Open Post | Thursday, January 26th (UPDATED 12:34 pm) By: The Brainiacs Posted on: January 26, 2017

– Jacob Phillips: Late last night I received word that Jacob Phillips has started to let people around him know that he plans on flipping to LSU. I am also told that he has informed some of the current Oklahoma commits. It sounds like he has been very emotional about this decision.

Let me draw a timeline based on what we’ve heard that’s led to this point:

– Back in the January 17th Open Post we said, “The interest in LSU seems to be, in part, stemming from a couple people around Phillips who seem to be pushing him in that direction.”

– In the January 21st Open Post we mentioned that Jacob’s father and perhaps one or two people outside the family were pushing LSU.

– However, throughout it all, the OU staff and even coaches at Phillips’ high school remained confident he would stick with OU.

– The OU recruits remained confident Phillips would stick with OU.

– Even up until a couple weeks before the LSU trip, Phillips was telling us he wasn’t planning on visiting OU.

– Let’s rewind a little further, Phillips visited Oklahoma twice and chose the Sooners in a ceremony after a lengthy and detailed recruiting process where he took all five official visits including trips to the likes of Alabama, Oregon and others.

– Now, fast forward to after this past week’s LSU trip. Phillips told us that he had not set a final announcement date and was still in the process of thinking things through. The OU staff remained confident. Even some folks around Phillips were being given the impression he was headed to OU. And the OU commits remained confident he would head to OU.

– Let’s go back to the person or persons around Phillips that we previously mentioned was/is pushing him one way or another (in this case it seems to be towards LSU). Earlier this week I started checking with some friends who have previously coached in Tennessee and/or recruited in Tennessee. One of the first names I was given as a person with Nashville connections and LSU connections was someone actually mentioned in a Rivals.com article that Phillips himself retweeted last night; namely, Austin Thomas. Thomas is the “LSU Football General Manager”. My source who is someone I trust and have known for a while said, “The recruiting guy at LSU is a Nashville kid (referring to Thomas) and had some ties to all those kids (in Nashville) and the guy they’re all connected with”.

– So I ask him for the name of the guy they’re all connected with, my source said, “I don’t want to get into that”. He explained why but I think that part is better left unsaid.

– After a few more phone calls I got the name of the person. How much influence said person has on Phillips decision, I really cannot say.

– Now let’s move ahead to 6:30 pm last night, Brandon reaches out to some sources and is told that plans are still on for Oklahoma to do their in-home visit with Phillips later this week.

– Then late last night I receive a few texts from a couple sources telling me, as I mentioned above, that Phillips has let people know he plans on flipping to LSU. Also, as I mentioned I’ve been told it’s been very emotional for Phillips.

So, having tried to lay out as much above as I feel appropriate (it’s often a hard thing to navigate) these are my personal thoughts. These thoughts are my speculation based on the information I’ve gathered so take them for what they are worth but I’m not offering them up as fact.

I think Phillips himself probably genuinely sees the draw to both schools. Both OU and LSU lack depth at the LB position so both give him a chance to get on the field early. LSU is probably the better draw in terms of their recent success as a defense. OU is probably the better draw in terms of their overall team success and stability. I think Phillips has a very strong connection to the OU staff and to the OU commits and I think that has made this incredibly difficult. I also think LSU simply has some ties with family and people close to the family that make this one very difficult to overcome. LSU having those ties keeps a constant voice advocating on their behalf in his ear and perhaps even in his parents’ ear. Also anytime a school has a close connection to someone around a recruit it gives that school an advantage in that they receive direct insight into how to recruit the player.

I don’t feel comfortable going so far as to say that Phillips would prefer OU and is being pressured to go to LSU. That may be the case but I don’t have enough information to say that with much confidence. But my intuition tells me that OU was fighting against something outside their control on this one.

Lastly, I should note, as mentioned above, as of last night the OU staff was still planning on visiting Phillips at the end of this week. If that happens then perhaps there is a chance they could turn this thing but again, I am told Phillips is already letting people know his intentions to flip so that chance is a slim one. – (Super K)

– UPDATED (7:19 am): Brandon has confirmed with a source that as of 7:19 am this morning the Sooners are still scheduled to do their in-home visit with Phillips. We will continue to check on this throughout the day and into tomorrow because regardless of what Phillips has decided if the family allow the Sooners to come make a final pitch, there’s at least a chance.

– UPDATED (12:34 pm): Phillips has flipped to LSU.