Open Post | Tuesday, July 27th
Posted on: July 27, 2021
Jovantae Barnes | Commitment Timeline + New Visitor
– Super K – Posted on: July 23, 2021
Sooners have 2022 RB Gavin Sawchuk in the boat. They also have Raleek Brown though Brown will be used in multiple spots.
They’d like to add one more running back to this class and they are hoping it will be Barnes.
I thought perhaps he might be reconsidering his timeline but I checked in with his coach this week and it looks like he will be announcing at the UA game.
However, if memory serves correctly, when I last saw Barnes I believe he mentioned the possibility of a silent commitment before that.
Barnes still has his OU OV to take as the visit he took this summer was an unofficial.
I think as long as you don’t see OU offer another 2022 RB than they probably feel pretty good.
I believe they do have a 2022 RB coming in next weekend in Camden Royal (Minneapolis, MN) but from what I can tell, he doesn’t hold a Sooners offer.
Visitor Notes | July 31st Weekend | Update: 1:55 pm (7/24)
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 24, 2021
The Sooners will host a number of prospects next weekend as there will be a brief suspension of the NCAA dead period.
We expect most of the visitors to be from the classes of ’23 and beyond, but there will be several ’22 kids in attendance.
As you know, we have already reported that we expect the following names to make their way to Norman:
’22 RB Camden Royal – 5’10 175 – Minneapolis, MN
’22 DB Commit – Robert Spears Jennings – 6’1 195 – Broken Arrow, OK
’22 DB Commit – Xavion Brice – 6’1 175 – Arlington, TX
’22 DB Commit – Jayden Rowe – 6’3 210 – Tulsa, OK
’23 DB Target – Micah Tease – 5’11 175 – Tulsa, OK
’23 OL Target – Andre Cojoe – 6’6 330 – Arlington, TX
’23 OL Target – Joshua Bates – 6’3 280 – Durango, CO
Some other names we expect to make their way to town:
’22 K Gavin Marshall – 6’2 190 – Frisco, TX – OU Commit
’23 TE Jaxon Howard – 6’4 245 – Minneapolis, MN
’23 DB Braylon Johnson – 6’0 155 – Highland Springs, VA
’23 OL Harris Sewell – 6’4 290 – Odessa, TX
’23 DB Braxton Myers – 6’1 185 – Coppell, TX
’24 EDGE Zion Taylor – 6’2 210 – Pearland, TX
’24 DL David Stone – 6’4 240 – Oklahoma City, OK – Added 7/24 1:55 pm
There will be additional names added to the visitor list, and just because you do not see a name on the list, it does not mean they will not be in attendance.
As usual, expect some changes!
Competing in the SEC | Part One
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 25, 2021
The Sooners are expected to make the move to the SEC in the coming years. No official announcement has been made to this point, but as you all know, the writing is on the wall.
Not sure exactly when the program will begin to play in the SEC, but I am working under the assumption that they will begin to play in the conference no later than the 2023 season.
I have shared my opinion that I am in favor of the move as I feel it will encourage OU to up their game across all levels of their football program.
While I would feel confident in their chances of being very successful on the field if they were playing in 2021 (right now I see Alabama and OU as being the best teams on paper in that group) it is off the field where the OU program has a lot (and I mean a LOT) of ground to make up.
I’m talking about resources and manpower in regards to the football program. Every program has the same number of coaches. Each program runs their S&C program the way they see fit, so it’s not even really about that aspect. What I am talking about is the support staff for each of the programs.
Let’s take a look at the Oklahoma ‘Support Staff’ first:
John Baker Director of Creative Design
Brent Cardwell Assistant Video Coordinator
Chandy Cornelius Office Manager
Ryan Dougherty Special Teams Analyst
Ty Darlington Graduate Assistant (Offense)
Annie Hanson Assistant AD / Recruiting Strategy & Administrative Engagement
Conner McQueen Offensive Analyst
Zack Hefley Director of Content (No longer at OU, but expect a new name to fill position)
Parker Henry Graduate Assistant (Defense)
Drew Hill Director of Player Personnel
Will Johnson Graduate Assistant (Defense)
Brian Martin Video Coordinator
Caroline McMurry Recruiting Operations Coordinator
Courtney Viney Recruiting Analyst
Julie Watson Assistant to Head Coach Lincoln Riley
Austin Woods Defensive Analyst
Erick Wren Graduate Assistant (Offense)
So in that group of 17 you have four ‘analysts’ and three grad assistants. Three of the positions have no bearing on the football program aside from documenting it (Design/video/creativity etc…). I have included the assistants to the coaches (Riley’s) and office managers and such.
You can also lump Clark Stroud into the support staff as his position is titled ‘Director of Operations”
So pretty much you have an existing ‘support staff’ of 15 – 18 people, depending on how you want to define their positions.
Let’s take a look at Alabama’s ‘Support Staff’ shall we?
Joe Pendry Special Assistant to Head Coach
Todd Watson Special Assistant to Head Coach
Ellis Ponder Associate Athletics Director, Football Chief Operating Officer
JT Summerford Director, Football Operations
Brandy Lyerly Associate Director, Football Operations
Ashleigh Kimble Associate Director, Recruiting Operations
Sam Petitto Director, Personnel Operations
Bob Welton Director, Player Personnel
Roger Bedford Assistant Director, Player Personnel
Marc Votteler Assistant Director, Player Personnel
Denzel Devall Director, Player Development
Josh Chapman Director, Player Development
Evan Van Nostrand Assistant Director of Player Development, Character and Career Development
Daniel Bush Director, Football Recruitment
Makenzie Votteler Associate Director, Football Recruitment
Carrigan Johnson Coordinator, Football Operations
Cedric Burns Athletics Relations Coordinator
Savannah French Coordinator, Football Marketing
Linda Leoni Administrative Assistant
Glenda Edwards Administrative Secretary
Jessica Beckenstein Coordinator, Head Coach’s Office
Dean Altobelli Football Analyst
Johnathan Galante Football Analyst
Alex Mortensen Football Analyst
Bert Biffani Football Analyst
George Banko Football Analyst
Jake Long Football Analyst
Will Lawing Football Analyst
Mark Orphey Football Analyst
Ronald Cooper Football Analyst
Dave Huxtable Football Analyst
Nick Cochran Football Analyst
So in this group, you have 32 individuals and you can add…
David Ballou Director of Sports Performance
Matt Rhea Director of Sports Science
For a total of 34 individuals that I have identified.
That number includes 11 football analysts, 2 special assistants to the head coach, 3 dedicated player personnel assistants underneath the director of player personnel, and a host of other positions which OU does not even have at this time.
The difference between the two programs is stunning in the scope and size.
I am not saying OU has to match Alabama position by position once they officially enter the SEC.
I am saying, and have been saying for quite some time, that OU is going to have to build out and improve their support staff. I was calling for that long before this week when the rumblings of the move first surfaced.
Alabama currently has doubled the size of OU’s support staff. I know not every team in the SEC has such an extensive support staff, and I will look into other schools in the conference and I am likely to find that there are other schools with even larger support staffs.
Again, I am not saying OU has to go out and match that right now…but I can tell you that Steve Sarkisian down in Austin has already begun to build out a much bigger staff than previous regimes have at Texas.
The analysts are one thing, and OU can say they have the GA’s as analysts so the numbers are not quite as drastic in that regard (seven combined analysts/GA’s for OU to 11 analysts for Bama) but let’s not forget…past analysts for Bama have included Butch Jones, Mike Stoops, and even…Steve Sarkisian for a hot minute). There is a difference between true analysts and grad assistants.
So what I have learned in part one of ‘Competing in the SEC’ is…they treat football like a business and OU is going to have to step up things on that side of the program if they hope to be one of the top dogs in the conference.
I believe OU will begin to progress in that direction once things become final.
I believe the Sooners know what it will take for them to step in and be competitive ON the field and right now, they would be very competitive.
Sustaining that competitiveness will require them to step up off the field as well.
Three analysts won’t get the job done for recruiting, planning, implementation, correspondence, evaluation, engagement…etc…
And for all those things mentioned above, that is one reason I am very excited to see how OU responds and addresses things upon entry to the SEC.
A decent portion of that massive influx of cash needs to be invested directly back into the program and its support staff if OU is going to be a big dog in the big SEC. That is pretty exciting stuff.
Sooners Visitor Note | ’23 OL Landen Hatchett
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 26, 2021
The dead period has lifted for the week and the Sooners wasted no time in getting kids on campus as they are hosting 2023 offensive lineman Landen Hatchett (6’3 285) out of Ferndale, WA.
The last name and location may sound familiar to you and if it does, there is a solid reason for that. Landen is the younger brother of Geirean Hatchett. Geirean was a 2020 offensive line target for Oklahoma who ended up staying at home and is currently a member of the Washington Huskies football program.
While Geirean was on a visit to Norman back in 2019…Lincoln Riley sent the younger Hatchett a video which is not lost on Landen to this day…
I caught up with Landen and he is very excited to make the trip down to Norman. You may recall that the Hatchetts have family in Oklahoma.
Landen said “My grandfather’s whole side of the family lives there. So I have a whole bunch of cousins, aunts and uncles, and some other family that I don’t even know!”
Hatchett currently holds offers from Oregon, Washington, Washington State and Oregon State. Would not be shocked to see him pick up an OU offer on the visit should the Sooners like what they see on the visit.
He flew in last night and will be heading back to Washington on Tuesday.
Update: While on the visit, Landen did pick up his offer:
Gentry Williams | Update
– Super K – Posted on: July 26, 2021
***Just wanted to let you all know that we have checked in with 5-star DB, Gentry Williams to see if he will be at OU for the end-of-the-month recruiting event. He said he is not sure yet. So, we are saying there’s a chance…
***As I previously noted, after his USC visit it looked like he would be committing in July but he pushed that back as he felt he wasn’t ready.
***I’ve heard through the grapevine that while he likes USC, his family may still prefer to have him closer to home.
***And, I have to wonder if this SEC move could really play a major role here.
***My hunch is the Sooners have some new life in this one.
2022 DL on Campus
– Super K – Posted on: July 26, 2021
Hearing word that Sooners have 2022 3-star DL, Cedric Roberts (Pflugerville, TX) on campus today.
Roberts holds offers from Baylor, Boston College, Colorado and others.
No offer from the Sooners yet but we will see if one comes. It does appear that Roberts plans on announcing a decision this week.
Update:
Measurables: 6’3 275
Was committed to Baylor for a time and is tentatively scheduled to make a new commitment on the 31st.
Film:
Update on 2022 DL Cedric Roberts
– Super K – Posted on: July 26, 2021
As I mentioned, Sooners hosted 2022 DL Cedric Roberts (Pflugerville, TX) today.
I am told the Sooners have extended an offer to Roberts and he will be announcing this week.
I have spoken to a trusted source of mine here in Texas who has seen Roberts in person and was told that he absolutely has NFL upside. He said if the Sooners can keep him on the right track and develop him, the physical gifts are there.
As Charlie noted in the comment section earlier, the kid has an incredible first step and his COD is exactly what you want to see in a big man.
The question we had was about his size but my guy who has seen him in person says he is a legit 6’3. The Sooners need to be getting more and more of those body types and less of the 6’2 and under guys.
I do think this probably means the Sooners read the room when it came to Chris McClellan. But even though that may have been what initially prompted this move, if the Sooners land Roberts they’ll still be getting a very talented player.
