The Football Brainiacs

…was a much-needed good day for the Sooners. But it didn’t happen by coincidence. It didn’t happen because you “get who you get.” It happened through proper and early identification, consistent effort, charisma, building the right relationships, pushing the right messages and as always…a little good fortune.

Yesterday, Oklahoma picked up two fantastic defensive players. Both Ricky DeBerry and Kahlil Haughton are not only long, outstanding athletes, but they are also excellent football players with an advanced understanding of the game. A guy like Haughton is the coverage caller on the field for a great Midway football team. Whether it’s a trap call, slice call, whatever…at Midway the secondary makes the call on the field and Kahlil is their leader. These are just the type of heady and athletic ball players that make a defense successful. And the type of good young men off the field that make a locker room successful.

It obviously hasn’t been the best season for Oklahoma on the field, but what yesterday showed is that a good recruiting effort and strategy at a school like OU can yield results. Both DeBerry and Haughton were guys that had a lot of options. Some might be under the impression that because Haughton’s final choices were OU, Baylor, Arkansas and Texas Tech that he didn’t have the other major offers, but that is far from true. Haughton had a LSU offer, in fact, he visited there during his junior season. He also had a Notre Dame offer and one from Ohio State offer, just to name a few. And we all know that DeBerry had every offer under the sun, upwards of 70 or so I believe. But in the end, both players ended up committing to OU and when they sign, as we expect, they will be playing in…the Big 12.

Obviously there was a lot that went into getting these two young men, but I want to focus on one thing Jerry Montgomery — and a couple other coaches on the staff — did in order to help get both these players. A staff has only so much time to allocate to game planning, recruiting, etc. One of the things that is vital in recruiting is knowing the right people around a particular recruit.

Why? Is it because they can help a coach get his message to a player? Well, yes. I mean recruiting the mother is always a sound stragety. But that isn’t what I mean here. What I’m talking about is knowing coaches, mentors, parents, etc. around the player in order to give a coach the clear indication of what kind of real interest a player may have in your program after your early pitches. This is critical because to land top guys like DeBerry or Haughton, you have to go all in. You have to be able to recruit not only the player, but their families and even, at times, their friends throughout the process to even have a chance to win a commitment. That’s a major time investment and you don’t want to make it unless you know the chance is real.

It is often difficult to read a player and, as such, coaches can get strung along. Smart and tactful coaches have relationships built in certain areas of the country, or form relationships around a player, in order to discern whether that interest is in fact real enough to merit the kind of time investment required.

Rest assured what Jerry Montgomery did in pulling a major recruit out of a state half way across the country, at a position group he doesn’t currently coach, and at a position that stood at zero commits before yesterday, against teams like Alabama, Ohio State, and others, in a year when Oklahoma didn’t have the best season, was a recruiting effort for the ages. He knew every angle, worked every angle, was aware of where he stood at all times, built relationships with the right people, and of course is a genuine, likeable, and relatable guy who the DeBerry’s really loved.

Yesterday, I asked Ricky DeBerry Sr. which coach was responsible for his son’s decision to commit to Oklahoma and he responded, “Jerry Montgomery.”

What also needs to be talked about is the involvement of Bob Stoops in the recruitment of both DeBerry and Haughton. Coach Stoops made personal in-home visits with both of these young players. But again, coach Stoops has to be able to trust that his time isn’t being wasted; that his assistants have done their due diligence and know that these are players OU actually has a shot at. Yesterday’s victories will almost certainly make coach Stoops want to be more involved with recruiting, because we all like to be part of something that yields positive results.

I hope that these recruiting wins, and the wins by Texas and Baylor as well, send a message to everyone in the Big 12. That excuses are self-created road blocks. Some excuses are better than others, but ultimately you have to take ownership of your situation and trust that with consistent and intelligent effort, results will come. For the longest time we’ve heard, “well, they’re in the SEC” or “Big 12 can’t recruit against the SEC.” And those excuses certainly have some merit. But they shouldn’t create a defeatist mentality. The response should be, “we’ve got to do something about it!” If that means hiring better assistants, building better relationships, finding creativity marketing strategies…whatever…you do it.

Which brings me to my final point. OU can’t take these victories and sit back thinking all is well. In fact, these recruiting victories should be a reminder of what hiring the best can do. Jerry Montgomery tweeted yesterday, “We aren’t done yet.” And I can tell you, without a shadow of a doubt in my mind, he isn’t.

If decisions were made today, Montgomery would, in my opinion, likely land Neville Gallimore and Gabriel Campbell. Coach Bedenbaugh has also landed a number of great offensive line recruits. What’s more is these guys are coaching their guys up on the field, which is ultimately the standard (we’ve seen plenty of schools squander great talent). Oklahoma needs that across the board, not just with a select group of positions.

Oklahoma needs to be the standard bearer in every facet of their football program. The fan base should go into the offseason knowing that OU either won a championship, lost in the championship game, or feel hopeful they will legitimately compete for one the following year. That comes from being the best at every level of your program and demanding that over everything else; the best coaches, the best facilities, the best administration, the best compliance (Lord knows OU already has the best compliance, haha).

The OU Football program’s history is second to none. And the future of the program should be no less than exactly that.

Here’s to hoping Friday the 19th was indeed, just the beginning.