Sooners QB Kendal Thompson Elects To Transfer
Posted on: January 22, 2014
Image via Sooner Sports
Tuesday evening Oklahoma quarterback Kendal Thompson announced via his Twitter account that he will be transferring after this spring semester. The third year sophomore is on pace to graduate in May, which is an impressive enough accomplishment in its own right, which will allow him to transfer and be immediately eligible (with two years of eligibility) to play at the school of his eventual choosing.
The decision is certainly an understandable one as Thompson has rarely seen the field during his three years on campus and with Trevor Knight’s recent performance in the Sugar Bowl, it’s unlikely Knight will be relinquishing the reins on the starting quarterback job anytime soon.
And Thompson is a competitive young man who is confident in his abilities to play quarterback at the D-I level, so he will now seek an opportunity to do exactly that.
From the Oklahoma side of things, Thopmson’s decision to transfer could leave them in a bit of a precarious spot in terms of experience at the quarterback position. Especially if the talk, albeit speculative at best to date, of Blake Bell possibly switching positions comes to fruition. Though that may no longer be on the table as one has to believe Bob Stoops and Josh Heupel would strongly prefer someone with Bell’s experience backing up a guy in Knight who through the early part of his OU career has proved to be somewhat injury prone.
However, if Bell does wind up somewhere else besides quarterback and with Thompson transferring that would leave the Sooners with a redshirt sophomore (Knight), a redshirt freshman (Cody Thomas), and a true freshman (Justice Hansen) at quarterback. And that’s obviously not taking into account Texas Tech transfer Baker Mayfield, which was intentional considering he won’t be eligible to play until the 2015 season.
46 Comments
Wish Kendall the best. Always hate to see players leave but he has worked hard and deserves to be playing somewhere.
Gotta think that the two events were intertwined don’t you think Ray?
I seem to remember reading somewhere that Josh did not allow the OU QB’s to have a twitter account. Might be the reason he just opened one.
He was a great Sooner. Wish him the best of luck wherever he goes.
Wish him success no matter where he winds up.
Me too. It really made me uncomfortable to have so many QB’s sitting on the bench that could be starting at other programs.
I’m happy for him. And to find another school with his degree in hand is awesome!
Agreed. But it’s just the nature of the position in that obviously one of them can be on the field at a time.
So does this mean we’ll have 1 extra scholarship then?
It could, but I seriously doubt this news came as a surprise to the coaches. So I still think you’re looking at five more likely guys to close out 2014: Parker, Quick, Clark, Frison, and Garnett.
If Thomas is somewhere in the middle of Bradford/Laundry ready as a redshirt Freshman I say you got to at least look at Bell at TE this spring if Blake wants to try…Although we are not stocked at TE I would think him making an impact there is a longshot..He has great size and decent speed but route running/blocking is a great unknown. If I am Bill Blankenship I would have camped out last night at the Thompson residence to get the first crack at talking with him.
I know there have been a bunch of positive reports on Thomas’ development, but I don’t think you can truly know where someone is at until they’re out there w/ the bullets flying.
Not saying he could make the switch but bell did start his high school career as a receiver so he’ll have at least some very basic building blocks to work with
Bell will not be a TE or a FB. He’s been a QB the entire time he’s been at OU and that’s where he’ll stay. He’s not fast or quick enough to be better than anyone else that is on the roster. He’ll probably go down as the best 2nd string QB ever at OU, but that’s where he’ll stay. As for Kendall, I wish him luck wherever he goes. He should take his time to decide though. QB play is all about timing. He needs to go someplace where he has a really good chance of starting right away even if it’s at a much smaller program.
Saw this coming for a while now. He was just he odd man out, and low man on the totem pole, IMO. Nothing against him personally. As a Tulsa alum, I wouldn’t mind him ending up there.
Would love to see him at Tulsa
that’s been a popular suggestion from everything I’ve heard/read so far. though there has been some speculation whether or not Bob would sign off on that w/ them (Tulsa) being on the schedule next year. fwiw, I think he would.
Hey Jordan, If a kid graduates, can a university put any restrictions on where he chooses to go.? Other than the basic rule of Major, etc.
Yes, even though he’s graduating he’s still subject to the NCAA transfer rules which include his former school being able to “block” some schools.
I’ll be really surprised if that’s the case here though. Stoops has never really shown a track record of doing that and my understanding of his relationship w/ Thompson and his family is one that I strongly suspect that, within reason, he’ll be permitted to go wherever he’d like.
JE, would Indiana be a fit for KT?
Seems like they are unsettled at QB, there is the Kevin Wilson connection, and KT would smoke those slowpoke B1G defenses. Except for Mich St. I’d guess the big grad school at IU would have a master’s program not available at OU so that’s likely covered. KT could show his play action game in those large B1G stadiums and get good TV on their network. That campus is mighty impressive with all the massive limestone buildings.
The down side would be FB is a distant step-child to BB in Bloomington.
Have you ever been known as AnotherOUPLM? Just curios.
Si, senor, you are mucho observant! When the migration over here to FB took place, I adopted this screen name in honor of the soil we love to hate in much of Oklahoma.
It will be our secret. Along with everyone else who reads this. Sorry to bust your cover! HAHA.
Indy is probably not a good fit. Offense is good. Roberson is a very good read option QB, Sudfeld is a solid pocket passer. Both start on occasion and both are effective. Now if KT was a DB, plenty of opportunity in Indy.
Oh well. On to “plan c.” Hope he gets a good slot in a name program. Be interesting to see this unfold.
‘druther see KT in Sooner crimson, but this is understandable. He will start wherever he goes, we saw what he could do. Best wishes to find the right program, win that starting spot, have a great two years. He’ll be an NFL draft pick with a Master’s Degree. Not too shabby!
Will he have two years to play if he transfers to a D1 school? He has already redshirted (I think), so if he is forced to sit out his junior year (next year), he’d only have one left.
Well, I’m no expert on the Byzantine arcana of the NCAA’s massive rules library.
But in Jordan’s first paragraph above he states KT’s May graduation (3 years – pretty doggone good in the classroom!) allows him to transfer with immediate eligibility, with two playing years left. JE knows NCAA rules pretty well.
I think the only way that comes into play is if he transfers somewhere that has a grad program that OU doesn’t offer, and he enrolls in that program.
And maybe he will do that. But it will certainly limit his options. He is also the first player I’ve heard taking advantage of that rule, that would in theory have two years left. Most only have one season.
As I stated in my post, b/c he’s graduating in May he’ll be immediately eligible (for any school that OU permits him to transfer to) and will have two years left to play.
I appreciate Kendall’s effort and totally support his decision. I think says as much about Cody Thomas as anything. There might not be any real plan to move Blake to another position. And, now that Kendall is gone, that might less of a possibility. However, we watched how fragile our QBs were last year. If there was a chance of Blake moving to another position, that would leave Kendall as the first guy off of the bench, UNLESS Cody Thomas was indeed lighting it up.
Obviously, there is a lack of any real evidence to much of the speculation about the future QBs. Nature abhors a vacuum. With the lack of anything real, we are left to suppose.
I personally would love to see Cody as the first off of the bench. He has a big league arm. He needs to see some real reps in order to have any hope of timing with the receiver corps. If Knight goes down and we are in a throwing situation I want someone that can chuck the rock coming into the game.
That also takes some pressure off rushing Hansen into action before he has time to bulk up and learn the position.
I have a hard time believing that Mayfield will be much of a factor over the next couple of years, but I think the kid thrives at proving people wrong. He could be the total x factor.
I too am intrigued by what Cody Thomas can bring to the table. Will be interesting to see how he looks this spring.
Will he practice this spring? Looks like he is on the baseball roster. Maybe he can do both?
I think Cody Thomas may see the writing on the wall. Bell will be the clear second next year. Even if Thomas is the second string, he still won’t be the starter. The year after that, TK will still have the starting spot. Unless there’s a horrific injury to TK, Thomas won’t pass him. Stoops has shown that once he has a starter he sticks with him if he can. When the position opens up, he usually goes with a RS freshman. By the time the position opens up Thomas will be a jr or sr. By that time another 4 star QB will be waiting in the wings.. My guess is that Thomas eventually just concentrates on baseball.
Does he go with a RS freshman by plan or by necessity? When Heupel graduated we went with Hybl first, then they swapped the starting job for a couple of years, followed by White’s two years, followed by an attempt to start Thompson, the age of Bomar, Thompson, Bradford, Jones, Knight/Bell.
Hybl seemed to be the most complete passer, but White had the “it” factor. Thompson had the experience in the program, but lacked the “it” factor. Bomar was too busy being coached by his daddy to ever be anything. Thompson, again, was the steady influence that Stoops desired. Bradford had Heisman talent. Jones had the arm to step in.
In each case, Stoops brought in the guy that best fit the surrounding talent.
Paul Thompson benefited three times from bone headedness/ impatience from other guys on roster. What would it have looked like if Brett Rawls not washed out? Or Tommy Grady not decided to transfer? Or Rhett Bomar been more like AD?
Thompson proved that if you keep your nose clean, do what the coaches say, and stay patient you will get your shot. Don’t try to hard to predict the future. You never know when someone is going to decide to take a job at Big Red Sports, or fall out of the back of a pickup drunk and high, or decide they can start for Utah.
Rawls or Grady could have kept Thompson on the bench. This also could have kept us from rushing Bomar. This also could have prevented us from rushing Bradford into action so early. Bradford being there for his final two years could have kept Jones on the bench for an additional year or two.
We know that Knight has the “in” on keeping the starting job. But what if we had a more experienced team coming back this year and hadn’t decided to go towards the “nevada” offense? Drew Allen pushed Landry for two springs for that position. Allen most likely would have been the starter this year without the change of philosophy. What happens if Knight can’t stay on the field because of health and we decide to move back to an offense that protects the QB better?
Thomas might be reading the writing on the wall. Likewise, Bell and Thompson probably felt their role changing, as well. But there are way too many things that can happen to re-write that wall.
This guy has a hell of a ball. Clean tight spiral almost everytime he throws it. I was on the field at the Iowa state game where he came in and played. In my honest opinion he shoulda been the number two guy instead of the Belldozer. He seemed to be more of a complete Quarterback. I hate to see him leave but I’m excited to see him go and make a name for himself elsewhere. I’m gonna be a fan of his through out the rest of his career. – The Yost
Yeah, this one makes me sad. I hate it when it doesn’t work out for Okla kids and especially one that is a legacy. Wish Kendall the best and hope he lights it up wherever he ends up.
Agree with ya… hard to believe he couldn’t get any snaps…
Wish Kendal the best.
Hanta Yo!
No surprise. Kid was good, but likely would never see the field. Wouldnt be surprised if cody thomas leaped him on the depth chart next year anyway. Best of luck kendal, someone will get a good one!
I’ll support Kendall wherever he goes…..fine young man,….just hate that we never got to see him fulfill his potential. Have to think that without the timing of his injury…things may have turned out different.
Just curious what the FB’s think…First and foremost, I support and trust our coaching staff unconditionally. If I knew more than them I wouldn’t be on here posting,,,,but for all the hoopla and fussing and cussing among Sooner fans this year over the QB debate,,,,If given the chance to change ONE decision all year….I think we missed out on not getting Kendall some meaningful snaps in the Tulsa game. At the time we weren’t sure Trevor would be healthy for Texas and even then they hadn’t totally turned him loose in the passing game…at least we would have had a 2nd option going into the Texas game. We’ll never know of course…but man was I disappointed after the Tulsa game that we didn’t.
was in a hurry when I typed that….meant to say the Notre Dame game not Texas….lol
Side note on this story: His brother is a baller. Soonernation needs to be very good to KT. I hope we stay in the good graces of the Thompson family for a lot of reasons, but his little brother is going to be a 5* kind of kid.
Seems like a great guy and very smart, as well! I wish the best for him.
His wasnt the greatest legacy but still a worthy one and I hate that the opportunity isnt available but he’s right.
Too bad he’s leaving, he would have been the absolutely perfect backup for Trevor. Wish him well…
His academic progress is probably suited best to leave. Most people do graduate work at an institution other than their undergraduate. I wish him well.