Open Post | Thursday, July 7th
Posted on: July 7, 2022
The Latest | OU’s Chances of Flipping Notre Dame S Commit
– CJ Vogel – Posted on: June 29, 2022
I was up in Denton yesterday checking in on summer workouts out at Guyer High School which is home to 2023 safety and Notre Dame commit Peyton Bowen.
Bowen recently took a trip up to Norman to check with the Sooners’ staff and see campus once again.
For the time being, Bowen made sure to reiterate during our conversation that he is firm in his pledge to the Irish. However, there is still plenty of interest in the Sooners and a lot of what could sway this recruitment will take place for the Sooners on the field this fall.
Bowen’s trip to Norman was spent entirely with the Sooners’ coaching staff. He told me he did not want to do any photoshoot in the jerseys and focused solely on the relationships with the coaches during the trip. A big eye opener for Bowen was being able to spend time with former Head Coach Bob Stoops who was on campus during the trip.
“They haven’t done anything wrong in that aspect,” said Bowen regarding what the Sooners could do to win over his recruitment. “I just know I have to think it through and think about all of the aspects, not just the school and who is going there.”
Luckily for the Sooners, QB commit Jackson Arnold, Bowen’s HS teammate, has been in his ear every single day to help expedite the flip to the Sooners.
So what’s next for the Sooners? Show the results on the field.
“Really, all I have to see is how they will perform this year as a whole. That’s a lot of the coaching changes right now. That’s the scariest part, how are they going to be this year?”
I do believe the Sooners are running 2nd here but I am not expecting an immediate move despite several factors pointing in their direction. Should OU be able to perform well this fall, I think there is a good shot Bowen ends up in the class.
Things Might be Starting to Shape up | Summer of George?
– Super K – Posted on: June 30, 2022
***As you know, we’ve been very careful with how we bring information to you during this strange and unprecedented recruiting period. As I’ve said before, I do believe things are going to get back to a more normal (additional notes on that trend later) and I think we are starting to see little signs of that.
***I can tell you that there are more and more head coaches refusing to engage in this all-out Wild Wild West stuff and there are more and more compliance departments on higher alert.
***Anyhow, I think the Sooners recruiting picture is finally starting to come together a little more and it could be a really solid summer for coach V.
***One of the exciting things about having a coach and staff who are focused on development is you can actually be optimistic about a recruit’s potential. You can be confident that the diamonds will get polished.
***There are already some nice pieces in this class. I think the OL that Bedenbaugh pulled in recently (Ozaeta) moves extremely well and loves introducing people to God’s green earth. Under Schmitty 2.0 he will get the physical development needed.
***I’ve already mentioned that a trusted friend out in the SE raved about Keyon Brown.
***Perhaps later we can recap all the current pieces but again, the class has plenty of potential even if the drip drip has made it feel like watching paint dry.
***There are a number of targets we need to be keeping our eye on moving forward. These are some of the targets deciding in the very near future.
***2023 LB Samuel Omosigho (Crandall, TX) – deciding this today. Battle between OU and Florida. We believe this one is trending OU. I like this prospect. He reminds of me Asamoah.
***2023 DE Adepoju (PJ) Adebawore (Kansas City, MO) – PJ has told us he plans on announcing this summer. No exact date but I do get the sense he’s done with visits. This one is a battle between OU, Georgia and Northwestern. Don’t count NW out. His brother plays there and the family is a high academic family. I’ll give this one a trending towards OU but I still think NW could surprise. In terms of ability, PJ has NFL size and athleticism. Looks like one of the mid-2000s LSU DEs. In other words, NFL prototype.
***2023 OT Cayden Green (Lee’s Summit, MO) – July 8th decision and he’s down to OU, Nebraska, Missouri and LSU. Look, if it weren’t for “NIL” surprises, I’d have this one trending at like 100% to OU. I still very much have this one trending OU but can’t discount the possibility of a surprise, more so these days than ever. But the Sooners certainly have the ties here with both parents having played college basketball at Oral Roberts and him growing up an OU fan. Green is another guy who very much has NFL upside. I’ve seen him in person. Big kid and tremendous feet and bend.
***2023 DL Derrick LeBlanc (Kissimmee, FL) – Late July decision. We’ve been through this. LeBlanc is basically down to OU and Florida. We have a light trending pick towards OU but can’t give you much more than that right now.
***2023 OT Logan Howland (Princeton, NJ) – I actually had not been paying much attention to Howland up until recently. I pulled up some film and I see Lane Johnson 2.0. Really like what I’m seeing!
I felt my take was validated by the schools he officially visited – Michigan (great OL development), Iowa (great OL development), OU (great OL development), Miami (Cristobal knows OL talent).
This kid doesn’t appear to be a 3-star to me, at all. If we are talking potential, he looks to have a ton of it.
My sources indicate that Howland is 50/50 between OU and Iowa. Charlie has been in touch with Howland and it sounds like he’s going to announce sometime in the near future.
***2023 WR Jaquaize Pettaway (Houston, TX) – CJ reported that per his sources Pettaway is down to OU and Houston. I spoke with CJ on this and it sounds like he has multiple sources here.
I plan on seeing Pettaway soon. So, I hope to have more to add but this is one that could go OU’s way sooner rather than later. (Update, as you all know he committed yesterday)
***2023 Running back Daylan Smothers is another target who appears to be trending OU’s direction and he is set to announce on July 14th
***2023 CB Jasiah Wagoner (Spanaway, WA) – Wagoner visited OU earlier this summer. He dropped his top four this week which included: OU, Cal, Texas and Oregon.
I spoke with a source close to Wagoner and was told that an announcement is definitely coming this summer. I have more digging to do here but my sense is this is another OU vs. Oregon battle.
Trending Update | LeBlanc | Sourced
– Super K – Posted on: July 1, 2022
Earlier this week, I noted that I’ve got the Sooners trending for LeBlanc but only by a slim margin. In the post I said (link here):
If I had to pick right now, gut tells me 55/45 Sooners. I just find it odd that Florida, being the in state program, isn’t more confident. But in this NIL era, we have to tread pretty lightly with these picks so, as always, I’ll update you if there are any winds of change (Scorpions!).
I am updating my trending move.
But not changing teams.
Received some additional sourced information and I’m now going 75/25 Sooners.
Summer of George…
Sooners Going Streaking? | July Recruiting Dates and Notes
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 5, 2022
Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day weekend! I know we at TFB enjoyed our downtime with our family and friends and we appreciate the grace our community affords us to take the time to spend with our loved ones!
Wanted to just start the week with a reset of where things are at on the recruiting trail!
Yesterday, ’23 linebacker Phil Picciotti set of some 4th of July fireworks for Sooner Nation as he announced his verbal pledge to Brent Venables and OU.
Picciotti was the first of what could be multiple commits for Oklahoma in the month of July, or as we have been referring to it as the “Summer of George”
This follows the month of June which saw OU pick up 5 commitments: WR Keyon Brown, TE Kade McIntyre, RB Kalib Kicks, OL Heath Ozaeta, and LB Samuel Omosigho…so June wasn’t bad at all when you look back at it.
Quick reminder of the OU targets who are potentially announcing in July:
Set commitment dates:
July 4th – LB Phil Picciotti (Committed)
July 8th – OL Cayden Green
July 23rd – OL Payton Kirkland
July 28th – DL Derrick LeBlanc
No set date but in the July Window: Per the recruits
‘This Week’ – WR Jaquazie Pettaway (Committed)
‘Couple weeks’ – RB Daylan Smothers (Told me that last week so…)
‘Soon’ – EDGE PJ Adebawore (Sources to K)
‘In the next few weeks’ – OL Logan Howland – (Told me that last week)
No date set but definitely in the window for a possible commit:
DB Jacobe Johnson
DB Jasiah Wagoner
So with the addition of Picciotti, OU is at 10 commits in the class…
QB Jackson Arnold
RB Kalib Hicks
LB Samuel Omosighn
WR Keyon Brown
LB Phil Picciotti
OL Josh Bates
OL Heath Ozaeta
ATH Eric McCarty
S Kaleb Spencer
TE Kade McIntyre
…and The Summer of George brings the distinct possibility of adding 5-6 more prior to the end of July.
We will dive into each of them more, as well as talk about the visitors expected at the end of the month in the coming days, but right now, Cayden Green is definitely on the clock, the question is, does someone beat him to being the next OU commit (eyes on Smothers and Pettaway in particular).
Quick Hitter | Kelby Collins Follow Up from Chat
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 5, 2022
Defensive line recruiting is always a hot topic and for those of you who may have not read through the ‘TFB Donor Chat Transcript | July 1st (shame on you) I noted that I would not sleep on OU and Kelby Collins (6’5 280) out of Gardendale, AL.
Super K passed along a note to me this weekend that Collins is still planning on visiting Norman and that visit is in the process of being set up.
K was down in Alabama to see him way back in March and first reported the news of the planned visit at that time.
Bottom line is that things still appear to be on track for that visit and once it is set, K will pass that along.
Quick Sourced Team Note | Leadership
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 6, 2022
Was having a conversation with a source recently and I wanted to pass along the major takeaway I came away with.
I know we have talked about leadership quite a bit, but I felt it was worth covering again as here we are in the first week of July and it is still one of the first things that get mentioned in any conversation.
Just prior to the holiday break I was asking about how the guys were looking in 7v7. Source said ‘There is a lot of hard work going on, these guys are taking it seriously’.
I asked if that was a departure from years past and source said ‘It all starts from the top and Dillon Gabriel is the closest thing I have seen to Baker since he left’.
Asked for clarification on that Baker note and source said ‘The leadership is something that has been missing. DG is a guy that makes both sides of the ball better and he works with both sides. Nothing forced, the guy just wants everyone to get better’.
Source said ‘That retreat he organized last week, that was something you don’t see anywhere else. The guy is the face of this program right now and there is nothing fake about him’.
Then I went back to the ‘taking it seriously’ part of the note. Source noted there is just another level of focus and energy during the workouts compared to years past. They added ‘Feels like everyone out there wants to be out there and wants to get better’.
Source gave a nod to Key Lawrence and Justin Broiles as being vocal leaders on the defensive side (not the first time we have heard that) and said they serve as the ‘heart’ of the defensive group participating in the drills and that their energy is infectious and keeps everyone ‘hyped’.
As for standouts I only picked up a couple names as I was really intrigued by the continued leadership talk.
***Source said ‘Barnes (Jovantae) is separating and standing out, feels like every session he is the guy making the big play’. That is great to hear after carrying a big load in the spring and now following it up with a good summer.
***I asked about Wyoming transfer CJ Coldon and source said “He’s settling in and starting to make plays. I think you’ll see him in the fall’.
***Source mentioned that freshman wide receiver Jayden Gibson is ‘coming into his own’ and Missouri transfer Javian Hester is a guy who is excelling in the 7v7 drills and added ‘If he can carry over what he’s doing out here, he’s gonna be a problem this fall’.
I can tell you I have never heard so much talk about leadership within the team since I have been here at TFB. It is consistent and constant. I know leadership doesn’t show up as a measurable stat, but I also know that strong leadership, peer leadership, is an integral part of most successful teams.
Right now, it sounds like the culture change is well on its way and you are entering an era of increased personal and team accountability.
Quick Hitter | ’23 OL Logan Howland Timeline
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 6, 2022
Touched base with Sooners ’23 OL offer Logan Howland earlier and he let me know that he will be announcing his commitment to the school of his choosing this weekend.
Howland said ‘Either Friday or Saturday this weekend’. (Has since tweeted out that he will be announcing Saturday)
My most recent update on Howland is where I remain in regard to where I believe he ends up…which you can find HERE.
‘The latest info we got from a source on the OU side was pretty simple and it’s summed up in two sentences directly from the source:
“Feel good, but we will see”. That is the first sentence.
Now, in past years, we would have pretty much run with that and sent Mr Banderas out to you all. Based on the source and their opinion, that would pretty much have locked Howland to OU down.
The issue is, since last summer and the NIL introduction, we have seen some crazy things happen on the way to the commitment.
This leads us to the second sentence from the source:
“Just not sure who is telling the truth anymore”.’
I’ll stick with OU being the call, if something changes we will update.
