Open Post | Thursday, Dec. 11th
Posted on: December 11, 2014
Image of Jalin Barnett via @jbird_77
Jalin Barnett: Lately there have been some questions/rumors regarding Jalin Barnett’s recruitment. Our guy Brandon caught up with a source very close to Barnett’s recruitment and got some clarification on where things stand with Barnett and some of the other schools that have been recruiting him.
First, we were told that Arkansas has indeed backed off of Jalin. This, however, has nothing to do with talent. It was simply an issue of them feeling like they couldn’t wait any longer for his decision. They have a player or two that have been waiting in the wings, and it sounds like those players might not have been willing to wait much longer. So it seems Arkansas may have decided to take the safe route, rather than waiting and risk missing out on multiple guys. Brandon says Coach Pittman at Arkansas and Coach Bedenbaugh were the two recruiters coming after Jalin the hardest.
The source also told Brandon that Jalin will take an official visit to Nebraska this weekend. That may seem peculiar or a bit out of the blue, but apparently when Mike Riley was at Oregon State he was the first to offer Jalin. Now that Riley isn’t half away across the country, it seems a trip for Barnett up to Nebraska to see him made sense. On a side note, coach Riley going to Nebraska may turn out to be a great thing for OK Preps kids. He always recruited the state of Oklahoma and we’re hopeful that this will continue.
Here is Brandon’s take on how Jalin Barnett’s recruitment will transpire:
“I think it’ll be a Sooners and Huskers duel to the end. I’m not sold on Oklahoma State in this situation. Now I could be wrong, but I just feel like OU was in it with Arkansas for such a long time that you’d think they would be part of his final decision. As for the Huskers? Coach Riley recruits the Lawton area so well, I just can’t count them out.”
My (K) personal feeling is that he ends up a Sooner, and I’ve held that position for a while now and here’s why. Some of you may recall Tyler Moore, the big offensive lineman out of North Shore. Moore was being recruited for a long time by coach Bedenbaugh and coach Wickline at Texas. In fact, Bedenbaugh had been in regular contact with Moore since his sophomore year. This past summer Wickline offered Moore, but coach Bedenbaugh didn’t. Moore said that Bedenbaugh had already offered Barnett and was waiting on him. My own sense of it was Bedenbaugh really liked Moore, but something gave him a lot of confidence in his ability to land Barnett. I have an idea what it was that gave him that confidence, but I’ve offered enough speculation on this subject for one day.
Justin Reid: Last week LSU offered Justin Reid and it seemed that it was pretty much over for OU. Apparently that is not the case. We’ve been told Justin has let the OU staff know that he is still very much interested. So OU went down this week to do an in-home visit with the star 2015 safety. We’ve been told by a source close to the situation that Justin recognizes OU offers an opportunity to perhaps play early, and he also appreciates that OU has recruited him for quite some time. Don’t know which way this one is going to go, but OU is definitely not out of this fight yet.
Neville Gallimore: OU coaches also made it north of the border this week for an in-home visit with stud 2015 defensive lineman, Neville Gallimore. Apparently both Bob Stoops and Jerry Montgomery made the visit. We are told that Gallimore will either announce at the U.S. Army All-American game in January or very shortly thereafter. We still feel this is an OU vs. Ohio State battle.
The Buckeyes have proximity (somewhat) and had obviously the better 2014 season, but Neville has the best relationship of all the coaches recruiting him with Montgomery. We’ve also been told that Ohio State may have hurt themselves a little recently by attempting to put a little pressure on Gallimore to commit — that isn’t uncommon for Ohio State — which didn’t sit well with Neville.
Jace Sternberger: Just wanted to give a shout out to Kingfisher TE/OLB Jace Sternberger. We’ve mentioned him a few times on this site. He’s a tall (6’4″) and athletic (camp tested 4.6 40) kid. He finally received a high major offer yesterday from the new coaching staff at Kansas. He’ll be taking an official visit there this weekend. Jace is also being heavily recruited now by Syracuse. We’re so proud of Jace and happy to see another Oklahoma kid getting a chance to play big time football!
Ricky DeBerry: Coach Stoops, Coach Kish and Coach Montgomery were in Virginia Wednesday night to visit stud 2015 LB, Ricky DeBerry.
176 Comments
Looking good to me.
This is just awesome, it’s raining, it’s raining…Open Posts!
Great stuff per usual on the OP fellas! I think it’s VERY intriguing that Bob is making all of these recruiting trips. Either A) he realizes his seat is getting warmer and we need more talent, B) He might be making some staff changes here pretty soon, or a combination of both A and B. 🙂
K, thanks for all of your work, great news. For all the sports I take in, OU recruiting/open posts are my favorite. DeBerry is huge. Says he’s 6’2 but he looks longer and he has to go at least 250. Jack Backer.
Curious, if we went after Sternberger, where would he fit? He seems like Lane, great athlete who found his position and rest is history.
yeah thanks K and TFB!!!!!!!!! I look forward to the open post!
Great updates. Personally I don’t think barnetts HS coach did him any favors by playing him out of position for so long. He’s not a tackle
As far as Reid, I think it’s over. If he goes anywhere but lsu I think it will be Stanford. Unless ou offers a number of things that Stanford doesn’t.
Need to close gallimore, Campbell and Daniels.
And I think it’s time for boulware to make a trip up to kingfisher unless he’s working other TE prospects.
Zack, I’m with you. However, there would have to be a lot of attrition for them to get Jace. I don’t think we have that many spots left. If he was at TE, there would be Ijalana Sr, McNamara RS Jr, & Meier RS Frosh. Maybe Andrews plays a slot TE. I would love to have two but if JH stays, he doesn’t use them so……..
We need to use 2 TE sets frequently especially flexing one out wide. Andrews is back in the receiver room so unless they bring in new wr and TE coaches then I think he will be a wr.
I was under the impression we would take 2 TE/FB prospects. So far we just have one and no word of going after another.
Who is DeBerry most like on our roster? Grissom?
I think he has a better burst than Grissom. More like Strikers burst with Geno’s height.
…you just described an OLB prospect that does not exist. DeBerry does not have Striker’s burst.
Watch his tape. Thanks.
I’ll watch again myself but I didn’t see striker’s timing which is just as special as his burst. Deberry may have a similar burst though.
Bond.
DeBerry is his own animal.
Is there some underlying reason that, from what I’ve seen, Mike is not doing any of these in-homes?
Good question. Mike not on the road?
i asked same thing. and what really stuck out to me was that we sent bobby jack to explain the scheme and coverages to PJ
Isn’t BJW going to be his position coach? It makes sense.
mike is the one in charge of the secondary.
There is no way Mike is going to be fired. I don’t think he is to blame.
I guess another contributor has a picture of Mike on the road supposedly recruiting the South.
Yeah noticed the same thing. BJW going from New York to Cali by himself on secondary guys???
He was seen in the airport going to new Orleans. He is most definitely on the road. I have the picture.
Love Mike, but you’re sure he wasn’t applying at Tulane?
Look at Kish, he is praying he lands some good LB recuits. Because if he doesnt Bob will find someone who can.
Seems to me like Bob has been visiting Kish’s recruits quite a bit. Makes me wonder if he is not a) seeing how Kish does recruiting and b) making sure that the recruits have a relationship with Bob if Kish has to go and so are more likely to stay committed.
yep.
K, BTW, since Anderson left Wisconsin I would love to get Griffin at ILB. Thoughts
Totally agree. I like him.
New poster, long time lurker. I appreciate the info on this board. Really hoping OU can finish with a strong defensive class. If we get back to signing high quality LBs, Linemen on both sides, and secondary members, then I think it will turn the program around. Honestly I’m quite a bit tired of signing 4 WRs each class and only a handuful of LBs. Good skill guys can be found anywhere, we need linemen and a defense to really push us back to the top.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
more and more pics out there and still noe mike. where is he?
good question….
indeed odd……foretelling perhaps?
Perhaps Bob is “pushing” him to apply at all these vacant HC positions.
He visited Reid. But you’re not wrong…he does seem to be rather absent in general. But obviously we don’t know the coaches flight schedules 🙂
I feel a lot better reading this one than I did yesterday…
We might not get Reid but it says a lot about him to say we’re not out of it. When you have family ties to a place, they’re usually the front runner. But it speaks to his character to not jump in with both feet the second LSU offers since we and others have been in this for awhile. He may just not want to burn bridges just in case but I think it says a lot about him….and his brother was awesome so if we even have a tiny shot and he has a trace amount of his brothers talent we need to see it through
Agreed. Kid definitely has the pedigree, and I’d love to see him at OU.
K, I know you have a pretty good relationship with Jaylon Lane. Can you tell us how he is doing and what his prospects are in regards to OU and any other potential school? I understand the legal issues and whatnot, I just hope a High School kid who clearly made some silly mistakes does will be given the opportunity to overcome them at some point. Thanks
Felony charges. I would be ashamed of OU if they went after someone who is facing felony charges. We all make mistakes, especially at at young age. But if he goes JUCO and gets his life together and keeps his nose clean then I’m all for us going after him. But not right now.
I’m in regular contact with Jaylon and the family. They’re working through it. Expect the felony charges to be dropped. I believe he’s a good kid. Right now he’s just working on being the best he can be. The recruiting stuff is the last priority.
Always appreciate the news TFB! Deberry is HUGE!! That kid will bring the wood. Me want x1000. Also glad to hear we are no letting off on Reid. I still think we can land this one given how young our DBs are.
Is there anything to the Holiday visit or is he just trying to not waste his officials?
I’d be pretty surprised if there was much to it. Kind of smells like a visit to take a visit to me, but that’s also just a guess on my part.
Rumor has it the Baylor OC/QB coach (Montgomery) is the leading candidate for the Tulsa HC job. Gotta think that would help OU out some.
Thanks for posting the pic of the DeBerry in home vist, he has his chest out pretty far. I think he really enjoyed the visit
And that cheeser grin. I like him. Not just talent but just 1st impression. Makes you wanna root for him
Yep, I hope they reel him in. Can’t miss on anymore big LB recruits this year
FWIW, several of the Big Ten recruiting guys (many of them Ohio St guys) think Deberry is going to be in Norman next year. In my opinion, he has been the must get LB this recruiting cycle.
A&m fans think the same thing. It would be a huge disappointment if he ends up somewhere else.
A&M fans think they get whoever they want right now. If not Sumlin didn’t want him anyway
A&M showed last year that their success was due to Johnny M…they are back to being A&M
Would be a HUGE get. Wouldn’t solve all their issues at LB obviously, he’s still just one guy, but w/b HUGE none the less.
Important to note as well, Monty is his lead recruiter. Kish is involved, of course, but if they land him a lion’s share of the credit belongs to Montgomery.
Do you think he’s set on LB or would they look at DE as well since Monty has the lead on him?
Very unlikely unless the 4 man front returns.
That’s what I was thinking.
I think he is being told he would play OLB but could play inside….. FWIW….. Give Deberry, Hulk, and Wheeler or kirkland and I would be extremely happy….
How many open spots in terms of scholarship do they have left in this class? It’s hard to speculate but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple transfers which would open more spots
Although many are calling for Mike S to go away and take Kish with him, who would be his replacement? If you bring someone from outside, you’ll have a DC unfamiliar with Big 12 football. TT, Baylor, TCU, have torched non Big 12 defenses. While TT is down, they throw it around with 5 wides. All of a sudden Mike S has forgotten how to coach defense? The secondary was slow this year. Only Sanchez could cover. Need to go back to the Franks, Flemings, Jefferson type recruits. Not worry about “big corners” who can’t run.
I’ve had similar thoughts about the CB size thing. Never understand why you’d want big, physical corners, when most teams are running 3, 4, and even 5 WR’s at you, most of which aren’t big. I’d rather have a small CB that can cover trying to stick with a bigger WR, than a big CB that can’t run/move, trying to stay with a small WR.
Give me guys that can cover.
This has been discussed and discussed and discussed on other posts. Let’s just worry about getting those who need to go out the door first.
DJ Durkin would be the call for defensive coordinator and linebacker coach. Than you just go get a defensive back coach. Durkin has coached in the PAC-12 and SEC and ran both the 3-4 and 4-3. Heck…just let Durkin pick his other defensive coaches excluding Montgomery. That is assuming Bobby Jack Wright would take a position within the football operations at his ripe old age of 64.
Happy Birthday Bobby Jack!!!!!!!
No need for a change in my view. Mike was handicapped by Wilson’s inability to cover the deep ball, A Thomas youth. The LB couldn’t cover the read option and recognize the TE releasing…
To paraphrase Art Briles – you can teach a fast guy to cover but you can’t teach a slow guy to run faster.
I heard him say that as well….ironic thing about that is Baylor’s strength coach has multiple videos posted of players running and testing their 40’s and then testing again later on in their careers running much faster. One shows a kid running 4.6 something than later running 4.4’s…..just sayin
#Sooners top committ P.J. Mbanasor now iffy?? “I’m a press corner, & they haven’t been playing that kind of defense. Coaches n house this wk
I think they are going to tell him, they want to play that way, but just dont have the horses to right now. And they don’t. Meaning he could very well be a day 1 starter at the position if he prepares himself properly
Okay. I hope you are right.
Pj is a better corner than Wilson. Wilson was 23 trying to play a position he hasn’t been taught to play. Also I think Wilson wasn’t as sound or confident being on an island. I think pj is more used to it and will have better instincts. But any school recruiting pj is going to ask the same thing of him. They are gonna put him on an island and ask him to cover that man but if he goes underneath toward the middle they want pj to drop deep like he’s in a cover 3 or quarters defense.
I think Wariboko is my re of a “must get” than Jalin. Bigger talent and better player IMO
Any of you TFB guys have a feel for when any coaching changes that might be made, will be made? They gonna wait until after signing day? January?
If they’re going to do it, obviously it makes the most sense to wait until after NSD (2.14.15). But who knows what Bob is or isn’t going to do.
I would imagine, being the decent human being that Bob is, that he would do it very shortly, not after NSD. 1) It would give the dismissed coaches time to network at the annual coaches convention in hopes of landing a new position. 2). It would give Bob’s new hire time to recruit for OU and 3) would give our committed recruits time to get to know their new position coach.
Not positive, but I think Jackie Shipp got shipped after NSD in 2013.
2-4-15 is national signing day. It is like getting a valentines gift if your team has a good class, though! 😉
it may already be on this site somewhere but I just read that Baylor’s OC will be the head coach at Tulsa.
Don’t know if it’s official yet, last I heard they were hashing out the details. Would be huge for Tulsa.
Offical
Does this mean Tulsa is getting a 10 yard cushion and 3 and 3 too??? lol
Interesting, one of the Wisconsin commits used to be on TFB back in the spring. His name is Jake Pritchard WDE out of NJ.
I remember the name. I don’t remember if OU ever contacted him, though.
I pointed this out yesterday that they must have read tfb. They also have griffin committed. I think teams are going to really the to cherry pick their commits.
I remember seeing his video of blowing guys out and throwing them around
Pritchard probably reminded them of an earlier Wisconsin player by the name of JJ Watt.
1) while I understand tfb’s enthusiasm for in-state kids getting chances to play elsewhere I wouldn’t call it good news if they were someone ou wanted ….2) perhaps bb made a mistake in not going after moore in tx since barnett has dragged this out forever…….is the door closed with moore?
Why would that be a mistake? He’s got 5 guys that are rated higher than moore and moore didn’t want to be a backup plan. Ou still has a shot at wariboko, Barnett, and rankin. When they really don’t need more than one of them. And many others are still interested.
merely commenting on the above article info that only mentioned barnett and moore
I get what you mean
https://twitter.com/NextLevel_Will/status/543113747532103681
https://twitter.com/TheRealYK_7/status/543101111050067968
Who is the recruit?
Ykili Ross? That’d be my guess
Ykili Ross via his twitter.
“*not in order”, but USC is underlined…
I was wondering if anyone else thought that was odd.
Probably spell check.
Yeah, that’s just spell check. He didn’t capitalize all the letters in the acronym. Since, he didn’t bother to capitalize all the letters does it really mean that USC is secretly out of it 🙂
Yeah, but I think F1at1ined set me straight though…
Couldn’t it just be a spell check identifying a place it didn’t recognize? All the others are in full and easily identifiable locations. St is a common abbreviation for State or Street. At least, that’s my guess and hope.
Nope. (lol)
Super K, Jordan, the Locust Grove Quarterback who has broken all the records passing and can run, do you guys think he is really good or just played poor competition? He seems to have good footwork and throwing mechanics on film, but again, what do you think?
Thanks for the Barnett info. I saw film from the state game where he really struggled against Bixby’s DE, and was afraid performance issues were the reason. Good to know that’s not the case.
There were additional rumors yesterday on Barnett that OU had also backed off of him. It sounded as though Jalin is very out of shape and looking slow. Apparently the Bixby DE had his way with Jalin in a recent playoff game, and these factors have not sat well with the coaches. Not sure what to make of that rumor/info.
Out of all of the secondary guys we are recruiting, who do you believe has the best chance to come in right away and contend for a spot?
P.J. Mbanasor
Turner and Johnson have a chance to start next season if they’re as good as we and the coaches hope. Then mbanasor has a chance to contribute early and possibly start late a lot like Jordan Thomas this year.
P.J. will start, he will shut down all opposition, and it will be good.
It is written.
I hope we land Ezekiel turner. We’ve got to get help on the defensive back end especially with Hayes gone after this season. Wasnt he an early graduate? So he might be committing soon?
I believe he’s going to announce on the 17th or whichever day is NSD for jucos. Will johnson is trying to get him to Norman I think it will happen. Which will bode well for the 2016 class where we have a great shot with rayshaun smith
An increased recruiting presence on the east coast… Yes, please!
What’s the connection to Smith? Was he originally from Maryland?
Johnson and turner are both from that area. I believe tapper was a big part of their visit as well as smiths
Smith is Tapper’s cousin anyway though, right?
No clue.
Pretty sure that’s been mentioned several times.
hey, if bu is losing the oc to tulsa, find out who briles is hiring and steal him…..
Perhaps someway Briles can be convinced Huepel is the answer.
Double win.
Actually may not be a bad fit for Heupel. He’s a spread, pass-first, pass-often, OC. That’s Baylor these days a lot more than it’s OU.
It would appear OU RB David Smith will be transferring, but I’ll wait for something a little more official than a teammate’s IG post before running w/ it. If true however it certainly makes sense & I’d wish him nothing but success.
Link- http://instagram.com/p/wex-ozktuZ/
Not sooner Dave. Man I will miss that guy. Hope stoops lets him have immediate eligibility
He will this is not TT
Hope the ncaa allows immediately eligibility since he is transferring to his home state…no doubt Stoops will release him..like he did McKay (and that was in conference)
Hate to lose Sooner Dave. Guess this confirms that Mixon will be back.
Anderson will be at ou in a couple of weeks. He just got a big award down here in the Houston are this week.
I can’t wait to see where he will wind up in the rotation.
Yeah I would think we are loaded at RB, but once SP went down last week we really did not move the ball with the other RBs. Maybe ford will be back to 100% and with mixon back Anderson will get to red shirt. If called upon Anderson will perform.
I think Anderson will RS unless something crazy happens with ford perine and or mixon.
Agreed
First SP got hurt, then something happened to Ford after he broke off that nice run. That would have been the time I brought in Sooner Dave, but we only saw Ross.
If the Sooners are run heavy next year, we may need all of them during the season.
Anderson is enrolling in January?
That would be awesome. Getting him in the room with Smitty and working on his upper body would help him immensely.
I think that’s what he said. I will Try and check and see, I may have miss heard , but I thought he said this would be his last couple of weeks at Katy
This sucks. Good luck young man.
He is a good dude, if he is coming back to Illinois, specifically the U of I, I can at least see him here on the field. Dude deserves it.
Best of luck to you Sooner Dave. We will miss you! God speed buddy.
Aw, man. I hate to see him go, but I understand. He’s a great back. Good luck to him!
Hate to ever lose anyone. If true, I hope he makes a big impact wherever he ends up. Solid guy.
Dang…but he is definitely not bench warming talent. Hope he goes home, plays for the Illini and tears it up! He will always be Sooner Dave to me….because Illini Dave just doesn’t sound right…
Sucks but it’s what’s best for him. One of the bright spots this year. Really wished he would be in the rotation after Maje went down. Dude runs with some anger.. how many years of eligibility?
He’s a RS SO, so he’d sit out next year and have his senior year left to play I believe.
So what are the coaches doing to offset the fear that corners won’t be playing in press (like we saw all this season)coverage and be hesitant of coming to OU?
…….lie
Still a lot of time and a lot of really good kids out there. Been a dismal season but hopefully guys like PJ, Turner, Reid, DeBerry, Gallimore, Barnett and Wariboko can see the opportunity to play early and play a huge part in turning things around. What a class that would make along with a few others, like McGinnis and Josh Smith. In an ideal world, these in-state guys would be all-in on attending OU…different times.
Did the coaches have their in home with PJ today? If so, how did that go?
Here you go.
https://twitter.com/peterjayy_2/status/543211612044132352
I think his profile may be private so here’s the picture.
BOOM! haha.
Bob must have a couple clones or dopplegangers. Dude is everywhere.
It’s the “magic dust”.
He needs to go on up to mesquite and visit jefferson. That’s a guy we need to put the full court press on.
…….cardboard cutouts……
Back to your role of being the wet blanket I see. Good luck with the oscars this year
Lol
BOOM, indeed!!!
You have to admire this kid’s confidence. He wants to press because he believes he’s better than the man across from him I believe we are looking at a future NFL Hall of Famer.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Hall of famer? I just hope that he’s good enough to play as a freshman.
PJ wins because he’s at peace with losing. A lot of people aren’t able to do that. He’s fearless but not reckless. You will win more when you allow yourself to lose. And the first thing you lose is doubt.
That was almost a Haiku.
Put me in, coach.
Maybe they could let him coach the defense. 🙂
I like this young man.
Months ago he was on a thread here and replied to a number of us. He was serious, respectful and thoughtful.
Jordan, Super K and JY who do you think is the most likely going to commit to us? Do you think there will be any surprises that we won’t expect. This will be the most anticipated NSD that I can remember. With all the uncertainty from this season it sure would help to get a really good class.
My big surprise will be we end up with our first 2 commits (wariboko and lampkin)
I’m hopeful we have no one decommit.
Still looking at Lampkin at DL?
He seems to have taken a renewed interest in ou.
Looks like UGA offered Orr.
Not sure that changes things but should prove this kid is a good prospect. Georgia doesn’t often need to offer late with so much in state talent.
DeChaun Holiday set to visit OU on official. Not sure of the chances with this guy but I’d expect it’s slim to none. That said, the guy is fantastic in coverage and makes some really spectacular catches.
I’ll just throw this out here before I hit the sack. Let’s just say Montgomery lights it up at Tulsa, 3 or 4 years down the road Stoops decides it’s time to hang up his cleats, would he be a candidate big enough for an OU program? If it turns out he was the key to Baylors success and he proves something at Tulsa, I think he would be worth a look unless there are suddenly several good candidates available when we are in need.
would indeed be a candidate…
Personally, I prefer a HC that had defense as his background.
I agree but maybe he pulls a couple of defensive coaches off baylors staff. Their defense has been good against us the last 2 years.
Never though I would see the day when OU would want to raid staff or players from Baylor. smh
Hawg Illustrated’s Clay Henry is reporting that Barnett is down to Ark and Florida.