Weekend Open Post | August 2nd – 4th
Posted on: August 2, 2024
Sourced | What OU Thinks About Texas
– Super K – Posted on: July 29, 2024
I’ve been asking OU folks how they feel about this upcoming season, both in terms of how they feel about their own team and how they feel about the new competition.
I, of course, asked how they feel about Texas. After reading James’ post, this morning, I thought a good follow up to what he wrote would be a comment one OU source made about Texas’ 2024 WR group.
In short I was told, “they don’t have Worthy.” Source said that while they’ve added new guys with speed, not all speed translates the same.
Source noted that Xavier’s elite ability to translate his speed into down the field catches made defenses change the way they guarded Texas. Essentially, the belief is that it’s unlikely anyone they brought in will be nearly as dangerous.
Additionally, source noted that the combination of Xavier’s ability to stretch the field and Ja’Tavion Sanders ability to work underneath, was exceptionally difficult to guard.
As you know, Sanders is gone, as well.
In short, while sources on the OU side respect the talent Texas has brought in at WR, I think it’s hard to see such a deadly combination of pass catchers leave without some drop off.
On the flip side, they definitely believe their own WR corp is the best they’ve had under BV and they don’t seem to think it’s close.
NIL Structure and OU Regaining Advantage
– Super K – Posted on: July 30, 2024
Long time OU fans who follow recruiting are to some degree used to disappointment. This is especially true at certain positions.
Deep down, most of you probably didn’t expect OU to land Damonic Williams or Floyd Bouchard. When Texas was involved with Deion Burks, I suspect many OU fans figured it would end up being a Longhorn win.
But under BV, this cycle, the Sooners keep winning – not every battle but more than you’re accustomed to. Sooners were sort of used to the DJ Hicks situations.
The gut punch surprises – which I’m sure all fans are going to have to accept – have been become more frequent under the NIL era.
But as I’ve spoken to OU recruits, NIL is coming up less and less. Why? It’s not because I think NIL has become less important. I think it’s because NIL is no longer a concern as the Sooners are addressing it. And by addressing it, they’re removed it as an impediment and we are finding ourselves back to what OU’s recruiting would like in pre-NIL era – where the coaches and the program are what matter most.
Something that has been on my mind lately that, given OU’s administrative success over the years, I should have seen coming, is just how good OU has positioned themselves.
The concern was always that the bigger donor schools like Texas and TAMU and others would be impossible to compete with. But OU is clearly doing something behind the scenes, structurally, that is giving them an advantage. And again, we should have seen that coming. That is the story of OU’s success. They’ve always been a school that’s been outgunned in terms of resources but found a way to organize and focus those resources in a way that gives them the advantage.
I’ve mentioned this before but when you think of the major historical programs like OU, Ohio State, Texas, Alabama, USC, Michigan, etc. there is a clear outlier in terms of state size and local recruiting resources. Ohio is a massive state, USC is in Cali, Texas is in Texas…you get the point. And even a school like Alabama that resides in a state bigger than Oklahoma but closer in size than Texas, Cali, etc. OU is still very much outgunned in terms of the local recruiting resources.
OU has always outperformed their resources. So, I say all that to say that this structural development led by OU as a program – led by really good administrators – seems to have done it again. They’ve put OU back on equal footing with the big boys and allowed their coaches a fighting chance and in terms of talent acquisition, it’s working out.
If the Sooners win the season, it could create additional separation between OU’s system and others. Remember, many of the wins this cycle are coming against some of the most aggressive NIL programs.
Sooners Optimism or Pessimism | Sourced
– Super K – Posted on: July 30, 2024
The season is just around the corner. Around this time of year, I start asking sources inside the building how they feel about their potential for the upcoming season.
I always get a clear answer. Of course it’ll be hedged but I get an answer.
This year, it’s mostly hedging.
The unknown associated with entering the SEC and having not played most of the teams on the schedule, makes for uncertainty.
I get the sense the staff is confident in what they have but they want to it on the field versus what the SEC has to offer.
Having said that, one source did make a very clear claim. Source said that the team is good – from the back to the front of the defense to the offense. But source said, the Sooners will ultimately go whichever way their trigger man – Jackson Arnold – takes them.
If he’s good, they’ll be very good as there are too many strengths on the team to not be. If he isn’t as good as expected, well…we shall see.
One could say that is often true but the statement is telling in that, if you’re WR group isn’t good, there isn’t much the QB can do. If your OL can’t protect, there isn’t much your QB can do. If your defense is bad, then you’re forced to outscore everyone (Sooners have seen that story before).
So, the feeling in the building is that everything is good enough or even great but the unknown that will decide ultimately where this team goes will be the QB.
Sourced Note | Jackson Arnold Evolving
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 31, 2024
Wanted to pass along a quick note that I came across while I was out of town recently.
Had the opportunity to speak with a source who shared some unprovoked thoughts on Sooners QB1 Jackson Arnold.
Source and I were actually discussing position battles on the defensive side of the ball when they abruptly transitioned to Arnold by saying “He’s a different cat since he got back from the Manning thing”.
Obviously, I asked source to elaborate and they said “He’s just different. Carrying himself a little differently. In a good way.” Source added “It’s like he aged or matured or got comfortable following that trip…he’s just different”.
So, with that in mind, I reached out to another source last night to get their thoughts. This source corroborated what the initial source mentioned by saying “Oh yeah, he came back in a really good spot. I think Dillon (Gabriel) really had a lot to do with it as they roomed together down there and he (Gabriel) is definitely a huge fan of Jackson.”
Source went on to say that the one thing you can not dispute is that Dillon Gabriel is a guy who is absolutely comfortable in his own skin.
That attribute looks to be something that he may be passing along to Arnold through a sort of osmosis after mentoring Gabriel all last year and the Manning Academy weekend may have just refreshed Arnold in that respect. Add in the fact that there is some prestige attached to the Manning Academy invite for QBs, well, it feels like that weekend may have been a really good thing for Jackson Arnold on and off the field.
I don’t know what was said, or what happened down in Louisiana at the Manning Academy, but whatever it is, it appears that Jackson Arnold is heading into fall camp in a really good spot mentally, and that’s a good thing for sure.
