Open Post | Tuesday, November 30th
Posted on: November 30, 2021
Some Initial Thoughts on Lincoln to SC
– Super K – Posted on: November 28, 2021
***Agent friend of mine who handles some coaches texted me and said this was, in his opinion, not a smart move by Lincoln.
***I have to agree. I’ve talked to people who were out at USC and the structure of the USC program from the support to the administration is problematic. For those who think OU fans didn’t know what they had till it’s gone…I’d say same thing to Lincoln. You don’t realize how important a strong administrative foundation is until you notice it isn’t there.
***I personally think OU is going to be better off for this. I’ll get into this more but there were beginning to be serious issues that many of you saw showing up on and off the field. Players suspended for major bowl games. Players arrested. Players playing up to their potential when they feel like it. Players playing down to their competition. Very little development physically. Lack of mental toughness.
***I know it’s nice to get the 5-star QB every year but folks, those two 5-star QBs were having a heck of a time this season putting up points on some 2 and 3 star players in the Big 12.
***Run game had disappeared and sometimes almost completely abandoned.
***I don’t know what direction the OU admin will move in other than we have been told that Bob will take interim duties. And, I know this stings a lot. But, this administration is very good at what they do. Lincoln did a good job while he was here but if they didn’t feel the need to match the offer then let it play out. I think the Sooners will come out of this in a good spot.
The Great Reset at OU?
– Charlie S – Posted on: November 28, 2021
The last time the Sooners won the national championship was following the 2000 season.
Bob Stoops was the head coach and he hired a hungry staff full of up and comers.
Stoops himself was hungry and his demeanor permeated the entire OU program.
Since that magical 2000 championship, the Sooners have played for a few nattys and lost, won a ton of conference championships, and made the playoffs several times only to lose in the first round each time.
Stoops was the head coach from 1999 to 2016 when he abruptly retired and Lincoln Riley was named head coach. Seamless move there right? Very comfortable for all parties.
Near the end of his tenure, Stoops wasn’t much of a fan of recruiting and he made a big hire in Riley who loved recruiting. However, much of Stoops staff remained in Norman and Riley was left with his brother Mike as the DC.
Riley eventually let Mike go but it was a reactive move rather than a proactive move and the decision likely cost OU a first round playoff win at the very least and a golden opportunity at a national championship.
Riley lead the Sooners to conference championships each year he was the head coach until this year. He was not able to lead the Sooners to a playoff win and he really didn’t rock the boat in terms of staffing decisions while in Norman.
Between Stoops and Riley, things in Norman have been very comfortable with the coaching staff. There was very little fear of job loss and there were a lot of comfortable hires. See Bennie Wylie, Joe Jon Finley, DeMarco Murray on the offensive side and when Grinch was brought in he brought two coaches with him in Brian Odom and Roy Manning who had very little experience coaching the position they now coach at OU.
The comfort level played into some accountability issues for the players, in my opinion. Prior to a playoff game, OU had 3 players, 2 of whom were starters and leaders, test positive on an NCAA drug test. How the hell does that happen? Who was holding those kids accountable? Then you had this past offseason where OU had 3 major players arrested for an alleged robbery, the details of which you know. Again…why was this happening.
With Riley gone off to USC, OU has a chance to have a ‘Great Reset’.
There are no longer friends and family connections that need to be considered and whoever the new coach is will be hungry to put his stamp on the program.
OU can go multiple routes with this hire.
They can get a young up and comer to come lead the program. They can go out and get an established coach.
Whichever way they go, they need to make it a clean sweep and allow the new head man to pick and choose his staff so HE will be the one who is accountable for his hires and he will be the one charged with what will likely be a rough stretch.
The Sooners are going to lose recruits. They are going to lose commitments. They are going to lose current players thanks to the NCAA transfer portal and one time transfer rule.
They are heading to the SEC in a matter or months (anywhere from 12-48).
Joe Castiglione has the opportunity to hit the big reset button and bring in a coach who will be hungry and focused on every detail of his program. Not just the quarterback position.
It’s going to be a bumpy ride most likely. You will be well served to not pay much attention to recruiting rankings and such for a hot minute here.
But this could turn out to be a very important moment in the illustrious history of OU football if Joe C gets the right guy.
No more friends and family. No more warm and cozy feelings in the staff locker room.
This is the University of Oklahoma and the head coaching position should be the position where the buck stops and the accountability is elevated.
Behind the Scenes | The Structure Was Not Sound
– Charlie S – Posted on: November 29, 2021
In an attempt to walk you through some of the history of Riley’s failed tenure in Oklahoma (yes, it was a fail as he did not elevate the program to a higher point on the field than it was when he got here) I thought it would be good to start with one of the first cracks we stumbled on.
The strength and conditioning program note that K dropped HERE three years ago is a good place to start.
K wrote:
‘I have just confirmed with a source that OU assistant S&C coach, Mahala Wiggins is no longer with the program. While some of you may not be familiar with Wiggins, he was also an assistant S&C coach at Oklahoma during the final few years of the Schmitty era.
The reason this departure is significant is because Mahala is one of the most well liked and respected S&C staff members, especially amongst the players. This is a widely known fact throughout the program. As such, there is little doubt that this departure must sting for quite a few of the players and members of the staff.’
That was not a lot to go on, and to be perfectly blunt, we did not know how to further address it without throwing sources under the bus and casting what was perhaps a premature shadow over the program…so we left it as it was. Right or wrong, in our opinion, that was the best path to take.
When you all questioned us about the reasoning behind Mahala’s departure, we left it pretty vanilla and described it as ‘philosophical differences’. A more accurate description would have been “Mahala wanted to hold the players accountable and Wylie and he did not see eye to eye on how to go about that”.
Mahala was Schmittys right-hand man and he was used to doing things a certain way and when players were not doing the right things, they would pay for it through the strength and conditioning program. The old regime in S&C was not interested in being friends with the players, they were interested in doing their job and producing results.
We picked up notes about a lack of accountability very early on. Kids would come in late, come in and give little effort, or not even show up at all for different events.
Whether it was a missed team meeting, a skipped offseason workout, or even basic academic issues…there were multiple occasions where players we not held accountable by the S&C staff.
Remember, the S&C staff spends vastly more time with the players than any other coach. The foundation of the program is built at that point.
We heard of incidences where certain players slept through workouts and nothing happened. Like, nothing. They pretended it didn’t happen and just went on with the business as usual. There were different standards for different players.
As I said on the podcast, Schmittys guys loved when the season got there because the offseason was so difficult. You never once got that feeling under Rileys’ tenure.
The structural flaws were showing. The play on the field showed it and it was only going to get worse. This year, the University of Oklahoma was fortunate to win games against Tulane and Kansas…and suffered losses to Baylor and Oklahoma State! For Pete’s sake, Tulane looked like a bigger and stronger team than the University of Oklahoma and Baylor and Oklahoma State had players who looked much better than OU’s players in the eye test. You just cannot deny that.
In regards to Mahala, things came to a head when he was setting up a session with a star player who was on the team at the time. The player missed a number of events. Mahala was going to put him through some paces and was stopped by Wylie from going through with the session. It was at that time that the split happened and Mahala left the program for good. Philosophical difference of opinions.
Wylie was Rileys guy. Mahala was not. Wylie is now USC’s issue.
This post is not meant to bag on Wylie and Riley as much as it is to give you hope and a brighter outlook on things. There is a reason to be optimistic. The friends and family era at OU has a chance to be over with. A new coach will come in and you can bet that strength and conditioning will be a priority for him.
A new coach can come in and pick up some players and coach them up and develop them.
This is still the University of Oklahoma. This is not the end of the program. It is an opportunity for the program to get to that next level. They have been treading water for the last 5 years under Riley.
The structure was not sound and this year showed that OU was moving backward.
Yes, there will be some bumps and a couple of years you are not used to…but again…this was a necessary disaster for Oklahoma to get back to the top and if a couple 8-4 type seasons lead to that down the road…this will be looked at as a monumental change in favor of Oklahoma football.
Sourced | The Exit With the Staff
– Charlie S – Posted on: November 29, 2021
K was in touch with a source who relayed Riley’s last meeting with the staff, just prior to meeting with the team:
“I’ll be leaving, some of you are coming with me…for the rest of you, if you are interested, just reach out to me”.
So some had a heads up, most were left completely in the dark.
Why did he Leave?
– Super K – Posted on: November 29, 2021
I know this is a lot for everyone to take in right now. OU has had continuity for over two decades and Bob and the admin and the boosters helped pave the way for Lincoln to be successful and maintain that continuity. He made his name off two quarterbacks he recruited under Bob. Lost a few playoff games. Then the past couple years were sort of up and down and trending in the wrong direction.
But still, it was comforting to know that there was continuity and familiarity. And just like that, it was gone.
I really believed Lincoln could create a dynasty. But like a quarterback with great arm talent and all the tools, you don’t really find out how he’s built or how fast he processes information until you get him in a tough situation.
Lincoln was holding on to guys that simply weren’t qualified to be on staff at OU. They just weren’t.
I don’t know exactly what happened. I have some guesses.
But, I did ask someone who is close enough to the situation who could at least offer an intelligent hypothesis on why Lincoln left and the answer was simple.
“Scared of the SEC and the money”
And to be honest, with the state his program was in, he was smart to be scared of the SEC. Had OU been in the SEC West this season, they may have won one game. Oklahoma State and Baylor suffocated the famed Lincoln Riley offense. And don’t forget, Arranda suffocated his offense last year. At least last year he had the excuse of only having one 5-star QB hand-selected by him. This year he had two.
Any team with a decent line of scrimmage was becoming a problem for Riley. The SEC doesn’t have decent lines of scrimmage. They have monsters.
Quick Hitter | Caleb Williams
– Charlie S – Posted on: November 29, 2021
James spoke to a source close to Caleb Williams.
The entire Williams family has been in touch with the administration and remaining coaching staff with the football program.
Right now, the plan is for Williams to stick around and lead the workouts and prep for the bowl game.
That is a positive sign as it will give OU the chance to make their hire and then re-recruit Williams.
What We Are Hearing & Coaches on the Road
– Charlie S – Posted on: November 29, 2021
***Still hearing Venables as the guy out front for the OU HC Position.
***Hearing Bedenbaugh is open minded right now and hopeful to remain in Norman if a head coach is named in short order (man needs to secure his next contract)
***Roy Manning is on the road recruiting. For OU. Do not take that as a sign he is staying or going. It is what it is right now and his future is very much up in the air.
***Cale and Bob are also in the Tulsa area recruiting with in homes
***We are told Viney is on the road as a replacement recruiter
***No word on Cains future plans, but he is in Texas recruiting this evening.
***Told Odom is on the road as well, not sure where he is heading but I would assume it will be a couple days in Texas to see Kip and Kobie.
More when we get it.
