Open Post | Tuesday, Sept. 9th
Posted on: September 9, 2014
Had a few notes to put up so figured we’d just add a late Open Post
– Uniforms: Have been told that OU will be playing the traditional uniforms this weekend. It sounds like there were plans to wear the new uniforms, but there was some issue with the helmets and they had to be sent back.
– Amonte Caban: Most of you know how high our guy Ace was on 2015 ILB Amonte Caban out of Alabama. If you missed his thoughts, you can read them here. Though you may want to avoid them now because apparently that ship has sailed. Caban had told us he was planning on taking a visit to OU and had even planned to be in Norman this weekend for the Tennessee game, but was actually told to come to another game later in the year. OU told him they felt they could give him the appropriate amount of time and attention on a later date. In a surprise move, Caban decided to announce today and ended up committing to Louisville.
The inside linebacker recruiting needs some real help right now. I (K) really feel that OU should offer Jordan Griffin out of Armwood. Also feel like since OU struggles recruiting LBs, it might be wise to really look for out-of-position long HS athletes. Guys that are the best athletes on their team but end up being forced to play QB in high school. I also feel looking at some long outside LBs could be a good idea.
– Zack Sanchez: Good news. We’ve been told that Sanchez did practice, so it sounds like he really will be available for this weekend (there had been skepticism from some we’d heard).
– Alex King: For those of you who missed it on twitter, we have brought on a new contributor. Please welcome Alex King. You can find him on twitter at: https://twitter.com/AMKing00. Alex will be covering North Texas for us. He will obviously focus on Oklahoma recruits in the area but not exclusively. He’ll be looking at players from the area, so if you follow don’t be surprised to see him tweet out offers/news from kids in the area that may be relevant to other schools.
97 Comments
What, in your estimation, is the problem with LB recruiting at OU? I don’t get it.
I don’t get it either. Not good we p.oed a guy interested in OU that had him commit to Louisville. There’s still time to hopefully change his mind, but this is like the defensive tackle debacle we had during the last years of Shipp’s tenure.
Is there simply a lack of available talent, like there was with defensive linemen a couple years ago, or is Kish simply not closing the deal? He seems to be a good LB coach, and a likeable guy, but I would think OU’s ILB recruiting would be soaring right now. Or at least we’d be getting a few more bites.
I’ve been trying to give Kish a pass but thats getting more and more difficult.
In the 3 (?) years that hes been here how many kids has he actually brought in? Even both Evans boys would probably have ended up at OU anyway one being from Norman and the other a Legacy kid. If we wiff on quality LBs again this year I think MStoops might need to re-evaluate the situation.
You know, it’s funny he actually has helped close the deal with some offensive guys, but we have yet to see him holding a stringer full of linebacker studs. I do think Zack has a point, though, and unlike Shipp, Kish’s coaching has been pretty effective with the guys we currently have.
I’m not a Shipp fan but he did get Phillips, Romar, & Walker
I think shipp got both tapper and chuka also.
Monty has developed them to what they are today. There was talent but Monty has preached technique so he gets the pub from me.
Kish I think has done a great job in coaching I mean look at gastelum and every guy we put in there seems to have a nose for finding the ball.
This is exactly what puzzles me. I understand the struggles the coaches might have faced recruiting after Mike’s first season back. Now that he revamped the defense and the linebackers are a crucial part of the defense again, why is the product not speaking for itself? Recruits get to see nationally televised OU games 5 or 6 times a year and this defense has been exciting to watch since the start of last season.
Well I think that’s what has guys excited this year they all want to be like striker and when this year is over I bet the bigger ones want to be like Grissom. I think he will have a monster year like he’s already having.
I remember when the USC defense under Pete Carroll was getting linebacker recruit commitments early and often. This OU defense is just as exciting and I just wish it translated to smoother recruiting.
That guy’s a pumpkin eater so that doesn’t count..haha
Back in the day we used to make a living moving RBs, like George Cumby, to LB. Maybe we should have Gundy do our LB recruiting?
Let’s see, he got Alexander & Evans, then he followed up with Bolton and Tay Evans. Based on their skills, I would say he’s doing a heck’va job. Due to the different requirements for each position, they are being picky. Also, I think they are still evaluating other potential targets too.
I’m really interested to hear K’s LB follow up from this game.
One of the first things he did was make sure to land Striker, who was a Venables guy. Also recruited Obo Okoronkwo, and Mark Andrews, I read.
Yea, but you have to realize both the Evans’ and Alexander were coming to OU no matter who recruited them. All they needed was an offer. But I’ll give you Bolton.
Thats 4 quality LBs in 3 years. Again, 2 of those would have ended up at OU anyway so I dont think that took too much effort on his part. The bottom line is that our current depth at LB is approching a critical point and thus far not one commitment this year (despite the fact that it should be easier to recruit when theres not a lot of depth in front of you ).
Im not arguing that hes a good coach but I worry about his ability to bring kids in and at this point Its a definite concern.
There was a whole lot of talk at the beginning of last year bashing Kish for being a total “old friend” hire, that he was too old to relate to the kids, that he was a wimpy coach and on and on. Then the linebacking crew, even with all of the injuries, suddenly became the core of the defense. I think the concern about his inability to recruit is going to fade away in a similar fashion.
Dom Alexander was a Tulsa University commit… it wasn’t hard to flip him to OU over Tulsa. Kish doesn’t deserve too much credit for that one.
uhh that would be a University of Arkansas commit.
I don’t think there’s a lack of talent to recruit and I don’t think it’s ou not being able to close. It’s more about finding guys that aren’t your typical linebackers though. Look at Evans and Alexander and Nelson I believe were all high school safeties. So it’s more about finding the right guys which don’t happen to be as highly touted. As far as this season we are in on a bunch of talented guys and for just the Tennessee weekend there’s rumored to be 15-20 recruits on campus including KLS and deberry and maybe another LB or 2. I would have said bring on anyone that wants to show up that weekend but I think the coaches got in on Caban late and wanted to make a better impression than for him to be one of 20 guys here.
I’d say you’re probably closer to the head of the nail than I am, and I have yet to doubt Mike’s ability to get guys and put them in positions and having them do exceedingly well.
Yeah, I can’t remember having this many highly touted recruits during a single game. They could almost have them all dress up and hold a scrimmage with as many guys that are coming. Like you, I probably would have said the more the merrier, but perhaps the coaches knew the risks of holding Caban off and the likelihood of him not being terribly pleased. Typically, that means the coaches feel really good about some of their other prospects, and it’s not like we have a ton of schollies available this year.
Welcome, Alex.
Appreciate it sir. Excited to be getting under way.
Alex, when should we expect your information tomorrow. : ) You hitched your wagon to a great group of guys who are doing a fantastic job. Wish you well.
Did K just describe, McKinley Whitfield?
Lol. You’re not totally off base. The issue is OU needs ILBs and McKinley is thin but then again Jordan Evans was only 204 lbs last season.
at 6’4 or 5, it would be cool if in two years Whitfield was around 235 – 240 playing in Grissom’s spot. Bond would graduate and Obo would be a Jr. He shows the same athletic traits as Grissom.
Was definitely my first thought.
Time for Kish to earn his check… or Mike and Monty to gets more hands on with ILB recruiting.
Alex – interested in what you know about B Smith from FM Marcus HS. He’s a 2016 TE and seems to only be looking at SEC schools. The kid is a BALLER and surprised to see OU never mentioned since he’s only 2 1/2 hours away from Norman.
I’ll be honest, I’ve been off the grind for about a year before now so haven’t seen much of him at this point. I did watch Marcus scrimmage Skyline last year so I got a quick glimpse of him as a sophomore.
Liked his frame at that time already. Has plenty of room to put on weight once in a college program. Ran really well and showed toughness when he got popped pretty good on one play across the middle.
When I spoke with him after that scrimmage, which was right after he had visited OU and picked up the offer, he just didn’t seem to be all that enthused about the Sooners. Seemed to really like Stanford. But that was a long time ago so things may have changed.
Side note: Marcus is a school that always has good talent and I am hoping to get out to a game of theirs this season to see more of that talent including Kaden.
Sometimes you just don’t peak the interest of a certain recruit. Can’t be the right cup of tea for everyone!
Have you heard anything on the availability of Jordan Wade this weekend?
Not yet bud
Should have something on Wade from Mike after practice tonight.
and Sanchez for that matter…
Sanchez should be available to play on Saturday. Bob( yes Bob always sugar coats injuries) is adamant he’s playing. He’s practicing, so that’s got to be a good sign.
Part of me thinks that could be a bluff on the uniforms/helmets. Just a smoke screen to throw us off…How could they not have them ready before the season even started???
That’s what I’m thinking. They were ordered before they even announced them.
The Eagles won’t be able to wear their green unis until week 6 because Nike doesn’t have them ready. I just think they aren’t ready.
Over extending…gotta love it. I’ve worked for several places that have done this type of thing. The planner hasn’t a clue as to when to say when, probably because they are being pushed to get more and more orders. Meanwhile, there isn’t close to enough man power to fill these orders in the time that they are supposed to be filled. The result? Missed orders, pissed customers, and pissed employees.
There’s nothing like getting ready to go home on Friday and having the boss come in and say “See ya tomorrow”. Might as well be saying: “we suck at our jobs, but you’re paying for it”.
Surprisingly, it’s not that uncommon from Nike. There have been other teams affected by the same issue in the past. Nike has the majority of college uniforms (across all levels) and is a huge player in high school now too. Then, of course, they have to outfit the NFL. That’s a lot of uniforms to complete in a short amount of time. It’s entirely possible that they just aren’t ready to go, and I don’t think OU was in any rush to have them prior to the season anyway.
If the issue is with helmets, then it’s an HCI issue. Like Nike, they have contracts with a ton of teams (across all levels of football). So, that could be the hold-up.
With all of that said, I’m still not convinced this isn’t a smoke screen. It wouldn’t surprise me either way.
The factories in which these things are stitched up are sweat shops that operate on razor thin margins. They are constantly going tits up because they have no room for error. When I lived in SE Asia, several of my neighbors were buyers for US clothing makers and they were beset by problems like going to check on a supplier and finding the factory closed, padlocked and nobody around…and then having to scramble to get shipments covered by alternative factories. It’s quite possible that Nike has had supply chain ‘issues’.
What schools have offered both Malik Jefferson and DeAndre McNeal? I think they’re a package deal…seeing as how they’re announcing on the same day.
A lot of schools want them both and for good reason. STUDS! Absolute studs.
Do you think they’re going to the same school after this change of decision date?
They changed to announce the same day now? They were gonna announce on back to back days.
Bring the WOOD to Tennessee & SEC
Okay. Alex has his cartoon photo already up. Jordan???????? We’re all waiting for you to join the club… 🙂
Hmm, so any chance Caban visits at some point anyway?
Louisville over Oklahoma. Not awesome.
I think that was more sour grapes than him being more enamored with UL over OU.
I gathered that
I feel like the Caban visit was more about seeing a marque OU vs Tennessee matchup on someone else’s dime. If the coaches did indeed lay it out to him that there were too many visitors to give him the attention he deserved, and if he was that enamored with OU, he could have booked the visit for The RRS or Bedlam.
I think this situation was not handled well and communicated to Caban that we didn’t really want him.
Caban says, “I want to visit your school.”
Coaches say, “we want you to come some other time so we can give you good attention like you deserve,”
Then news breaks every week of a new visitor coming and none of them are being asked to come another week to visit.
Just saying if I was a recruit and saw that three other LB’s that were offered before me got invited to the party and I got told to come later, while still adding other recruits I would feel like I was a backup plan rather than someone the staff really wanted.
Do you think if Malik Jefferson said I want to come they would tell him to wait?
We have no idea how it was communicated to Caban. All we have is a very short version of Caban’s side.
Only thing I can do is smdh at that decision…………..
I’m not trying to be rude when I say this, but I will never understand posts like this. Not every kid is going to commit to the best football team/school/program that offers him a scholarship. Some will, sure. But others look at other things. Some kids really need to connect with a coach, or the coach. OU has lost kids to worse programs than Louisville over the years.
And sometimes the coaches don’t see a kid as the best fit, for one reason or another, and then when he goes elsewhere, if it’s someone the media or fans have had their sights set on, it’s referred to as a debacle, even if it might not be.
Maybe an offer wasn’t coming immediately…
I’m not an expert on LB talent but I do try to keep my open to local area HS talent. Maryland’s a small state but we have produced a couple of studs over the years; Randy White and Charles Tapper. Anyway, heard about this kid and thought I’d post a video of him. Really like his aggressiveness and speed. One caveat would be Cumberland HS is nota large school. Anyone have any thoughts?
http://youtu.be/EvNV6VqucMQ
Are you the Randy White that is one of the two stud LB that Maryland has produced over the years, or is your discuss name just a coincidence?
Just a coincidence. We’re the same age but I grew up in western Kansas (Liberal). Been a fan of OU football since the 60’s.
That is one crazy coincidence.
Anyway, Kirk is the right size, but I can’t tell how fast he is by that film.
As a novice, film like this always leads me to believe a guys instincts are great. Maybe they are, or maybe he just got these plays right and that’s why they’re on the film. You know? Several of those ILB highlights have him hitting the perfect gap at the perfect time, but he’s rarely even blocked.
I’d like to see some combine-type data on him at some point. All State Linebacker is nothing to ignore.
Good points and I’ve not seen him play. Heard about him from a friend whose opinion I trust soI thought I post the video. Maybe he has good instincts or maybe it’s all how the lineman free up the linebackers. Like I said, I’m no expert on linebackers but I hoped some of the experts on here could have a look. Who knows, hidden talent is always out there somewhere.
Ha! Salina boy myself. We played Liberal in the 97 semis (and lost).
This may seem like old news now, but since we are going to start getting into the meat of the schedule now I would really like to hear something about Baker Mayfield’s situation. If Trevor does get hurt……scratch that…..don’t even want to think about it. Baker Mayfield anyone?
How there would be trouble selling OT & LB @ OU is beyond words in my mind. With all the factual information to bring to table, laid out…..!? Someone isn’t convincing in their approach apparently, because the facts are on their side. From history, current development to national respect of O & D schemes, I just don’t get it. Maybe once the alternate unis come out that will change everything ;). I trust the coaches to get where we need to in end, they are very good at that. Just hate seeing it be more difficult than would expect.
I would hope that linemen and LB’s would be nasty individuals that could care less about what they were wearing. Their uni’s should be covered in dirt and blood by the end of the game anyway. 🙂
Not me, I would hope they could not care less. :p
To all future college LBs:
The University of Oklahoma has the most Butkus Award winners with four. If you have the grit, come be number six (after Striker gets number five).
Oh. And Texsa still sucks.
– JT
Ah, hard to argue w/ facts… Oh, and ifn I knew how to put up one of those upside down horn finger things I would. 😉
Just get a juco or 2 ILB ‘s, problem solved
Have been traveling lately and haven’t watched a complete OU football game yet. One question to the posters, Super K, JY, or Jordan is about Charles Tapper. Just haven’t heard his name mentioned much. Is there a reason or have I just missed it?
Yeah i’ve watched both games and am wondering the same thing. i haven’t really made an effort to focus on him, but it seems to me he’s holding his own, taking care of his gaps, just not making the explosive plays like we are used to seeing from him. don’t know why that is;.
Thanks. Isn’t there a song that has “taking care of business” in it.
He’s solid. He has made many good plays that just aren’t highlight reel type plays and don’t get a lot of attention. His speed alone has made the difference many times in running plays down from behind and his 4.5 speed was evident when he was in the Jordan Phillips scoop and score caravan.
Thanks. He seems to be doing his job.
He’s got 5 tackles and a sack… he just hasn’t been playing as much as he did last season because of the blowouts and the rotation they’ve had going on the line…
Thanks. It’s time to uncap on the Rocky Top boys.
Stoops’ mentor Spurrier: “I’ve had a rule here ever since I’ve been here that if you ever hit a girl, you’re not going to play on our team,” he said. “You’re finished. “I would think every coach would have that rule, but I don’t think they do”. http://sports.usatoday.com/2014/09/09/spurrier-if-you-hit-a-girl-youre-finished-3/
I know there are several of us that love the Traditional Uniforms but I was really hoping for the “Bring the Wood” Uniforms with all the recruits coming in this weekend! Just one more thing for them to be excited about! I guess betting Tennesse a SEC team by 50 will have to be enough!
The 50 pt. lead will decrease somewhat in the second half with the 3rd string getting reps.
That’s a great point Sooner Ray but I will probably well into my celebratory 12 pack by thgen :)!
“We want to give you the attention you deserve”
Bullsh*t. We want to sell these kids on the big game atmosphere at OU during official visits, and we’ve got 364 other days in the year to give these kids the attention they deserve. This is about kids wanting to see what the program, team, and fanbase are like at their most amped up.
If Caban felt slighted, I don’t blame him. You don’t tell a kid “we want you to visit another weekend.” You tell them “Look, it’s going to be packed with other visitors, but it’s going to be hype. So if you want to come, we’d love to have you. If you want more one-on-one time with the coaches on your visit, we’ll get you set up for a different weekend. Either way, we want you here.”
My hope is that the coaches figured out he wasn’t serious, or they’ve got a better player locked down.
Why on earth do you care? We have absolutely no knowledge of the why? We do know our coaches don’t lie to recruits and we know they recruit pretty well.
Do you really care if Caleb feels slighted if we told him the truth? Maybe he saw the lay of the land and moved on. That’s the way the process works.
Maybe he’ll be be a star at Louisville. Maybe he would be 3rd string for his career at OU. We’ll never know. Just wish him well and look forward to our next linebacker commit.
He may also want an easier path to start. If these kids care about the nfl which most probably do, then just pick a major 5 school that you like and go play at this point if you’re good enough the only way to prove it is on film and if you’re buried on the depth chart it’s hard to get on film.
That said he’s definitely good enough to play at ou.
“My hope is that the coaches figured…” If they in fact told him that, then I’d say your last sentence is probably on the money.
What time was this story posted? From the comments, and the details on how long ago, I’d venture around 2pm? If so, for several hours this afternoon, this thread didn’t show up on the front page for me. And that has happened before. Anybody else have that problem, with stories not showing up for several hours after they are posted?
Hasn’t happened to me. I only come here from my PC, not from my smart-aleck phone.
When will we get to see what the Sugar Bowl rings look like?
There are alternate uniforms, then there are one time use only uniforms…like these.
Seems wasteful, to me.
Wow
Saw Mbanasor wearing the BOOM shirt!!
Patrick Allen tweeted his not flipping just wants to take visit. Why waste money and time. Could of used it on kid who committed to Louisville.
T.McKinley committed to UCLA enrolling next week .