Open Post | Wednesday, July 30th (Updated 6:28 pm)
Posted on: July 30, 2014
Image of Jarrett Guarantano via studentsports.com
– DeAndre McNeal & Malik Jefferson: After OU recently offered 2015 ATH DeAndre McNeal, we had a chance to catch up with him. He told us that he’s being recruited by OU as a flex TE/H-back. He also said he was hoping to make a trip to Norman before the summer is out. Well, we check in with him yesterday only to learn there is a possibility he will be heading up to Norman this weekend. As most of you know, he is teammates with stud 2015 LB Malik Jefferson. And if a trip to Norman this weekend does happen, it’s a trip the two Texas prospects would be making together.
The visit of McNeal and Jefferson is not yet confirmed, but it sounds like there is a real possibility they may head up to Norman this Saturday.
– Jarrett Guarantano: OU has already made a couple QB offers in the 2016 class, to Shane Buechele and Shea Patterson (who recently decommitted from Arizona after his brother left the staff). Well per Demetric Warren (@DemetricDWarren) of Varsity Preps, yesterday OU extended their third 2016 QB offer to Jarrett Guarantano (Oradell, NJ). In talking to a friend who spent time with Gaurantano at a recent QB camp, it sounds like Jarrett at least had some early interest in the Sooners. We’ll have to find out whether that interest remains.
– John Humphrey: Yesterday 2015 WR John Humphrey (League City, TX) released his Top 2 which consisted of Oklahoma and Notre Dame. We talked to John last night, and he said that between the two schools he has “no leader…they’re the same.” He also said that he will take two official visits, one to OU and one to Notre Dame.
– Darius Anderson: Chatted with 2016 Texas defensive lineman Darius Anderson (Missouri City, TX) last night. Anderson said he plans on heading up to Norman this weekend with his mother for an unofficial visit. He doesn’t currently hold an offer from OU, but his offer list in general will likely expand significantly during this season.
– Blind Tape Test: In case you didn’t see our note on Twitter yesterday, OU legend Brian Bosworth recently took our Blind Tape Test. We sent him film of 2015 LB prospects Malik Jefferson, Jordan Griffin, and Anthony Wheeler. For those of you who don’t recall, Griffin is the ILB out of Seffner, FL (Eric Striker’s HS) that OU visited in the spring. And that we felt OU should have offered at the time (and still have yet to do so). Here is what we said about Griffin (see the link HERE):
There is a chance the Sooners could be going back to Armwood, Eric Striker’s HS, for another LB. Coach Kish stopped by to see bone-crushing ILB Jordan Griffin. The coaches haven’t had a chance to see Griffin work out just yet, but I’ll be honest with you, IMO, Griffin is a kid worthy of an offer on film alone. He might not be exactly what OU is looking for in terms of length (he’s 6’0″ – 6’1″), but his football IQ jumps out on film. He can play downhill, drop, start/stop, and he will strike you in the open field without regard to his life or yours. And to top it off, he’s a blue collar kid that will put in the work.
We hope to have the Blind Tape Test up for y’all next week. In the meantime, we wanted to share something The Boz said to us after we complimented him for doing such an amazing job on The Blind Tape Test:
My desire to be the best + being coached by the best + playing with the best + playing against the best + playing with no fear and all heart = a unique qualification to measure players football IQ, leadership, refusal to lose, perfection of his game, possible teammate one may want. There are always unknown factors…work ethic, character and most importantly the size and depth of a player’s heart.
– Trench Warfare: Football is just around the corner so we decided to FINALLY post JY’s Trench Warfare of the Sugar Bowl fourth quarter. It’ll be up later today. Better late than never!
– UPDATE (10:49 am): Checked in with a source on whether Joe Mixon was expected to report with the rest of the team today. Our source let us know that Joe has been working out the past couple days and is indeed expected to check in with the rest of the team. We’ll try to confirm that comes to fruition later today.
– UPDATE (11:23 am): 2015 CB Frank Buncom IV (San Diego, CA) has put out a Top 5 (in alphabetical order) of: Duke, Oklahoma, Stanford, UCLA, and Vanderbilt.
– UPDATE (12:10 pm): We’ve received some emails this morning and in response to questions about whether NEO DE Austin Roberts has an offer…hedoes NOT currently hold an OU offer.
– UPDATE (6:17 pm): Multiple reports indicate that Joe Mixon has been suspended from team activities pending the outcome of investigation.
– UPDATE (6:28 pm): Official statement from OU:
OU Athletics statement: "Joe Mixon is not reporting for team activities at this time. We will continue to monitor the situation."
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) July 30, 2014
127 Comments
Great note on McNeal and Jefferson!
Thanks for reading Brian!
#31 is somewhat lean in the history of OU Football(sorry Tim Lashar but I can’t put a kicker on here) so I went a different route today…. some of y’all might remember this, I don’t know??
31 Days Till Football Time in Oklahoma!! Boomer Sooner!!
Funny you say that Josh as I was wondering who you were gonna use today!
I start looking the day before and really just couldn’t find many options yesterday.
I bet, my dad and I were wondering who you could possibly use because neither one of us could really think of anyone.
I wanted to go Old School with Gene Calame, QB in the early 50’s for Coach Wilkinson but couldn’t find any pictures.
Gene Calame
Dangit!! Yeah I see a couple of pics of him that are pretty easy to find now. Dang work yesterday distracting me from the important things in life lol!
Score is classic. Players I enjoyed Sherwood were Taylor or Mike McKinley
Awesome! I still love it when Sterling scored on the reverse, and the Alabama student was saying, “Wooowwww! Wooowwww!” like, THIS doesn’t happen to US.
Players wearing #31 for OU
Anderson, Allen 1980-81
Baker, David 1956-58
Barr, Johnny 1968
Berg, Brandon 1996-97
Bush, Larry 1992-95
Cade, Tony 2003-05
Calame, Gene 1952-54
Cohen, Michael 2006-07
Cook, Gene 1950
Corrotto, Eugene (Gene) 1938
Custar, Lance 2006
Franklin, Daniel 2008-12
Jones, Antonio 1998
Kearney, Vic 1970-72
Lashar, Tim 1983-86
McClellan, William (Mike) 1959-61
McKinley, Mike 1987-91
Merkt, Frank 1955
Norman, Josh 1998
Pinson, Larry 2002
Running, Jon 1962-64
Shadid, Mitchell (Mitch) 1940-42
Shoulders, Marvin 1999-2000
Stephenson, Robert (Bob) 1965-67
Taylor, Londell 2013
Taylor, Sherwood 1977-79
Van Camp, Eric 1973-75
Wesley, Maylon 1991
Whaley, Dominique 2010-11
Willett, Justin 2002
Wilson, Chris 1982-83
Yeah there were some good options but finding pictures isn’t always easy, especially of the older players.
You are going to have a tuff decision for tomorrow
I don’t know, that one seems really easy.
Both were great and both had long NFL careers.
Yessir.
It really starts getting tougher to choose just one after tomorrow.
It really does! Speaks to the tradition of the program. Tough not to go with the two time All American tomorrow though.
Got it…say no more.
My first thought was David Baker from the 47 straight years.
My next choice was Tim Lashar and I have no problem with a kicker, especially one from the ’85 MNC and now a solid citizen.
Yeah the Lashar family is all class all the way for sure, great people… but my kicker resentment runs deep. In HS our kicker missed a chip shot in OT and we ended up losing to our rivals my senior year, in college I hated watching the kickers do their own thing while I was killing myself out there for hours, and as an ILB coach, well they just get on my nerves lol!
I understand.
Still, Lashar would have been a good choice, IMO.
The video of OU beating Duke in the Orange Bowl in 1955(I think) the first OU TD was a 100 yard pick six by Baker.
All this history talk makes me want to reread Jim Dent’s The Undefeated… must have for all Sooner Fans!!
Great book!
Great book!! Discovered it 2 years ago at Half Price books and got me caught up on my OU history. One of the best ways to get through the OU offseason!!
He’s thinking, gosh they’re not motivated to even play in a consolation game. Wrong!
I still think we’re sitting good with Humphrey. Notre dame has obviously done a lot to make up ground but there is a lot of miles between Houston and south bend. Double if I had to guess the distance to Norman. Obviously leaving texas isn’t a big deal but I did get the sense early on that he thought Norman was a long way so maybe distance is a slight factor.
I hope norvell can pull he and newsome out of this class. Although newsome probably has Tennessee as his leader right now.
At this point, it’s starting to sicken me when I hear that a kid from the 2015 is favoring Tennessee. What the heck is Butch Jones giving these kids to drink on their recruiting visits? While I’d rather OU land him, at least TG has tOSU as his leader now.
A really, really nice training facility equipped with something called a Peyton Manning room.
I think that also and the promise of immediate playing time.
Bingo
Agree. I’ll be surprised if Humphrey doesn’t end up a Sooner.
Is anyone else besides me starting to get the “ole goosebumps” seeing how Louisiana Tech is right around the corner?? Yall will get a kick out of this guys…my sister called me yesterday evening and my nephew got in trouble for the first time at school (he’s in kindergarten). She said he went up to another kid who had on a longhorn t-shirt and told him “he should take it off, wipe his rear end with it, and put on an OU shirt”. Needless to say I absolutely lost it. I love that little guy, even though he did rat me out to my sister when she asked him who he heard that from. As always K, JY, Esco and the other brainiacs, really appreciate the great work guys, keep it up!
Louisiana Tech, Tennessee, OU/TX, OSU, I have tickets to all of them. I am insanely pumped this year. I have had goosebumps since the end of the sugar bowl.
Jared…you…maybe…wanna…part ways with those OU/TX tickets?? 🙂
lol I mean everything is for sale for the right money, haha, but I got 40 yard line seats this year, and it would be my 6th year in a row to go….so better start looking at breaking into that ol life savings jar.
Trust me I know, it really is ridiculous how much tickets for that game go for now-a-days. Even horrible seats!!
Best way to do RRR is to just show up and buy tickets at the fair. I got great seats (40yd line) for $150ea about 3 hours before the game. The scalper even had a credit card scanner. There were multiple scalpers with tons of ticket options.
Yeah Krys, that’s usually the way I do it now. It’s just way to expensive getting them any other way.
Just remember…
YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A GOOD FRIEND TO ME!!!!!
Sounds like me. I have season tickets, and access to OU/UT tickets at face value from a client. I plan on going to the Tenn/UT/Baylor/OSU games, and maybe the game in Tulsa if a buddy finds a couple of tickets.
Need a wingman????? I can clear my schedule!
How much like Kate Upton do you look like? The more, the better your chances of using my extra ticket. 😉
Uhhhhhh… How good is your eyesight?
Bringing them up right!
Boom!! That. Is. AWESOME!!
It absolutely made my day when I heard it!! My sister got even more upset when I asked “so what did he say that got him in trouble”?? 🙂
So you’re “that” uncle! Haha, me too. I have so many stories of the awesome things my nieces and nephews did that I got blamed for. I take pride in every one of them. Well done sir!!
Yep Monster…I am most definitely that uncle 🙂
I would be calling that school and asking “What EXACTLY is the problem here?”
Right?!?!
Take that boy out for ice cream ! My daughter who is 8 will point out people who are wearing Texass gear and announce she has “spotted the enemy”. They naturally scowl at me but I reply with the down horns. I love indoctrination!
hahaha
Saw Malik Jefferson’s soph film over a year ago and have had him #1 on my ‘wish list’ ever since. Guy is an absolute side-line to side-line tackling machine. Getting him on campus during drills would be huge. His interest level has been tepid so not going to get too amped yet. But anything can happen.
Malik is a game changer. He is one of the most fluid LBs I’ve seen in a while. Everything looks effortless. He closes fast. He slips through gaps and gets around blockers like he’s a ghost. He’s the real deal in my estimation.
Dare I say he has little bit of Jadeveon about him.
He came to OU as a RB. Went to LB and changed the position for the new era of football. Out with the big slow LB’s and in with the fast backers.
Seriously! He flows through the wash like water over rocks. More of a dare I say Rod Shoate-esque LB. If OU could get him and either Wheeler or McGinnis…what a LB duo that would be.
Rod Shoate…. What an awesome linebacker. One of the surest tacklers I’ve seen play at OU.
I have been waiting for that 4th quarter trench warfare so long that I was beginning to think it was just a myth. Thank you guys for making my day. Can’t wait to read it.
Yes!
Kind of like Bigfoot?
Six minutes twenty two seconds of OU football I will always remember.
Sounds like this could be a big weekend for OU with all the recruits coming in for unofficials.
Anderson’s video is astonishing.
Just a soph and he was dominating everyone he played against.
Hope he has good counsel, every school in the nation is going to want this young man.
Couldn’t believe how good Griffin was on your original post. Glad they are in communication with him However, you brought us Jaylan Waters and I was hoping he would be in the blind tape test too.
If Kish were to pull in Jefferson, or some of these other guys, I’m curious what the Kish haters would say. Seems like these no names (Alexander & Evans) he signed from last year have done OK.
Not a big fan of Kish, even less so if he doesn’t pull in a DeBerry, a Wallace, (fingers crossed) a Jefferson. If he delivers on the other hand, it will shut a lot of his critics up…for a season. lol.
Point I’m driving home is Monty hasn’t pulled in anyone on DL higher than 3* but he’s great with the fans. With the great help from TFB, we realize Monty’s players are not true 3*s. They are players who are under the radar and have massive upside. Same scenario with the guys Kish signed last year. I’m not a friend of Kish or even met him but I’m going to trust M. Stoops.
I see what you’re saying, but there has been stability on the D-line more so than there has been at the LB position. I think bringing Mike back will fix this issue.
There must have been a scheme or personality conflict, but Coach Mike seemed to brush aside a few LBs that Venables recruited, i.e. Wort and Franklin. He seemed to be grooming Alexander starting last year’s fall camp and when Nelson went down it was the inexperienced Alexander and not Franklin that took his spot.
Not a criticism, just an observation.
I realize Alexander was a true freshman but he has a long ways to go to be the man in the middle. Many of his tackles were five yards up the middle and he has real difficulty getting into the hole, taking on the blocker and making the tackle. If I remember right he was a safety in high school. IMO linebackers are like running backs in that the real good ones develop a “fell” for the position and having played there for years have experience that allows them to “think” less and react on instinct.
Agree to a certain point. He played all over the place for his HS team because hes a football player. Also, he doesn’t play in the middle, that’s Shannon. I expect him to get pushed around some, he’s a true freshman playing without Phillips. Also, in HS Saunders played TE in a wing T so does that mean he didn’t have WR instincts? Same with Tapper so I’m not one who believes you have to play a certain position for years to have the experience to think less.
It’s quite unprecedented for Josh to extend 3 QB offers at the same time. Is this indicative of possible frustration that Buechele, with all of his Sooner connections, has yet to pull the trigger?
Probably not the case…it’s just possible he takes 2 guys a dual and a pro style, since they may not take any one this year.
Could be trying to ‘pressure’ one into an early commitment so he can wrap things up, especially since it appears this 2015 class won’t have a QB.
Would love to see Jefferson in Norman but does OU have a realistic chance and is that enhanced with the offer to McNeal? They have offers from many of the same schools so I can’t imagine that would be a unique to OU situation.
Very much looking forward to JY’s 4QT Trench Warfare. You can’t get that kind of break down anywhere else I have found. This is the best OU site around, hands down.
Jefferson is a long shot, IMO.
So you’re saying there is a chance?
I like your optimism….. And movie quotes.
Thanks for the update on Mixon. I was wondering whether he would report for practices.
Was trying to think of an analogy for how bad some of the local media guys are milking this Mixon thing to generate “content” and this is all I came up with.
http://www.okmoviequotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/4-White-Chicks-quotes.gif
Why hasn’t OU offered Keaton Torre? I would think OU would want to keep such a high profile QB in state.
RE: Griffen. Football skills/IQ out weigh the physical measurements. If this kid is a force from the inside LB position does it really matter if he is not 6′ and not 6’3″”? Curtis Lofton was maybe 6′ and he was a beast and still is. Griffin comes across as a pro typical linebacker in his attitude and gets himself in position to make plays because he puts in the prep time. Having a true linebacker, not a converted whatever, gives the OU defense even more flexibility with its front and coverage schemes.
STOOPS OFFER NOW!
I agree, and I always think of Ryan Reynolds, even after blowing two knees, He always seemed to be in the right position to make the play. He was a coach on the field as well.
Yeah, he always seemed to be in the right place and right time in Blade: Trinity, too. 🙂
I just can’t justify an actual update for a Top 13, but for those interested….here ya go
https://twitter.com/Official_John10/status/494522754633187328
But can you justify being the only Big 12 school, that’s something to brag about.
Big 12 … Big 12 … Big 12….
The young man has OU in exclusive company(except for ucla)
I may be wrong but I think UCLA is supposed to have good academics
If anything it should be better than ou. Boren really hangs his hat on national merit scholars but it’s not difficult to get into ou.
You are not wrong. It’s one of the top 25 schools in the country, although naturally it depends on what you major in.
You aren’t wrong, but it is in LA.
Good point. I did not enjoy my visit to that area of California.
Really, you didn’t enjoy Westwood? UCLA has a wonderful campus and the academics are as good as you’ll find in any public university and all but a few private ones. If you doubt that, just look at the qualifications of their entering class. California’s higher education program
has three systems, the UC System (comprised of 10 Universities and 237,000 students) and the Cal State System (23 Universities and 430,000 students). The third tier is the Community College System(112 campuses serving 2.4 million students).UCLA & Berkeley are at the top so the competition for admission is intense.
No I’m not big on the city lol. Small town kinda guy
The kid is from Cali so he is already familiar with it.
I have visited most of the major cities in Cali and I have no intention of ever going back.
OTH, I plan on having this inscribed on my head stone:
He Never Went To New York City.
https://twitter.com/JimmyWhitt33/status/494543102602797056
In regards to the Austin Roberts kid, is that NEO A&M?
Mixon suspended pending investigation.
I guess it was necessary to suspend him in light of the seriousness of the allegations. I hope that it turns out all right for Mr. Mixon who seems to have been goaded into a bad decision. I also hope they ultimately decide it was not a criminal decision but a reaction to the bullying that appears to have been initiated by this woman. Facts will show us the truth.
Can anyone tell me if landthieves is down?
Yes it is.
Did news break? Did the site implode? Lol
Mixon thread got a little long probably lol.
Traber paid spiderman to web blast the server.
Spider-man probably webbed Traber with how he talks about OU.
Mixon update added
Does the suspension foretell something else about this situation? Why suspend a player who has not been proven guilty? Just questions…
PR move (and the right one), IMO.
Probably so it isn’t a distraction for the team, gives Joe time to work things out with the situation.
Agree, its a PR move, and pretty standard. I think we would have seen him suspended sooner but it probably wasn’t worth doing until there was something for him to be suspended from.
It’s a team policy, nothing more.
saying on oui that it is univ policy applicable to any student/athlete involved as the target of a police investigation………can’t participate ’til legal issues are resolved…..since the da reportedly won’t get the investigation results ’til end of next week, this is going to take some time
It’s definitely the right thing to do. Right now practice is the least of his worries. Once he’s received his ruling from the DA whether charges will be filed or if they do some sort of plea then the university will announce their punishment and trust me even if nothing is filed he will get more than Ray rice did. Honestly the right thing to do may be to suspend him until after the RRR to show the public that the university isn’t all about winning football games.
Do the right thing for the person and the team. The public can kick rocks.
And the media can pound sand.
Actually talked to Mixon very briefly this afternoon. He told he really is apperciating all the support and patience from fans (assuming teammates as well). Told him to keep his head up, the world has funny ways of making us a stronger person.
Hang in there Joe.
This too shall pass.
EasTex, you always know what to say!
Thanks. Kind of you to say, even if not always true.
Someone posted a quote that I knew was attributed to Seneca, so I went looking at some of Seneca’s quotes and observations.
If you see Joe again tell him this:
|
Good quote! Joe and I sometimes message back and forth via online gaming (don’t want to give too much away, no need to bombard him). But nothing too much, just motivational stuff. Definitely be sure to pass it along if I see him on again soon!
Glad to know you have his back.
He is being tested now, and he may not yet realize it. We all face challenges in life, no one is exempt. What really matters is how we deal with them.
I would trust Coach with my kids. Pretty sure he’ll figure this out however it goes.
Stoops always makes the right decision based on how he feels about the kids potential to fly right. It’s obvious that he believes Joe is not a bad kid. I’m sure Bob wants him to be a Sooner but his hands are tied for now because of team policy and he can’t/won’t make a final decision until all the legal drama comes to an end. Whatever he decides to do will be correct regardless of what anyone else thinks.
Is there a video of the Bob Stoops luncheon talk today? Or a transcript?
Malik Jefferson @Official_MalikJ
#OU this weekend
9:47 PM – 31 Jul 2014
per LT