Execution. Big plays can come from any part of the game.  Running game, short passes or screen game. It’s just guys making plays and being confident at every position.”

– Norvell explained how OU dictates the tempo. Not experience on the field: “We dictate the tempo. We dictate it on who we want out there.  When we decide to go fast when we feel like we need to, and we slow it down when we feel like we need to.  I don’t think it(experience) has anything to do with it.”

49 Comments

  • ratman says:

    Sorry Mike we don’t have great players on defense. We have some above average and some below average. The term great is used far too much for everything.

    • Super K says:

      I think the next two drafts will prove him right. At the very least we know he’s got a Thorpe award semifinalist and a Butkus award semifinalist on the defense. Thats’ more than one could say about a lot of defenses ranked ahead of OUs.

      • ratman says:

        I don’t see a first or second round guy this year. Do you mean after this year??

        • Jared William Reininger says:

          I think Grissom could be a early pick, rounds 1-3, I have thought he has played lights out and hasn’t got as much love as some other guys. But he looks like your typical NFL Linebacker, Striker will get drafted somewhere, Sanchez will get drafted if he has a good combine and can prove his size won’t slow him down. Phillips, Tapper I tihnk will both go pretty early.

        • j l says:

          Jordan phillips is rated the #3 DT, grissom is top 10 OLB. Striker is top 5 olb and is a late 1st/early 2nd round guy.
          Theres probably 5-6 guys that could go in the 1st 3 rounds on this defense.

          • ratman says:

            We will see I guess. Maybe next year, but not this year.

          • j l says:

            all you have to do is look at some mock drafts, and or position rankings, and itll confirm what im telling you.

            Both thompson and williams are rated as top 10 offensive tackles as well.

            Talent is not the problem with us. Getting the kids playing to their max potential is.

          • ratman says:

            I wait for April when all the facts are in. Mock drafts are no different than playoff rankings in October when there are many games to play.

          • j l says:

            so you can say with confidence that there isnt a 1st or 2nd rounder on this defense, but when i post evidence to the contrary, its invalid?

            how can you make such a judgement when all the facts are not yet it?

            Basically you are telling me that your opinion is more valid than tons of experts saying otherwise. LOL

          • ratman says:

            We all have sources from different places. My source an NFL scout says we have 1 player that could go in the first round, but there are significant concerns about the health of the player. His team because of the size problem does not see Striker as a first rounder.

          • j l says:

            but you said 1st or 2nd round. I havent seen striker mocked any lower than the 2nd round.

            you read bleacher report? matt miller, their draft expert, has 5-6 guys in the 1st 3 rounds, and thats only the current draft eligible guys.

            kids like alexander and evans could easily be NFL caliber by the time they are draft eligible.

            I understand we are all frustrated by the defense’s play, but its certainly not due to lack of talent.

      • Indy_sooner says:

        Sanchez definitely getting the respect he deserves. I hope teams continue disrespecting him. Now free the Striker!

      • SamSooner says:

        This team isn’t flashy. But they bring their hard hat and lunch pail. They haven’t quit. They even bring them to the interviews. I’ll take that any day. The shortcoming isn’t on the players. From what I see, they haven’t been put in position to succeed. Having said that, as long as they don’t quit, good things will happen. If I’m putting together a basketball team, give me this: a shooter, a ball handler, a defender, a person who can rebound, and a person who hustler. Hustlers give you second chances.

      • madman says:

        Several mid-high round picks on the D: Phillips, striker, grissom all pretty high picks imo Sanchez has a chance, tapper and ndule are solid also not to mention hayes who I feel has been one of our best so far

      • Guest says:

        Would rather have Ws than individual awards

  • Swanny says:

    I’ll say this about the D. The hard thing when you’ve got 3 290lb guys is that you can’t just rush those 3. None of them have shown the ability to go from the 4i to the QB without the help of Striker or Geneo coming from the outside to force the QB back up into the pocket. With this D-Line’s size, you can’t expect to rush 3 unless it’s 3rd and 15+.

    • Super K says:

      Yes rushing 3 isn’t something anyone should do and expect any semblance of consistent pressure. This is especially true when OU regularly faces 6-8 blockers. The odd front was meant to disguise pressure and bring it from the edges as well as allow the simplification of adjustments against offensive formation shifts. OU seems to be having some trouble with both but I’m hoping we’ll see a lot of that remedied now and I expect to see a much better defense from here on out.

      • boomersooner says:

        i loved what the redskins did against the ‘boys. show the house blitz and either bring some, bring all or bring none. gruden kept wondering why they never went to max protect. just fun to watch the chess match and have someone with gruden’s brain dissect it and tell it

      • Swanny says:

        Yet we probably do it 6-8 times a game in mid yardage situations. I truly can’t grasp the thinking. What bugs me too is when TCU and KSU went to those extra wide splits, just bring your MLBs into the A gaps and blitz. If they’re going to give you that wide of a lane, you take it. You can’t play conventionally in an unconventional set.

  • Jed says:

    So, K, he’p me on the third down thing. We seem to have an established pattern of giving up third and long-ish to opponents. It seems to me that many of the plays we get gashed on are slow developing….and that we continue to give the enemy time. Why are we not putting more pressure on the QB in those circumstances?

    • thebigdroot says:

      I’ve drank many a beer contemplating why we are not pressuring them more and I’ve come to the conclussion that I have no idea either.

    • Super K says:

      Have no clue. To me that’s a man coverage, pressure down. I’m equally mystified.

      • SoonerinLondon says:

        I just can’t understand the lack of aggression from the D. Coming into the year it looked like the D was built around overwhelming the opposing O with fast, athletic guys coming from multiple, unpredictable places.
        Alas, we haven’t seen much of that. Are we REALLY that concerned about our backend? I’m not coach, but with our personnel, it seems to me it is worth the risk.

        • Super K says:

          Outside of last year Mike has always tried to protect his secondary. This year they don’t have as much help over the top as they did two years ago but they’re are playing a lot more 3 deep coverage. Last yr was the right direction IMO.

  • Indy_sooner says:

    Great Info TFB.. Much appreciated for us in the other side of the country.

    Re WRs: For some guys it takes actual game experience. Shep is shorter and probably slower than Neal, or Woods but from the get go he never had problems getting separation or getting the jump balls. If we can find a way to make this happen with the others even if partially, I’d be happy. Either way, close out the season getting multiple the receivers in sync. Neal, Young, Quick, Mead et al

  • boomersooner says:

    wow. what do you do if strong’s promise doesn’t come through? nothing. “but if you’ll buy that i’ll throw the golden gate in free”

  • rphokc says:

    …..so, mstoops is confused and frustrated and norvell has nothing really enlightening to offer………I don’t care what dgb is doing
    …….has anyone watched any of I-st this yr……….what are they good at……..have seen some comments that they have a good running qb

  • disqus_uj44WuVjt2 says:

    Is this the FIRST YEAR an offense has come up with wide splits??? Hell NO!!!! Why are we seeing all this chatter from our guys and the coaches. It is simply incredable that this was not an immediately cured by this coaching staff. Yet all these excuses!!!

  • Rene Goupillaud says:

    What baffles me is that TCU used wide spreads to slow our pressure on the Qb and it was effective. You had to expect KSU to try that too, at least until we proved we’d made adjustments. I am stunned that Phillips had no idea what to do.

    What do the coaches do all year long? When McCoy said that he learned technique at Tampa, I shuddered. Now I wonder what we are doing. Are we teaching technique and skills? Do they watch film? Do we really expect to put athlete everybody?

    I believe moving Grisson to Striker’s spot was a mistake and we should move them back.

    If by now it isn’t obvious that a contain, bend don’t break defense doesn’t work with these guys, I don’t know what would have to happen to make it clear. It has to frustrate the players that they can’t stop 3rd and longs.

    One more question. Why don’t we use wide spreads like we did with Mangino? We could at least slow down the rush on TK. It seems that the coaches think we’ll just out athlete other teams.

  • red clay says:

    Puzzling that a long time D coach would say he didn’t know what to do for wide splits. Maybe a dis-information psych job on I-St?
    You know, act like wide splits is the last thing you want to see – only to have set a trap?
    We can hope.

  • madman says:

    That’s worrisome that Phillips “didn’t know what to do” makes you question how well they were prepared for the game

  • Won says:

    I think Durron may need to see an optometrist
    “He looked like the Trevor Knight of the Sugar Bowl.”

    • boomersooner says:

      uh…i don’t get it. are you talking about him saying knight “looked” like the guy from the sugar bowl? because he did. minus one throw. huge throw. should’ve eaten it. but he got the 7 pts back in 2 plays….2 plays. how many incompletions? IMO, knight deserves about 10% of the blame. i keep saying it but its like cowboys fans blaming romo for throwing for 300 and 3 td’s but throwing a pick at some point. or people blaming peyton for only having one title and his teams not winning in the playoffs. these guys keep putting up these gaudy stats and the d just can’t keep a team outta the end zone. not really a qb’s fault. is knight romo or peyton? not even close. you would miss the point entirely….which i could have seeing as i just wrote a paragraph to answer your one sentence…haha. just my take

  • bmrsnr says:

    Offer JUCO CB Martin, we shifting some guys around in the secondary to fill some safety spots?

    • EasTex says:

      Looks like a good offer. He is considered one of the best in juco and everyone wants him.
      http://sports.yahoo.com/tennessee/football/recruiting/player-Justin-Martin-163825

      • Gary Robbins says:

        Seems OU always offers but sometimes it’s too late. I think this kid has ties to the state of Georgia, I also read that he went to school in Nashville but also likes LSU so who really knows. Toats McGoats mentioned this athlete a few months ago on one of his posts. Said he was a tall and fast cornerback. Oh yeah I know you like Whitfield (along with many others) do you think OU will offer him? I was looking at the 2016 offers and OU seems to be picking up the pace. They have already offered 3 quarterbacks and are up to 50-60 offers total.

        • EasTex says:

          Don’t know what our chances are with Martin. As I used to say before I got my face slapped…no harm in asking.
          I think the bye week provided much needed time for coaches to follow up on their recruiting. At this time of year I don’t expect to see many commits until after the first of the year.
          I don’t know if they will offer Whitfield and if they don’t I won’t understand.
          /Whitfield, please

    • hOUligan says:

      Martin once attended Shiloh High School (Snellville, GA), so he has
      ties to the state of Georgia. However, that won’t matter much if his
      current Head Coach (Ryan Held) at Northeast Oklahoma is to be believed;
      according to Held, Martin won’t end up anywhere but Tennessee when it’s
      all said and done.

      “He’s a lock to Tennessee,” said Held, a graduate
      assistant during UT’s 1998 national championship season. “They put him
      here. Unless there’s a break between the two parties, he’s going to UT.”

      http://theladysportswriter.com/georgia-recruiting-2015-juco-justin-martin-hearing-georgia/

      Doesn’t sound very promising in any event. Disappointing OU was in on so many CBs and LBs to start this cycle and with 3 months to go, the scramble seems to be starting.

  • Hotrod33 says:

    There is a couple of questions I’ve been trying to answer but just can’t come up with a reasonable answer. 1.) The wr’s that we recruited this past year are they just not that good to play or are they just redshirting them to get them ready for next year?
    2.) What is going on with all these juco offers lately? I know why you get them but this recruiting for this year is really weird. I guess I’m just trying to wrap my head around this whole thing.

    • connie usa says:

      Been wondering the same thing. We recruit 3+ wrs every year, and not much depth shown. BUT, I think M. Quick has the makings of a good one.

    • Sooner Ray says:

      I can only give you my humble opinion. I think when the season was starting, they felt really good about Shep, Durron, Woods, and thought they would get DGB. They claim the young guys are good but I think they are saving them. As far as juco, they may just be taking a sure thing knowing that the 2015 and 2016 classes are looking decent but may need some time to develop.

  • Stephen Dale says:

    OU could lose 5 in a row and the players would say the same thing we’ve heard all season ; ‘we’re getting better’ yada yada yada….etc…….. want to see that improvement transferred into results : throttling the opponent and kicking their a## while they are down. Jordan Esco said it in another thread : OU lacks the instincts to abuse an opponent and that is the difference in the BS’s teams and B Switzer’s teams. Maybe that change in attitude will occur if / when OU’s recruiting improves.

    • EasTex says:

      Will you be submitting your resume for Bob’s job should he leave?
      /rhetorical

      • T. says:

        Thank you EasTex for trying to curb some of the negativity. There’s still a lot to remain positive about, and while people may be thinking its the same old thing from OU, it has been the same old thing from some of the fans. All is not lost. If we finish in the top ten thats better than 92% of other D1 football programs, not so mediocre in my eyes.

        • EasTex says:

          I will never change the mind of a negative person. Being negative is very easy and only requires one to be intellectually lazy.
          I have loved the Sooners since I was five and after fifty eight years of elation and gut shredding despair I am in a different place than many.
          I remember the greatness of the 50’s, the mediocrity of the 60’s, the dynamic 70’s and 80’s, the forgettable 90’s, and now the fifteen years of excellence. Getting into the Natty isn’t easy, if it was every body would do it. OU is in a state where it is competitive for a Natty almost every year, given a recovered fumble here or there. an interception here or there, denied a first down here or there.
          Even my idol in my gravatar was mired in a morass at the end of his career. Peaks and valleys, my friend…enjoy the ride.

  • Jeremy Phillips says:

    Dannon Cavil leaving.. That’s one opening for a juco..

  • rphokc says:

    they were happy when they signed cavil……………so, lack of development or lack of talent