Weekend Open Post | January 3rd – 5th
Posted on: January 3, 2025
Walking Away Down the Alley
– Charlie S – Posted on: December 29, 2024
Welcome to the morning after…
Sun came up, we are all here, to this point only Zac Alley appears to be leaving the party.
Obviously, the question will turn to the ‘why’ and that will be answered down the road publicly, but there will never be clear and concrete reasons as to the ‘why’ he left because only Zac Alley knows the real reason that pushed him over the edge.
We can speculate and talk about the WVU job being more stable as it appears that Brent Venables is heading into a make or break year.
We can note that Alley has worked for both Venables and new WVU coach Rich Rodriguez and he based his choice on that preference in regard to the work environment and level of accountability and expectations. Brent Venables puts more demands on his coaches (time wise) than really any coach I have ever seen, but that’s his style and that’s how he does things. Alley knew all that about Venables and he signed up for it.
We can speculate about differing policy and practice opinions. Earlier this season we noted some folks in the building who had a philosophical disagreement with the intensely physical practices throughout the entire season and the strain placed on the team which led to some injuries and some discontentment among the players and staff.
We can talk about money…well, no we really can’t. OU offered Alley a significant raise and the Sooners were working under the impression that Alley agreed to those terms and money was not an issue.
Perhaps Alley felt the need to branch out onto his own and get out from under the shadow of the ‘Brent Venables defense’. No matter how the OU defense performed, the notion would be that this was Brent Venables’ defense and Alley was just carrying the water. However, that one doesn’t float, Alley signed on for this knowingly and willingly.
Was it the stress of the SEC Alley experienced this year while working on the other side of the ball from one of the worst offenses in the history of football? Did he not believe in the possibility of the offense turning it around enough to impact the overall record of the team next year to make it possible or likely that the team would be on the right trajectory?
One thing we know is that it is not common practice to go from being the DC at Oklahoma to a DC at a program like WVU. Usually, the typical desired career path is exactly the opposite. You take a DC job at WVU in order to get to a place like OU, not the other way around.
OU was not expecting this.
Brent Venables was not expecting this.
The players were not expecting this.
Surprise!
I have no doubt Brent Venables can find a guy to call the defense next season. None at all. Filling that position will be a lot easier than filling the OC position was.
What is concerning is trying to understand the ‘WHY’ it happened. Zac Alley would have gotten a nice DC job following next year no matter what happens to the Sooners, likely on par at the very least to the WVU job he took this year. Why he chose to make the move now, away from the guy who gave him his start in college football and was his mentor…at this juncture, after being the DC at a blue blood for one year while being lauded for his impact…
Thats the question.
Out With the Old, In With the New | Portal Movement
– Charlie S – Posted on: December 31, 2024
Taking a look at the outgoing transfers along with the incoming guys all in one place.
The number one portal player headlines this cycle’s incoming group as former Washington State QB John Mateer heads to Norman.
The outgoing transfers are largely guys who OU was indifferent to, were seeking more NIL money than OU thought was appropriate, or have an injury history. There are a few that sting though, including the most recent entry, LB Lewis Carter.
INCOMING:
1st addition…P Jake Ulrich – Kennesaw State (December 13th)
2nd addition…OL Luke Baklenko – Stanford (December 16th)
3rd addition…WR Javonnie Gibson – Arkansas Pine Bluff (December 18th)
4th addition…WR Keontez Lewis – Southern Illinois (December 18th)
5th addition…QB John Mateer – Washington State (December 18th)
6th addition…OL Derek Simmons – Western Carolina (December 19th)
7th addition…WR Isaiah Sategna – Arkansas (December 19th)
8th addition…TE Carson Kent – Kennesaw State (December 23rd)
9th addition…QB Cole Gonzales – Western Carolina (December 25th)
10th additon…TE Will Huggins – Pittsburgh State (December 28th)
11th addition…K Austin Welch – Kennesaw State
OUTGOING:
***First up, WR Jaquaizie Pettaway. Pettaway has 16 receptions in his two years in Norman.
***2nd entry…QB Jackson Arnold. Arnold spent 2 years in Norman and absolutely laid his body on the line for the program this season.
***3rd entry…WR Nic Anderson. Anderson was injured for the majority of the ’24 season. Previously, he set an Oklahoma freshman record with 10 touchdown catches in 2023.
***4th entry…RB Kalib Hicks. Hicks made no impact aside from being the talk of fall camp in his two years in Norman.
***5th entry…PWO RB Emeka Megwa. Aside from a few garbage time carries, Megwa did absolutely nothing in his two years in Norman. Nice story and, surprisingly to some, OU medical helped him recover from a devastating knee injury.
***6th entry…DB Jayden Rowe. Rowe came to OU as an elite athlete, but injuries robbed him of any meaningful attempt at making an impact.
***7th entry…TE Bauer Sharp. Sharp was a favorite of the folks who saw him in spring and fall camps. Didn’t turn out all that well for OU in his one season.
***8th entry…PWO RB Chapman McKown. PWO who has gone looking for playing time.
***9th entry…PWO OL Ty Kubicek. I got nothing on him other than he came from Cali.
***10th entry…OC Josh Bates. Bates didn’t have much of an impact in his time in Norman. Not unexpected. At the start of this season he got passed by a non-center to play center on the depth chart (Hatchett, who may also portal out).
***11th entry…PWO OL Evan McClure. He was from Bixby.
***12th entry…OL Geirean Hatchett. Hatchett gave it his best, but OU fans never really got to see him in his one year in Norman as he was thrown into playing center for game one and then got hurt. Tried to gut it out, but he soon hung it up for the season.
***13th entry…CB Kani Walker. Walker had 24 tackles in each of the last 2 years after transferring to OU from Louisville. He lost his starting job this year to freshman Eli Bowen.
***14th entry…PWO OL Kenny Wermy. Always enjoyed saying his name.
***15th entry…S Erik McCarty. McCarty was a member of the ’23 class and he has been injured basically since the time he arrived on campus.
***16th entry…DB Makari Vickers. Vickers earned some run as a true freshman last year but he was injured late in the season and then found some offseason trouble and was pretty much a missing man this season.
***17th entry…WR JJ Hester. Hester spent the last few seasons in Norman after starting his career at Missouri and had a couple big catches.
***18th entry…WR Jalil Farooq. Farooq stings. Jalil spent 4 years in Norman and totaled 89 recpetions. More than anything, he stayed when Riley and Caleb Williams left and he could have gone with them. He was dealing with injuries this season.
***19th entry…LB/CH Dasan McCullough. McCullough spent the last 2 season in Norman after starting his career as a freshman All-American at Indiana. In Norman, McCullough was really a man without a position, but a tremendous skill set and you will always have the goal line stand vs Texas to remember him by.
***20th entry…WR Andrel Anthony. Anthony came to OU from Michigan before the ’23 season and he had a brilliant first half of the year. He got injured against Texas and was never really heard from again as he missed the entire ’24 season.
***21st entry…WR Brenen Thompson. Thompson made his way to Norman from the portal via Texas. Thompson caught 19 passes and 2 TDs this year.
***22nd entry…QB Brendan Zurbrugg. Zurbrugg looked good holding the clipboard during his freshman season.
***23rd entry…LB Phil Picciotti. Picciotti spent two years being injured in Norman. Hope he gets well enough to play someday.
***24th entry…OL Eugene Brooks. Brooks is a guy who came to Norman with tremendous skills. He was also in need of a body shaping offseason. The staff really liked his ceiling and he saw action in 4 games early in the year.
***25th entry…DL Ashton ‘Champ’ Sanders. Sanders, a redshirt freshman, had a couple moments where he flashed over his two seasons in Norman. Good kid, good teammate.
26th entry…LB Lewis Carter. Carter is heading into his 3rd year. He is a tremendous athlete, but he never really got any traction in the OU defense and he was not in line to be a starter next year. His ceiling makes this one sting still.
Portal EDGE Work
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 1, 2025
Couple quick notes on EDGE recruiting from the portal.
DE William Whitlow Jr. – Memphis (6’3 240) – As you know the Sooners offered Whitlow just recently (12/29). Neither party is wasting much time when it comes to checking out each other as the plan is for Whitlow to make his way to campus this coming weekend.
DE Mo Westmoreland Jr. – UTEP (6’2 250) – OU is hoping to host Westmoreland for a visit soon. At this point, I have not confirmed that a visit is set yet, but I am led to believe one is in the works and both sides are working towards getting it set sooner than later. Westmoreland had 45 tackles and 7.5 sacks for UTEP this past season.
Sourced Staff Notes | DC
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 1, 2025
As we have mentioned, sources tell us Clemson DC Wes Goodwin is one of the potential replacements for the departed Zac Alley at OU.
Alley came to Norman as a Co-DC and Venables maintained that they would let things evolve organically in the spring in regard to how his role would be defined along with the other ‘Co’ DCs in Norman (Bates and Valai).
Alley went on to be the play calling DC and the point man for OU on the defensive side of the ball.
If the Sooners go out of the house and hire Goodwin, we expect him to come in under the same premise as Alley along with the same ‘Co’ title on his DC title.
The difference is, while Goodwin will come in and Venables will say they will let things play out in regard to what his exact role would be, it is our belief that Venables will be the one who is clearly in charge of the defense (as he was under Ted Roof) as opposed to how it played out with Alley last season. Yes, Brent could always override Alley, but the majority of the calls were made by Alley.
Now, we are not saying anything is done (it is not, no terms have been agreed upon and as of the time I am writing this, Goodwin is still employed by Clemson) but sources tell us things are trending toward Goodwin and OU becoming a thing.
Source did note that at the time when OU first hired Venables, it was Goodwin who he wanted as opposed to Ted Roof for the DC spot, but Clemson came to an agreement with him to be their new DC and he chose that route.
Right now, there is no clear timeline for when a hire will be made, but last year when OU let Ted Roof go (January 4th), there was a 9-day window before Alley was named (January 13th).
News From the Portal | Names of Interest | 1/2
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 2, 2025
The Portal is officially open!
Keeping with how we were doing it before the portal even opened, I just wanted to throw up a post that talks about some names to potentially keep an eye on for the Sooners.
I will update this from time to time and post it as a new thread on days/turn of events when appropriate.
Note: There will be many more names OU works on in the coming days, both known as well as unknown. OU has proven they do very solid work in the dark when it comes to the portal as well. This post is simply some of the names we have uncovered…there will be many more names that we do not uncover.
WR Keyon Brown – Iowa Western CC – Has OU interest, hoping to visit
OL Fa’alili Fa’amoe – Washington State – I’m told by source there is OU interest, close to removing him.
TE John Locke – Lousiana Tech – OU offered 1/2
DE William Whitlow – Memphis – OU offered 12/29 – Visiting this weekend
DE Marvin Jones Jr – FSU – Visited 1/2
DL Jayvair Suggs – LSU – Mutual interest – OU in top schools
DE Mo Westmoreland Jr. – UTEP – Working on setting up a visit
S/LB Kendal Daniels – OkState – Set to visit
CB Ethan O’Connor – Washington State – Mutual interest, expecting a decision soon.
Michael Fasusi Shines at UA Game
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 2, 2025
The Under Armour All-American game took place today and Sooners signee Michael Fasusi took home MVP honors.
Fasusi was dominant all week at the event and for an OL to take home MVP over all the skill players (from any service or sponsor) says a lot about the type of week they had.
He will be on campus next week for the start of winter workouts.
In regard to his future in Norman, I know many in the community will say “No chance Fasusi gets a fair chance to start because Bedenbaugh isn’t about that life”…well, just remember one name…Anton Harrison.
Harrison won the starting left tackle job in his freshman year (2020). While he did not get the start (COVID) he did win the job and was going to be the starter.
