Open Post | Tuesday, August 25th
Posted on: August 25, 2020
Notebook | Wrapping Up the Summit
– James Hale
The Sooner Summit is over, but it will go down as one of the most unique and talked about recruiting historical events in history. I know that’s a long time, but I’ve covered college football recruiting for the Sooners for a long time, and I’ve never seen anything like what took place this past weekend in Norman.
I have covered many official and unofficial visits. Still, I’ve never seen an individual, and his family organize a trip and convince a group of other players, and their family, to pay their own way to the town where the said individual is going to play his college football, to try to convince other great players to join him. All the work put in by OU quarterback commit Caleb Williams (6’1, 210) of Gonzaga High School in Washington DC, and his father Carl is the talk of college football. Some of that talk is good, some of it is envy, some of it is just being jealous, and some of it is in anger.
You know other schools and their media are envious of something when a school, or in this case a commit of a school is doing, when they write stories, take to a podcast, and post on their message boards complaining about what is going on in their rivals town. They take a small bit of information that they get, and usually, it’s not even from a good source, and then they will post it on a message board, and that rival board will go ballistic because they are jealous of what is going on in their rivals town.
That caused Laura Rigney the colorful mother of five-star offensive tackle Tristan Leigh (6’5, 270) of Fairfax (Robinson Secondary), Virginia, to delete a picture on social media. She took a picture of the players attending the Sooner Summit looking through the tunnel of the south end zone at the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and posted it on Twitter. She eventually took the picture off Twitter and FaceBook because the post drew so much negativity that it just didn’t set well with her.
“This event has been so much fun and so positive that I just didn’t want any negativity around it,” said Mrs. Rigney Saturday afternoon at the group’s hotel. “There is not a negative thing that can be said about this event, and I just didn’t want anything posted that people could take negative shots at. I hate that is the world that we live in, but we have been going through this recruiting process for a couple of years now, and we will go through a couple more with Aidan coming up, so we understand the passion that surrounds all these schools.”
“We had permission to take that picture, and where we went on campus, we had permission to go there and be there, so we where we were supposed to be everywhere we went. However, I just didn’t want any of the players to see people taking shots at them for something they didn’t have anything to do with. I posted the picture and decided to take it off.”
While Mrs. Rigney took that picture off, she posted others that nobody can complain about expect Texas fan and their quarterback Sam Ehlinger who takes exception at anybody, no matter who they are that puts the Horns down!
I guess this means that five-star running back Camar Wheaton (5’11, 190) wouldn’t be welcome at Texas then because he doesn’t seem bashful about throwing the Horns down in that picture.
There is some serious talent in that picture. Williams is kneeling with a big smile in the center of the picture. Three-star offensive lineman OU commit Cullen Montgomery (6’5, 315) is to the left, Leigh, four-star offensive lineman Savion Byrd (6’5, 265) of Duncanville, Texas, and Wheaton round out the picture. I can tell you from first-hand experience that they all loved hanging out with each other and being around either other.
I can say without question that every player there feels that Williams is something special, and they all respect him whether they are going to play with him or not.
“Caleb is the real deal,” said Alabama cornerback commit Khyree Jackson (6’3, 197) of East Mississippi CC, originally from Upper Marlboro, Maryland. “Caleb is special not only as an athlete but as a leader. He’s just someone that you want to be around and hang out with. I have known Caleb and his family for a long time, and he has improved so much as a quarterback. He used to be a great runner with a good arm, but now he is still a great runner, but he has become a great passer. I have been in drills with him and his receivers, and he puts a lot of zip on the ball and will throw it where I can’t get to it. I have known that Caleb is something special for a long time, and others are finding that out.”
Jackson said his final decision came down to OU and Alabama, and he said the last two coaches that did Zoom calls with him were Lincoln Riley of Oklahoma and Nick Saban of Alabama. He said they were different. While Coach Riley told him how well he fit into what OU was doing, and how he was the type of cornerback the new ‘Speed D’ was looking for, Coach Saban not only told him how much they wanted him at Alabama and what the Crimson Tide could do for him, but while he was talking to him, he was coaching him up and telling him what he had to do to get better and that just appealed to Jackson more.”
It sounds like Saban had the advantage because he is the cornerback coach at Alabama while Riley is the quarterback coach and OC at OU, and while Riley is very dynamic, he just couldn’t find a closing angle to beat Saban in this case.
If Jackson were a wide receiver, he would have flipped this weekend to play with Williams. He and the Williams family are close. Jackson was in Norman this weekend because the Williams family invited him and picked up the tab. Jackson was there, a Bama commit, hanging in Norman with several OU commits, and several possible OU commits because he loves Williams. When I left him, he was still committed to Alabama, but I know that he had such a good time, and cares for Williams so much that he will be thinking about Oklahoma until signing day. He said he was still committed to Alabama, but I know that he’s thinking hard about joining Williams at OU.
OU still has work to do with Leigh, but there is no question they have a great shot. OU has Williams, and that’s a big advantage over Clemson, LSU, Alabama, Ohio State, and Florida. I got the feeling talking to Tristan, Laura, and Aidan that OU and LSU are at the top of the list with the other four close behind. The family has been to LSU at least twice before COVID-19 shut down all recruiting, and they got a first-hand experience of how rabid Tiger fans are in the Bayou.
“When we visited LSU everywhere we went, fans knew who Tristain was,” said Mrs. Rigney. “At the game, we attended at LSU last year; the fans realized Tristan was sitting in the stands and started shouting his name loud enough that it could be heard all over the stadium. That’s something that we will never forget. Football is crazy at LSU, and they know how to treat their football players, and it would be a great place for Tristan to go to school.”
That visit left the family with a lasting impression that is still strong with the family, but LSU doesn’t have Williams, and that is a big hammer for the Sooners.
“We are fortunate that we live very close to the Williams family,” said Mrs. Rignay. “We actually flew in together with a couple of other guys. We hit the food places pretty hard on our first day. Every meal was from somewhere iconic in Norman or Oklahoma City. We had a lot of good food and were excited about seeing some great spots in Norman and Oklahoma City.”
“We hung out a lot and just enjoyed each other’s company. We got a tour of the campus, and we got to drive by a practice that was going on. We kind of got to look from afar. Most of all, the guys got to hang out with each other. It was interesting to hear all of them talk about football, talk about players they played against, and their experiences. They talked a lot about Oklahoma and how great of a school that it is.”
When Williams called Tristan with the idea for the ‘Sooner Summit’ he was all in from the jump.
“When he called, I thought it was a great idea,” said Leigh. “I was so excited because I’ve been trying to get out to Oklahoma for a while. I’ve built a great relationship with Coach (Bill) Bedenbaugh and Coach Riley on the phone, and through ZOOM calls watching film.”
“This shows Caleb’s leadership ability. That’s what you want to see in your quarterback. I mean, he overcame a problem (due to COVID the Leigh family had not been able to get to Norman unofficially) and helped create something for us. He put something together for us where we could still see the school and be around the football program, and without him, we could not have got this done.”
Tristan has been on unofficial visits to every school he was interested in except for Oklahoma. The family planned to make it to Norman for an unofficial visit during spring football and then an official during the season, but the virus hit, and all those plans were shut down.”
“That’s been very frustrating for us,” said Leigh. “It’s the unofficial that athletes use to get the school’s best feel because there is nothing like being there in person. You can’t get a vibe for a school on the phone. On visits, you really get to learn about the program because you get to sit there and learn about who the coaches really are. You get a good feeling about the atmosphere and vibe of the team. It feels frustrating, but I feel me and my mom have done the best with it.”
“Now, we are coming to Norman, and while it’s going to be different, it’s still going to give me a chance to see what Norman is all about and is going to go a long way in helping me make a decision. When the time comes, I hope I’m comfortable making a decision.”
Battling the virus and recruiting visits getting shut down has also been frustrating for the parents.
“I can’t even tell you how frustrating its been not being able to take unofficial visits and possibly no official visits,” said Mrs. Rigney. “We were very fortunate that when his recruiting process started, we made it a priority to visit as many schools as possible. This is actually our 21st visit in a little over a year and a half. We have been very fortunate because some kids have not had the same experience.”
“We were all leading up to April, where we were going to get to take the official visits and take a deep dive into each school so that he could make that final decision. As a family, we want to follow him and be supportive of him, as this is something that we are all going to be doing together.”
“Carl started approaching us at the beginning of August and asked what you think about the idea of Tristan coming with us and all of us taking this visit together as families just seeing where it goes. He gave me three different dates, and we picked one of the dates, and the plans started getting made from there. Caleb and Carl put a tremendous amount of energy in making this happen, and they extended the invite to lots of players.”
“Some of the kids are commits, and some of them are kids that have OU in their top five. They really needed this trip to help narrow down their decision. Then we have a few like my younger son Aidan (65-240, 2023 OT), who is at the beginning of the process. This is a great start for them, and we are really hopeful that we can get him a taste for Oklahoma and what they have to offer so that that information can help with his decision as he goes along his journey.”
One of the trip’s highlights was a Zoom call from Coach Riley and all of his assistants to the group that was there Saturday afternoon. That included Wheaton, who arrived Saturday morning and left early to go to his mom’s birthday party after the Zoom call. Others on the call were OU linebacker 3-star commit Danny Stutsman, Montgomery, Byrd, Leigh, Jackson, OU ‘Rush End’ commit four-star Clayton Smith, and three-star safety commit Jordan Mukes. Also, four-star wide receiver Jalil Farooq, and four-star wide receiver commit Cody Jackson. Elite 2022 athletes four-star linebacker commit Kobie Mckenzie, 5-star cornerback Gentry Williams, four-star wide receiver Talyn Shettron, and four-star OL Jacob Sexton were also in town.
I had a chance to talk with Leigh, Montgomery, Jackson, and Bryd, and they all said that the Zoom call was one of the best Zoom calls they had ever been on. They said it was a joyful experience because the coaches were in a great mood and just wanted to hear what the guys and their families were doing. Every player was getting a chance to talk. The coaches chimed in with their comments, with all laughing and having a good time.
Before the Zoom call was over, the last item that Coach Riley wanted to take care of was offering Aidan a scholarship.
“I wasn’t on the Zoom call at first but kind of watching from the side and listening to what everyone was saying,” said Aidan at the group’s hotel. “Then I heard Coach Riley ask ‘Is Aidan around’, and of course I’m yelling “Yes, sir, I’m here, yes sir,” and then I jumped on Tristan’s Zoom. Coach Riley then talked to me for a couple of minutes, and he asked me if I was having a good time, and I told him I was, and then he said great because he wanted to offer me a scholarship.”
“Then all the players on the Zoom started yelling and screaming, and congratulating me, and telling me how great it was that OU has just offered me. Coach Bedenbaugh then told me that he really wanted me to join him and be part of his offensive line group. That’s huge because OU has the best offensive line group in the country. He talked to me a little about what he wants Tristan and me to work on when we get home. He was already coaching us.”
Friday, the team did the tour, and that night Caleb took the players to Top Golf in OKC, where they had dinner and a lot of fun. The parents all went to dinner on their own, and then Saturday, the entire group, outside of Wheaton, went to dinner at The Collective, a rooftop hotel in Oklahoma City that’s pretty slick.
The purpose of the dinner from the Williams family standpoint was so that Caleb could talk to the group and tell them how much he loved Oklahoma and that he wanted all of them to join him in Norman. He wanted to tell them if they did, they would win National Championships and do great things. Well, COVID-19 has been incredibly destructive, and due to social distancing spacing, Caleb did not get a chance to deliver his speech as it got put on the shelf because not everyone could be in the seating area at the same time.
Caleb showed his adaptability but making sure he got a few minutes with all the guys in attendance but spent a little extra time with Leigh, Byrd, Farooq, Jackson, G. Williams, Sexton, and Shettron. They were all the guys that weren’t committed yet to the Sooners.
In talking with Leigh and Byrd, at the time, they both didn’t seem close to committing, but Byrd is closer than Leigh. Leigh never came off his top six, but none of those schools have the Williams factor. Both families are very close and have traveled tougher to a number of recruiting events. Williams is always in Leigh’s ear telling him that he needs a left tackle and if not him, he told Byrd that he could be it. If both came, he told them they would be the best tackle combination in OU history, which is saying something considering the great tackle groups that Bedenbaugh has already had and the groups through history.
I had a chance to sit with a number of the athletes there and just talk, and what I loved about it was that they were asking me about the history of OU and what I loved about OU. They asked me my favorite player or players, and I told them about the great Joe Washington, Lee Roy Selmon, Jimbo Elrod, Steve Davis, Rod Shoate, Billy Vessels, and Steve and Tinker Owens to name a few. What was great they all wanted to know about them, and they kept asking me about how great the program was.
They started looking up some of the athletes that I was talking about, and they marveled at Little Joe’s running style and how quick Lee Roy was. They were all in the moment, the Boomer Sooner moment, and they just kept asking questions and kept wanting knowledge about the Sooners.
A cool thing that the team experienced at the Saturday dinner was when they all were watching the live feed of four-star defensive end Kelvin Gilliam (6’3, 250) out of Highland Springs, Virginia.
Obviously, that was the video that Gilliam put out later, but the group’s reaction when Gilliam said he was picking Oklahoma with a shout of ‘Boomer Sooner Baby’, but the response of the group was on real-time. If you watched it, you wouldn’t have known that a few of those guys weren’t committed yet to OU.
All the players talked non stop about how much they loved Caleb and how much they respected him, with a conversation that was so genuine that I know it’s real. Every single player talked so fondly and highly of Caleb that it’s hard for me to think that a lot of those guys aren’t going to come to Norman and play with him.
Yet, recruiting is a real experience, and we still have a few months before signing day in December. With the Gilliam commit OU moved ahead of Texas in the national rankings but up only one spot in the 247Sports national ranking to 14th. Four-star Bryce Foster (6’5, 315) of Katy, Texas, who most at the event felt would commit to OU, will not announce until the last day of the early signing period in December.
The fact OU offered Aidan was huge because the two care of each other very much and with mom planning on moving to the town where Tristan signs it would really help her if the boys went to the same school. The offer Saturday means the two could go to the same school together. Prep football in Virginia has been pushed to the spring, but Tristan said that he would not be graduating early. He wants to play his final year even if it’s in the spring, because the team is going to be good in the spring, and he will be the left tackle with Aidan the right tackle, and he does not want to miss out on that opportunity.
With the William’s moving to Norman with Caleb, that’s appealing to Leigh and his mom. The two families are very close, which gives OU a great chance. LSU was the leader going into the trip, and the family really likes the Tigers, but this weekend OU closed the gap. I will repeat it, both programs have great offensive line reps, but OU has Williams, which will be a big asset in the recruitment of Leigh and his brother.
Byrd told me his choices are down to OU, SMU, and LSU. You could tell that Byrd loved hanging out with all the guys in Norman, and he and Montgomery are good friends. There is no question that OU turned his head this weekend, and they have a better chance to sign him now than they did before the weekend. I like the Sooners chances at this point,
I think it’s going to be hard for all of these guys to turn Williams down. I have never heard a group of guys talk so highly about a player who is not even on the same team. Those guys said nothing but good things about Williams all weekend. They were already talking about him being their quarterback and how they were going to enjoy his leadership yet, they would not tell me that they were committing to OU. However, they were acting like committed guys that were already committed, and at this point, I think Williams is going to be hard for them to turn down.
That goes for Gentry, Shettron, and Sexton too, who were all having such a good time on Saturday being on the Zoom calls and watching Gilliam commit that all three felt like pulling the trigger. All three really like OU.
Williams and Farooq spent so much time tougher and looked more like brothers than friends the way they were acting. They have been together for so long that there is no way that he’s not going to go to OU and play with him. He will commit soon because of William and the fact that OU is one of the best programs in the country for wide receivers and quarterbacks. That’s too good of a combination to turn down.
In the end, this recruiting weekend will be judged totally on the uncommitted guys committing. Recruiting is a bottom-line business, and in most cases, it doesn’t do you any good to finish second. I feel a few of those guys, if not all of them, will eventually be Sooners, but if they don’t, then this recruiting weekend may lose some of its luster in some peoples eyes, but it is something I have never seen the likes of in all my time covering Oklahoma.
I think the Williams factor will be too good to pass up, but we will not know that for sure until signing day for both the 2021 and 2022 classes.
Eyes & O’s of Riley | August 23rd
– Charlie S
He did it again on Sunday…
Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley went into his bag of emojis and decided to flash the eyes this time…
We have been able to confirm this set is for a 2021 recruit on the offensive side of the ball.
(On the Donor Board, following the most recent ‘O’, I mentioned not to get hung up on the year of a recruit for a specific emoji…appears Lincoln will use whatever he’s feeling at the time)
