Notes from Inside the Program
Posted on: January 31, 2014
Image from Foxsports.com
A Brainiac Buddy (who we will call PI) sent us some great notes on what he’s hearing from inside the Oklahoma football program. This was the gist of the notes he sent:
– Was told by another player yesterday that Blake appears to be 100% tight end. Was told that his uncle and father spoke with Coach Stoops about it last month and all parties seemed to agree that it was best for Blake.
– Cody (Thomas) and Justice (Hansen) are tearing it up in workouts. The players think they both have NFL futures written all over them.
– Offensively, was told that Oklahoma is making changes that are “bad ass.” Been told that Trevor might be running a different offense next season…closer to what we saw vs. Alabama.
– Was told the team is still sky high after the Alabama victory and they’re using that energy to drive them to even greater heights. Hearing that kids are stepping up and taking leadership roles. Trevor is one of the people who has really taken on a leadership role, not just for the offense but for the whole team.
– The players are working their tails off this winter to get bigger and strong. Coach Schmidt has even implemented some changes as well. They are getting more input from the young assistants and others to make the workouts as good and efficient as they can be. The players are doing everything legal to get an edge and they are working out hard as a team and supporting one another.
– The staff has mostly moved on to recruiting 2015 with the exception of Deondre Clark and Kenyon Frison. They are working VERY hard to give Oklahoma the best chance at signing both.
– In general the staff is putting in much longer hours but actually seem to be having a lot more fun.
Thanks for the notes PI! Hope our readers enjoy them.
82 Comments
Thanks. So Parker and Quick are in the bag then? I know that’s what you’ve generally been reporting, but seems like this inside info confirms the coaches feel the same way.
Yes, the inside info on them is definitely that Oklahoma feels great about Quick and Parker. It would be a huge shock to everyone around OU if either or both picked another school.
Great, thanks. Read that the in home ND visit with Quick last night went great. But of course I’m sure that’s how they all go…
Still wanna smell that ink! Gonna be a tense 4 or 5 days.
Just keep Trevor away from car dealerships this summer. Last time we moved a Sr QB to a different position because of a hotshot RS freshman had a bright future after an MVP performance in a bowl against a Top 5 team, things kind of fell apart.
I wouldn’t worry about Trevor
Cool. Sounds encouraging and exciting. Shaking things up, keeping things on the edge. Go for it! Can’t win the prize without pushing to the max!
Cody and Justice?
The 2 young QB’s…Justice Hansen, true Freshman that just enrolled at OU in January and Cody Thomas, RS Freshman.
Thanks, I figured it was Thomas – guess I’m behind on facts as I wasn’t aware Hansen was on campus and working out!
Yes sir. He was one of the four 2014 guys who enrolled early. Was supposed to be five, but Dallis Todd had a timing issue that prevented him from doing so.
Sounds like Quick and Parker have made a decision if they are not working them any longer.
Yeah, I think the way that was worded was a little misleading. Obviously they’re still working Parker & Quick, but as the FBs, myself, and many others have said for some time they feel confident w/ both.
Parker plans to make his choice known on Monday.
You guys are second to none in the amount of info you provide. This is by far the best OU website out there, and Im glad I followed Jordan here. Cheers fellas.
agreed
No regrets here!
BTW, Jordan, did I tell you thanks for sending me here?
No need to thank me at all, just happy you (and everyone else who has done so) came over! Guys here do a great job, IMO.
Agreed. This site is definitely my new go-to site for all things OU football!
Great info. Thanks!
I really hope Bell tears it up @ TE. Dude has the potential to be brutal especially breaking tackles, and his speed in the open field is underrated IMO.
Also awesome that we have sorted out our QB rotation with minimal attrition.
He should also know the offense even better than the average receiver as well.
If both Cody and Justice are that good and are only one year apart I wonder if they both will stick around for their whole careers. That always makes me nervous.
Having fun while working harder – that almost always spells tall cotton ahead!
Glad to see the BB situation working out. I imagine if he earns a NT ring playing TE he will be fine with that! That offense changes report is scary good, can’t wait to see the beast unleashed. And imagine how the D will be next year.
This report radiates excellent “team” attitude, doing what it takes to earn one of those four playoff slots. BOOMER!!
SOONER!
Great post gang. Question for you though. Where do you guys think Blake will fit in with our current group of TE’s? Will he get enough playing time(reps) to get a NFL scout’s attention. Will he have a legitimate shot at moving ahead of McNamara and Ljalana?
He played some receiver in HS so if he can block he should see good playing time plus we need to bring back the Keith Jackson TE reverse and add a reverse pass play!
Given how loyal Stoops has been in the past to team-first upperclassmen, I think Bell starts at TE unless he’s just absolutely a liability at the position.
While Stoops is certainly loyal to his players in the good sense of the word, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him put that loyalty above practice performance. Blake is an unusual case, but unless Blake is better in practice (and in the games), his team-first attitude, won’t be enough to have him starting or playing over McNamara and the others, imho.
Hypothetical… TK and CT get injured, does Blake step in or do they burn Hansen’s redshirt?
IMO, it’d be Bell.
Honestly, I think Bell might come in before CT does. I’d expect him to be the backup QB, in addition to playing TE…
Might depend on type of injury and point of the season. Also how Thomas performs in spring and fall, but with him sounding pretty solid, I imagine Thomas will be the backup, but won’t go so far as burning redshirts when they could use bell.
Hopefully Heupel catches on to the new offense next year faster than he did with the new offense this past year.
Think about a Tight End Reverse pass? Moving Blake to Tight End could create a LOT of wrinkles. Sooners in a wildcat, Shepard takes the snap, runs left and tosses to Blake, Bell tosses the screen to Mixon. I mean my mind is literally racing lol
Even though they’ve completely moved on to 2015 recruits, they’re still checking in with Parker and Quick right? Quick, for some reason, has been the one guy I’ve really wanted, just to further our progress with Cali recruiting.
“Even though they’ve completely moved on to 2015 recruits, they’re still checking in with Parker and Quick right?” Absolutely, yes.
I’m new to this site but excited about the content. Great work fellas.
Welcome!
Heard anything on Striker and Hayes experimenting with new positions?
Like where?
Saftey for Striker CB for Hayes.
Wow, really? I’d find that incredibly hard to believe for both.
I thought Stryker was working with Monty in the offseason to learn some rushing moves? Can’t imagine why they’d move him anywhere else.
This was just thrown out there by someone else, I didn’t believe it, but also didn’t believe Bell to TE when someone first said it a few weeks back, so who knows. While I love Striker, he has to develop his game, his stats this year were decent(49 tackles, 7 sacks), but not great.
I love Striker, but he isn’t fast enough to play Safety.
I recently watched onikuno’s Sugar Bowl highlight video(again) and in Bama’s opening drive when their WR Cooper took the ball inside the OU ten I saw Tapper run past Striker to tackle Cooper.
Striker plays with his hair on fire and is as quick as a hiccup, but not blazing fast.
I think they were experimenting with Striker lining up in the opposing team’s backfield… Said it was just more efficient since that’s where he spends most of his time anyway.
Strike? Another position? We are talking about a EMOLS who had three sacks, against a 1st round Left Tackle in his last game and drawing comparisons to LT and DJ. This kid is a TFL and Sack machine.
I think Nick started that rumor because he’s still having nightmares about him.
With bell moving to TE, do you think hansen gets reps in the spring game? Im excited to see what thomas can do this spring, but it would be a nice bonus to get an early look at hansen too.
re: Hansen, I think you can pretty much guarantee it.
Awesome. Thats going to be a fun trio to watch. April cant get here soon enough. Keep up the excellent work.
By far the best news is “Coach Schmidt has even implemented some changes…” The only direction he could go was up. IMO, he is (hopefully, was) the worst S&C coach in FBS. when you put kids like Zach Sanchez on the field that couldn’t curl 50 lbs, then something is wrong.
I’m sorry, I guess I missed all of the games where OU lost because their players were out of shape… and I guess that’s why, historically, we really wanted to run a no-huddle hurry-up offense, but we couldn’t do so because our guys couldn’t keep up…
And I guess that’s why none of the linemen got that many snaps last season, because they were too tired to keep going…
Oh, wait…
ZING!
Wow. The Sugar Bowl showed just how weak we were, lol.
I think the new attitude overall is going to pay off big in the coming years.
No doubt, we out hustled every team beat last year and our guys were never bent over gasping for air.
“missed all of the games where OU lost because their players were out of shape… ” No kidding. And as short handed as they were at so many positions, the conditioning had to be remarkable…
Have to say I haven’t seen any evidence of S&C being an issue with our players over the years. Never see a lot of Sooner going down with cramps or anything.
Must have missed the memo..what does the S&C coach have to do with who sees the field? I thought that was a function of the kids production in practice?
Of all the kids you could’ve picked on, Sanchez should be the least concern. While we are at it, maybe we should throw Jalen Saunders in that group too?
obviously a number of posters have never been serious lifters. Come back after you educate yourself.
Serious lifters?? And you use Curls as an example? Bawawawawawa. Curls are the least sport specific lift in the room.
Man I don’t know if I can agree with everything you’re saying. As a former ball player and member of the weightlifting team in the off season, I played with some guys that couldn’t carry the water bucket if it was full but they could run all day long and put loose your shorts moves on people. Some positions require some strength but there are some that can be played with pure athletic ability. I’m pretty sure there have been some guys go pro who have never been gym rats but they had some serious game.
I’m a serious lifter, and I don’t know what you’re talking about. Curls are pretty worthless for the most part, unless you have an insecurity complex..
I do see, and am glad for it, Bedenbaugh going to Schmidt and having his linemen do more power movements. But watching Sanchez, he mostly ran step for step with the receivers he was covering. Sure, he could be a little stronger, but sometimes you give and take, not wanting to bulk a kid up too much where his speed may be compromised.
I’m not knocking on you, either. Really. But I think OU’s strength and conditioning coaches have enough experience to put OUr athletes through the best program to succeed at the highest levels of college football for their respective positions.
Congrats Dude, now get yourself a cookie.
Back to my question: What does the S&C coach have to do with who sees the field? The kid you are picking on, happens to have performed very well last year. Yes, he was not perfect, but he made play after play against some of the best WRs in college. The Brilliant open field tackle against Amari Cooper, multiple deflections.. etc and ended up being one of the best corners in the big 12 and one of OUs two Freshman All Americans. I think YOU are the one that needs to educate yourself.
You could have made your point about Schmitty without your stupid curls comments. Sanchez played lights out last season.
This post has all kinds of stupid in it.
Dc you’re a good poster but please edit your comment bro. Feel free to disagree minus the attacks. Appreciate it
Done. Sorry boss.
No need to apologize bro. You’re one of our best posters on here.
Any idea WHAT specific changes are being made in reference to S&C?
I recall the one being made last year in reference to the Oline being allowed to put on weight
Thanks!
Mike I appreciate the comment but please edit. Criticizing players is one thing but lets not get harsh about it. Thanks!
I hope OU does not ditch the zone read on offense. That run game option from the QB is key to keeping defenses in the big 12 honest against our spread look. It opened up the running game for our RBs and with Knight’s improving passing game there will be more passing plays downfield as well.
That’s awesome news! I fell for Blake Bell, but I know he will make the most of his opportunity. I hope we close out strong by Wed!!
Thanx!! The notes from inside the program are awesome and much appreciated!
Many thanks for the information. This is what is needed. I need to know what the prevailing attitude of the guys is and generally how they are going after getting prepaired for next year.
Great for Blake to switch to TE! I’d love to see him get some playing time and him at TE, if he’s good, would add to are offensive weapons.
Have to say these younger guys seem to have a different attitude than some of the teams we’ve had here the last few years. They seem to want to put the work in and do their part. These cats have a chance to be a special team.
Am I the only one that finds himself reading and re-reading this post? Every time I read it, I get more and more pumped!
The New Belldozer package is going to be another short yardage and goal line nightmare for teams I can see it already. Bell could have some very unique stats when his career is done. Love the move!
Good stuff fellas. Haven’t posted much lately, but still perusing, don’t you worry.
It’s scary good reading a report like this, especially thinking about what is already in place and adding 3 4 star receivers at 6-6 230, 6-5 210, and 6-5 170, a 5 star small back and a 4 star big back who is nearly as fast and averaged over 10 yard/carry.