The Football Brainiacs

– Cameron Wire: We were able to definitely confirm that the Sooners brining 2018 OT, Cameron Wire (Gonzales, LA) up on a visit was a sudden move and one that was connected to them pulling back from Reuben Unije.

Wire is currently committed to LSU so it’s no surprise he doesn’t want to say much about the OU visit but Super K has known Cameron for a while and he did give K a few thoughts on the visit.

“Norman is a great place. The trip was fun and the overall experience was great. I loved the school. Oklahoma is special”.

Fairly standard response you’d expect from someone committed to another school but saying “Oklahoma is special” is something that jives with what we’ve heard from sources on the OU side. Per our sources the staff feels good about where they stand with Wire. Part of the confidence, we are told, stems from their connection to Wire through OU’s freshman offensive lineman, Adrian Ealy, who is also Wire’s former high school teammate.

One of the challenges of getting guys out of Louisiana are the deep ties of LSU with the high school head coaches. It’s our understanding though that coach Darnell Lee at Gonzales is objective and likes his players to take in all their options. OU did themselves a favor, I’m sure, last year by recruiting Ealy.

For now, Wire tells us that he plans to take a official visit to Texas. A date is not yet set on that. If the Sooners aren’t able to land Wire, we are checking to see if they will then allocate the offensive line spot to a defensive spot. – (Brandon)

– More With DaShaun White: I was able to speak with DaShaun White over the phone. Before I get into what was said, I want everyone to take a look at his senior film. This will help you understand, in part, why the battle for White between OU, TAMU and Texas has become so vicious.

On film you’ll see what I’ve seen in person, that he is a truly elite cover LB. You will not find many LBs his size (220+ lbs) that can change direction, drop or anticipate movement like him. But he is far from a finesse guy. He’s very violent and plays with great leverage. There is a play on film where he tackles a guy and appears to be unsure whether the ball carrier went down. He then proceeds to belly to back suplex the player. That is a dang linebacker.

As I noted in a previous post, the visit to Texas went really well. As I suspected, the “things” Texas gave White to think about were related to comparison’s between Texas and OU. You’ll note that most of Texas’ pitch was about trying to pry the TAMU commit away from OU. It’s pretty well known that White is favoring OU and that the lack of instability is going to inevitably cause White to depart from TAMU (more on that later).

“It was a lot of comparison. You know, talking about Texas academics. A lot of side by side comparison as far as their defense and production. It’s stuff I need to research on my own”.

White doesn’t seem phased by a lot of things one might expect an athlete to evaluate, “The city isn’t going to matter. Both Norman and Austin have pros and cons. The wins and losses aren’t a big deal. Both are stable programs right now.” So what does matter? “With OU it’s a vibe…a comfort around the school, the comfort with the fans. I’m comfortable with coach Riley. Coach Riley and I talk every day or every other day. I like coach Herman but I don’t know him as well. Todd Orlando is a beast but the relationships are newer or not as a strong yet.”

Even on his Texas visit, OU was on his mind, “The game (OU vs. TCU) looked live. I kept checking the score like every minute”.

To bottom line this, Texas did a lot but ultimately, I believe White’s relationship with Riley, Kish and the staff may prove too much for Texas to overcome. For Texas to really threaten Oklahoma I believe they’ll need to strengthen those personal ties very quickly and that seems difficult to do with Riley remaining in regular contact with White.

However…

Something to keep in mind. There are rumors that even if a new coach comes in at TAMU, Terry Price (TAMU DE coach) might be retained by an-incoming staff. I can tell you that Price is a wizard at recruiting. White and his mother have personally told me that Price is one of the main reasons they committed to TAMU. Bobby Brown’s family has said the same. – (Super K)

– Team Note | Jordan Thomas: I am told that Jordan Thomas has been at practice but is not practicing due to injury. – (Super K)