Open Post | Monday, June 2nd
Posted on: June 2, 2014
Image via @JoshMoore81
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
– The big news from this weekend was PJ Mbanasor making a return visit to Oklahoma. This time PJ visited with his parents. The question is how did this visit go? I spoke to PJ at length yesterday and the visit clearly went well; it only added to the interest that Mbanasor already had in Oklahoma. PJ got a chance to have breakfast Saturday will all the coaches, including Bob Stoops. Oklahoma really laid out the red carpet and made the visit a “PJ Mbanasor day”.
A big thing for PJ was getting his parents feedback on OU. His parents had visited TCU with him and had approved of his initial commitment there. PJ told me his parents really enjoyed the trip to Norman. One of the biggest things for his parents are, of course, the academic side of things and his father felt that all their questions were thoroughly answered. His parents came away from the visit feeling very good about Oklahoma, and while they seem to be the type of parents that would support PJ regardless, I know having them see OU and approve of it as an option is big for PJ.
The other question is whether or not a possible commitment is coming soon? Well, the impression I got from PJ is that he’s really trying to make a decision about what kind of timeline he’d like to stick with. He told me repeatedly that he felt very good about the opportunity in front of him at Oklahoma, and he felt very comfortable there in his heart. He also said the OU staff has upped their communication with him lately. However, he also has some other schools that he communicates with regularly are recruiting him very hard including Ohio State, LSU, etc. It is important to note he has yet to see any of the other six schools in his recently released Top 7, and that is something he’d still like to do. But the plans for any future trips are still in the process of being figured out.
– Wanted to congratulate Kingfisher OL Kaden Clay Jackson. He attended the NFTC camp in Ohio this past weekend and took his reps as a DL. He earned Top 5 honors there as a DL! Just a few weeks ago, JY was telling me he felt OU should consider Kaden as a center. He said he felt he’d be the most athletic center OU has had in a while. Winning Top 5 honors at a big camp like that playing as a DL supports that notion, at least to some degree. But Kaden’s film shows all the athleticism one could desire for a center.
– OU offer Neville Gallimore picked up a Florida State offer this past weekend. A couple weeks ago he also picked up an offer from Ohio State. He made an unofficial visit to Columbus just before he attended the Ohio NFTC camp. Gallimore weighed in at over 300 lbs at the NFTC! His recruitment has clearly taken off, but I still believe OU has a good chance of getting an unofficial visit from him this summer. Gallimore’s coach will actually be in the Oklahoma area later this summer, so Gallimore may be able to take the trip with him at that time.
– This past weekend TE Josh Moore tweeted out that he was in Norman for a 3rd unofficial visit to Oklahoma. I’ll try to catch up with Josh later on and report back on how things went.
72 Comments
Thanx! Really enjoy the Open Posts. Will you cover the OU camps this week? Hope so.
Is that Josh Moore with his Mother?
I think it has to be the only other guy they really talked about was Mbanasor but he is only 6’1″ 176lbs and that guy is way bigger!
Yes, it is
Good to hear Oklahoma kids are showing up at out of state camps! Glad to get Mbanasor and Moore back on campus!
Glad to hear PJ’s parents were with him on this trip, Bob generally leaves a good impression with the parents which sounds like it could play a big role.
Yet another round of visits in which the coaches couldn’t close the deal. This isn’t happening as often at other big schools.
I will never understand this line of thinking.
Stoops has said (many times over the years) that he and his staff do not pressure kids. They commit when they feel right about the situation.
This is not abnormal. I trust Stoops knows exactly what he’s doing.
Plus if they pressured recruits more then they might see more late de commits when those kids really want to go see new places.
I can stand a couple decommits from your 1st or 2nd round of offers if it means we get more of them in the long run, couldn’t you? Other schools do fine with this strategy.
It sucks to lose recruits and most years were going to lose 2 or 3 recruits. I think what stoops is doing is just fine especially if running the table this year lands is a top 10 class.
It may take running the table to put OU in the mix for some of these kids, but a bad combination of things has made the current situation more difficult. Conference, reactive changes to an evolving recruiting landscape, OU compliance being overbearing, negative recruiting against OU, other regional schools that are up and coming…we all can think of them.
That’s true they had an opportunity to expand the big 12 and chose not to. I agree with not adding mid majors like Boise and byu but there were about 10-15 schools that could have been had depending on how things would have changed if the acc was in the big 12’s position.
I agree with you-OU is just not “cool” at the present time. Basically Alabama(18) and Clemson(19) recruits for 2015 are at a point where they can pick and choose. I am anxious to see what happens with McKenzie, Gibson, Jamabo, Anderson, Moore, Wheeler, Lampkin, and especially Oklahoma athletes like Barnett, Sunderland and Wariboko in regards to 2015 commits. OU is in the top 5 for their signature or are favored according to recruiting sites. By the way OU is ahead of Kansas, Kansas State, and Iowa State ( 1 commit each), but behind the rest of the Big 12 teams. I don’t know whether to jump and shout or holler calf rope!
I think ou has moved a step closer to number 3 already so beating Tennessee is going to be huge deal and maybe getting a guy like Gibson will help bring in guys like Mckenzie and don’t forget fehoko who seems to be friends with Mckenzie and is in contact regularly with Monty. And we will have to see if tech can close a solid class (so far) if they end up going 7-5 and getting smacked by the bigger teams after all their talking.
Tennessee is shaping up to be a very crucial game for a number of reasons(recruiting, SEC opponent, strength of schedule, etc). Oh yeah -being undefeated for the year.
I agree Gary, I really think the Tennessee game could be big for OU if we win.
I respect your post, just not the condescending first line. However, I will help you understand “this line of thinking” and why Bob may not know exactly what he is doing. Before I get blasted, I do trust that Bob will keep OU very competitive his entire tenure, but I guarantee you he isn’t satisfied with his level of success and most passionate OU fans are ready for a championship that’s not just a conference trophy. I’m not a “gloomer” or “end of the world” type guy after an 11-2 season regardless of who we did or did not beat in a bowl game. However, I think we all agree that this program is about NC’s and so we want our coaches doing whatever they can in order to win the next one.
So, here are some facts (besides #1, that’s just a comment):
1. Your statement of Stoops has said many times that they do not pressure kids is interesting because I have never heard that come from Stoops’ mouth in a presser, let alone the “many times” that you say he has said it. Recruits have mentioned that the coaches do not pressure them, but haven’t heard the coaches say so. I could be wrong on this, but really that statement doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Please link me to something if I am wrong here.
2. Logic tells us that the coaches would rather get the kids they have highest up on their board and among their first offers at the position. That is a fact. Every cycle maybe 1 or 2 kids pop up late that end up being studs. 1 or 2 is a small part of the recruiting class. Zack Sanchez, Charles Walker and Dwayne Orso type kids (assuming they turn into studs). However, do you really think the coaches are happy with losing their top tier offers and kids at the top of their board? Common sense says that they aren’t. In fact if you look at last year’s close you will see desperation in OL recruiting. Curtis and Brown are rumored to be academic casualties and Joseph Paul isn’t a sure thing either. So we always point to these great closes, but we wouldn’t need to scramble and we would have better athletes if we lock up our first tier guys.
3. It is a fact that since Rivals have started their rankings, no team has won a national championship without at least 1 (I actually think it’s at least 2) recruiting class ranked in the top 10 and most of them have classes in the top 5. While rankings are not absolute (no I don’t need a Super K rant on the topic đŸ˜‰ ), this has been a fact over time. OU hasn’t sniffed a top 10 class of late and a lot of that is due to striking out on a lot of their first tier offers. We haven’t gotten bad classes and I trust our coaches to help us compete at a high level regardless, BUT a national championship (which fans and coaches both want) has not been won by a team outside the top 10 in recruiting.
4. Here is a fact about Bob. He has been changing the way they have been recruiting over the last couple of cycles in a big way. It was reactive instead of proactive and that’s why we fell behind, but you are finally starting to see the coaches “hustle” for kids like never before…because other schools are. Changes in a program are an acknowledgement that things aren’t as they should be most of the time. It is definitely an admission by OU and staff. Coaches have been fired and very hard workers on the trail have been hired. Assistant coaches salaries have finally started to increase to attract top talent as OU was behind in the amount they paid assistants versus head coach. The “mailers” have been changed drastically and the graphic art that is being sent in these letters is a huge step up. Their activity on social media has increased, or in Bob’s case has started to exist for the first time. Events at the school are ever changing and this year they are even increasing the amount of camp days they are coaching. There have been BIG changes in order to start attracting top kids. Why is that? because they know they need to start reeling in the cream of the crop and not always those late find diamond in the rough type kids. OU doesn’t have the “cool factor” right now so they are trying to make things happen on the trail…they know they are falling behind where they want to be in recruiting.
5. OU has had quite a few kids leave their campus with OU as the leader or name OU as the leader and now are committed to other schools/aren’t really considering OU as heavily. It also has had some put OU “up near the top” and end up losing interest as well. Just off the top of my head for this cycle I can name Jaylon Lane, Toby Weathersby, Damarkus Lodge (we were his first offer after camp last summer), Kahlil McKenzie (now 5th in his top 5), Zach Rogers, Ronald Jones II, Kendall Sheffield (said he grew up OU fan), and I’m sure there are many more. OU has GOT to become better closers. Especially on official visits but earlier in the process as well. Once they leave they lose the visit high, but if they commit, most kids end up developing great pride in that commitment. Sure we may lose a couple, but who cares? If you sell harder and get more commits from your top guys it’s TOTALLY worth it. Especially since guys decommit even with the style of our coaches. They are not immune just because the kids “feel right”.
I could go on and on, but “my line of thinking” is that the teams competing for national championship are better salesmen and recruiters right now than OU. Has it always been that way? No. Is it that way now? Yes and the numbers back it up. I love our coaches, but even they know they need to make changes because contrary to popular belief, I can guarantee you they are tired of losing some of their top offers as well.
Coach Stauder, I agree with most of your points. One is wrong, however. OU was not in the Rivals top 10 when we won the NC in 2000. One thing that does hold true is that OU has not won the NC WITHOUT a majority of Oklahomans on the roster and 2 deep. About 4 years ago I looked up all the NC winners’ rosters and the same held true for them…all had majority in-state rosters. We need to recruit the state of OK harder. We need to recruit the Kaden Clay Jacksons of the world as a priority, get as many Cali kids as we can, and fill the rest of the class with kids from nearby states like Louisiana, Texas and Kansas.
I’m not wrong in that. OU won in 2000 without data from Rivals. Would any of those classes been in the top 10? Who knows, maybe not, but there isn’t data to support or reject OU’s championship breaking the trend.
OU had the 23rd recruiting class in ’99, and I forget exactly what it was in 2000 but it was in the 11-14 range.
According to who? Rivals goes back to ’02
Not that I disagree with all of that, I just see things differently but you made good detailed points. The first topic about pressuring recruits bob did speak on that a few weeks ago it should have been linked on a daily news thread if not bleacher report and newsok should have it on their sites. Overall I think ou does have to get better but they don’t need top tier rated talent they need top talent along with kids who love ou and I think they’re missing the boat on that right now because they’re trying to be in on guys in the top 50 which is what all the fans are asking for. This years high school class in oklahoma is as good as it’s been in awhile and they should have offered all the top players in state and so far have not.
What you need to remember is that OU won the NC in 2000, they also played in the 2004/2005 and 2008 NC game, however did not win. If OU had won those games that would beat Nick Sabans and Alabamas 3 wins. OU has played in more NC games than Alabama since 2000 just weren’t able to pull off the win except in 2000. I think Stoops has done just fine with recruiting. So I am sorry, but nothing you say regarding OU and recruiting will hold any merit with me.
You are welcome to stick your head in the sand and ignore the facts of the CURRENT recruiting by OU if you would like. That is your prerogative. However, I like to live in the here and now and look at the reality of things. I love Coach Stoops. I think he should stay at OU as long as he wants. I know we will be a good program as long as he is here. Nevertheless, all of those championship game appearances you speak of involved top 10 recruiting classes. Rivals only goes back to 2002, but in ’02 and ’03 OU had the #7 and #4 classes respectively. They started recruiting like gang busters and had a ton of momentum after 2000. Just to continue, in ’04 they were #11, in ’05 they were #3, in ’06 they were #9, ’07 they were #14, ’08 they were #6. So if you think that recruiting didn’t push them into NC games then you are ignoring facts. We have a GREAT coaching staff, but to win national titles it’s all about getting the jimmy’s and the joes to go with the coaches. OU doesn’t have the same “swag” as it once did so kids aren’t salivating at that OU offer. Therefore coaches have to sell harder to get the elite kids. They have started making changes, but aren’t quite there yet and the proof is in the pudding. You act like I am making all of this stuff up and that I’m saying all of this. I’m regurgitating mostly factual information with some commentary mixed in. I’m not a guy that hates on the coaches, but something has to give in order to get back to winning national titles or at least competing closely for them.
If anyone thinks you’re making it up and criticizes you for it then I’m sorry I don’t agree with your assessment of the numbers and overall outlook but it does make for great debate. I think last years class may turn about to be underrated but we won’t know for another 3-5 years. They did take some risky guys late but I think every team ends up having guys commit that end up going to juco because of grades were just obviously ou fans so we focus on ou’s issues.
A lot of people don’t understand that there is some kids u can say hey We really need ur commitment be for u leave or very quick cause if u don’t we r going to offer some other guy and most of those guys r in state kids u do that to or ur local area, but most of to recruit more then about anyone and in years like this one we will be recruiting a bunch of kids that r high profile that won’t committ early. Yes we lose some of our top kids but so does EVERYONE
All your arguments are nothing but trivial. I’m not acting like anything. What you ARE acting like is if it’s that OU has had this drastic shift downward in recruiting and couldn’t be farther from the case. Do they get every 5 star recruit, no, but Alabama didn’t either until they won. Man, we can go back and forth back and forth for days but the objective reality is that your upset that OU has not won the “big game” since 2000 and you’re looking for something to blame(i.e. recruiting).
My post had FACTS in it. Numbers and trends that can’t be denied. Your opinions of course must be far less meaningless, right? I stated many times that I love Stoops and the job he has done and will do, but if you don’t want to win or even get to national championships then you can stick your head in the sand like I said and ignore the facts. I figured you would. By the way…Bama had the #10 class then the #1 class the two years before they won the title in ’09. So they actually brought in the #1 class the year they lost to Utah in the Sugar Bowl…
If OU bucks the trend this year then you can come back and say the facts I presented are trivial or have been corrected, but until then they hold a heck of a lot more water than your, “everything is just dandy” opinions.
You want to buy some stock in Enron?
They had the number 12 last class year????? The difference between 10 and 12 in minimal???
They had the 15th ranked class last year. Was in the 20’s until the last couple weeks. Multiple guys look like they aren’t making it in as well.
No??? It was not 15, the worst the class was ranked by different sites was 13 and as high as 12.
Go to rivals and it’s 15. If you go by average stars it’s less. I can’t help the helpless.
If OU HAD won the NC games they played in, you and I would not be having this conversation. You can say well yeah, but they DIDN’T win, but the fact remains they still had the talent and coaching to get there.
False. They had plenty of top 10 classes on those teams. My facts would remain.
I don’t see Mbanasor committing any time soon. I think he learned a lesson with his early commitment to TCU, and he’ll wait. That said, I would be really shocked if he doesn’t end up a Sooner.
If he were to decide today I think there’s no doubt it’s ou. If he decides to wait until the all star games or NSD then I would think ohio state had a chance to out recruit everyone. Kids love urban meyer
OU fails to make the cut for 2015 DE James Lockhart, who had visited Norman a while back.
https://twitter.com/James_Lockhart9/status/473573201273180160
Baylor and Taco Tech on that list just looks odd.
https://twitter.com/Joe_MainMixon/status/473578354155601920
Meanwhile, Bama picks up their 3rd commit this week.
GOOD FOR bama, THIS IS OKLAHOMA and the top football Program going back to when Stoops got here
The Bama team we beat up a few short months ago?
Meh.
That was one game, you seem to forget that they’ve won two national championships in the past three years. Meanwhile, we continue to lose to Baylor. So discredit their whole program for one game, but their trophy room would beg to differ.
Their trophy room is no better than our trophy room. A few more recent additions? Sure. And at some point, it’ll be OU that wins a title or two, and Bama won’t have won one in a while. Do people really not understand the definition of cyclical?
I understand that you’re saying everyone has their time, but they didn’t get there by just waiting around. OU isn’t going to win by just sitting around waiting for others hype to wear off.
Difference of opinion. I don’t think the OU coaches are “just waiting around” at all. Bob has fired several coaches in recent years. They’ve changed up how they recruit to some degree. The focus in recruiting in Cali, Louisiana, and Florida is a relatively new change. I see them working their butts off. I’m a big believe that most of recruiting comes down to stuff that coaches can’t really control. Saban may be a great recruiter, but if you stick him in Alaska and ask him to start a new football program, do you think he’d recruit very well? Probably not.
I know that its still early, but OU has dropped out of the top 50 on the recruiting rankings. They are just below RICE. Trust in Stoops
God the world will end and were going to go 2-11
Well my login works again
Wondered where you’ve been.
Hey man! Just login probs! Been lurking! Still healing the ole ankle. How have you been?
I do good, thank you for asking.
Ninety days to go, hope that rehab is working.
Honestly it’s been rough. End of fibula is in 5 pieces. 4 screws in something the size of a golf ball. But I am hanging in..
I had a weird ankle bone break/chip back in the late 80’s. Ended my racquetball playing, but made me an Ace weather predictor.
Yeah that sucks! Tibia fx was clean (gruesome but clean) it’s fine. Hope to get the screws & plates out b4 football… The other one though. Sucks.
At least you don’t have to drive in D/FW traffic everyday.
Standing on the tarmac at Tan Son Nhut air base with commies trying to blow me up and/or shoot me was fun in comparison.
I believe it! Drive to Plano Saturday & dentin/lewisville had me ready to shoot someone!
I-35(a.k.a. NAFTA highway) is such a pain in the exhaust pipe.
JJ, I think your connection is getting glitchy again. It showed your last comment as waiting for moderation.(?)
I bet your good man can find the supper table without a map, though.
There’s no telling
I drive to Louisiana once or twice a year and drive through North Texas to get there. We take the back roads to skirt around DFW. Even if it can take us an extra hour, it’s worth every day that it adds back to our lives.
You are wise.
Besides the new season, you need that leg to keep up with those boys.
This is so true! The little one is killing me
Man I loved rball…had an ankle injury end it for me…didn’t help my weather predicting though đŸ™‚ Hows southcentral ok looking for rain this summer…we keep missing the moisture every time it comes thru …grrrr
Me too.
With the ankle injury I couldn’t drive off, even with a double ace wrap and my back hand became nonexistent.
Don’t know about SC OK, but here in the Dallas area we are way behind in rain.
I was lame for a few months so I just decided it wasn’t worth it anymore…tore some tendons pretty good…heard it pop…play guitar for exercise now….think we’re going on a 4 year drought here…dug ponds out last year and they’re getting dry again…haven’t had runoff in 5-6 years (good ol days)
Same here, hobbled around with a cast and crutches for awhile, then limped around. When I felt I was strong enough tried to get back on the court, but after a few months and many butt stompin’s the realization that I would never play at the same level as before, I just gave it up.
The drought will come to an end and when it does, it’s usually because of a flood. That happened here about 6-7 years ago. Lake Lewisville went from having 8 of 10 boat ramps closed due to low water, to 9 of 10 being closed due to being under water in the span of six weeks.
At this point, all I am asking for is a good showing this Fall. Following recruiting this game has become amazingly exhausting and unpredictable.
We hobbled for the second half of the season and still beat the best team in the country with the best players in the nation with brand new coaches. I think Bob’s got this.
The schedule sure looks to be working in OU’s favor, with Tenn, Baylor, K St. and Okie St. at home.
Just hope our backup QBs get some minutes during the season and don’t have to get thrown in out of necessity.
I also hope Heupel will show the creativity and trust in his offense that he did in the Sugar.
Good to see TRB working out, even if we seldom hear from him.
http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/article/media_slots/photos/001/559/367/hi-res-27fed12a0b6c2e14a06882fa2f9db3a9_crop_exact.jpg?w=340&h=226&q=85