Sooners News Daily 11.20.14
Posted on: November 20, 2014
FOOTBALL
My first inclination is that I’m not a fan of recycling a former Stoops assistant, but if Kevin Wilson really were to be fired…. (SI)
Meanwhile, the #Saints snagged WR Jalen Saunders from the #Seahawks practice squad after losing Brandin Cooks to IR
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 19, 2014
The annual USA Today list of how much CFB coaches are paid is always an interesting read. (USA Today)
And the 8-team playoff talk is officially off and running.
Uh oh, they're breaking ranks already. RT @TheHerald_Sun: ACC commissioner Swofford: 8 teams ‘ideal’ for playoff http://t.co/7ZK10fqBMu
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 19, 2014
BASKETBALL
A very, very cool Stacey Dales retrospective. Dales will become the first female athlete in any sport to have her number retired in a ceremony that will take place during halftime of Friday night’s game. (Sooner Sports)
OTHER
CAN’T WAIT! //Bart Scott voice
People think he’s funny, right?
Settle down, kid. It’s ping-pong.
This ram putting in work on the heavy bag.
Looks decent.
Peak Pacino.
Looks promising.
74 Comments
Kevin Wilson = 1,000% better OC than Heupel
1000% x 0 = 0 lol, kidding aside I would not be against the move
They need to de de what offense they want to run, then go find the best available guy for that offense. Deciding to run the pistol/ option/ power Run throw spread or whatever it is we are doing, and having Heupel run it was/is a mistake. He might be great at the spread, but he’s no good with this.
We need an identity and someone who promotes that identity.
Saunders and Stills doesn’t seem like a bad combination.
Be nice if another former sooner wr was there too. His name is on this site.
I only say that because I don’t know what Detroit is doing with him.
Just curious about Ryan B, what is going on with him right now with Detroit?
Not sure but it seems like they make him inactive every other week. And as far as I know he’s healthy.
That would not make me unhappy.
Same Kevin Wilson everyone wanted gone a few years ago?
/slowly looks around & raises hand
and the man is a screen-play writer.
And send Josh back to QB coach…After he took over as OC it seems LJ never improved again and OU is stuck in a cycle with inconsistent QB play ever since.
I remember wanting Chuck Long gone so badly i was willing to kill someone to make it happen, but Wilson never made me feel that way.
I would drive to Indiana today and pick Kevin Wilson up myself
While, I would like to keep JH as assistant OC/QB coach, I’ll pay for the gas.
I would take Wilson over Heupel, but ideally would prefer someone different.
Don’t ever send me to a Thayer Evans article.
i know, i know
I would take back Wilson as well. I think he could do some big things with the talent they have on offense, especially in the running back area seeing as his running back at Indiana is killing it right now.
Also, saw this a few minutes ago since you said you can’t wait to see it.
http://youtu.be/BFbjGd66XM4
if JH is gone after the season, or at least demoted from OC, I’d like Stoops to go out and get someone who isn’t looking to throw 30-40 times a game. even 20-25 is too much in my opinion. we are a running team, the guys Bedenbeaugh(sp?) is bringing in seem to be more of the mauling type and we have stud RBs. let’s get a guy that wants to pound the football, not only is that nice to see but it can also help our D stay off the field until M Stoops figures out what he’s going to do to stop other offenses. I’m sure Wilson would do an OK job but OK isn’t going to cut it anymore. I believe it was Ty Darlington that said after the Tech game that running the ball the way they did that second half was a linemans dream. That tells me these guys WANT to run the ball and it’s obvious, to me at least, we NEED to run the ball…..so….let’s run the ball!!
I don’t have a problem with throwing 30 times, if you establish the run game first.
You’re right throwing and average of 30 times isn’t too much. I think you still have to be able to put a game on your qbs arm and throw it 45 times if the situation calls for it. But if your offense is only used to 15-20 passes, then those shoot out type games will get ugly.
Zack, you’re right. TCU tried to compete in the Big 12 with a QB who is a manager and a decent run game to along with a tough d, where’d that get them? OU needs a great defense (Bama) to enable a game to be won with a QB who can’t win passing 30 times a game. Both go hand in hand.
it’s not so much that I don’t like throwing the football, but it’s obvious our run game is our strength and we don’t have a QB that I trust to throw it that many times. too may INT’s that put the D in a bad situation and clearly we are not scoring points if we’re constantly throwing it to the other team. right now we need to run, run, run, and run some more. I’m good with 3 throws a half right now 🙂
In my opinion I think Stoops would have to figure out what kind of offense he wants to run. Does he want a drop back passing, an under center power, a dual threat QB? My deal with JH is that, he really doesn’t have any experience in regards to running the ball. His specialty is throwing it 30 to 40 time a game. So creating a gameplan focused on running or having a dual threat is really not in his comfort zone.
for some reason I really want Cale to get his shot at OC. Am I crazy?
I would like to see this happen also. I think he would actually develop depth better since he has no problem making (questionable) decisions with his running backs and playing time.
What if Mike G gets let go at OSwho, what do you think about him being OC?
…
LOL
Forty-seven thousand heads and bowels just exploded in Stlllwater Oklahoma.
That ram has gone to the Zach Sanchez school of wrapping up
I cried laughing, the ram couldn’t figure it out like our safeties.
Bob Said he considered bringing Mangino back. He gave Josh another chance and it hasn’t panned out. If he demotes him to only QB coach, I see Jay and Cale Gundy taking over OC. If he fires Josh (never will happen) then he could bring in Kevin Wilson and a QB coach. But I personally want a new OC and Josh to be the QB coach.
All I want for Christmas is a coach that can adapt to the players he has at his disposal. You will not always have players that fit your ideal system and when that occurs you must adapt. I think Chip Kelly said it best…
“I don’t have an offense. I’ve said that since day one, Our offense is directed around our quarterback. So tell me who is playing quarterback and I’ll tell you what our offense is going to be and how it’s going to look, because we can always cater it to the skills of our [quarterback].
To make room for a new OC do we let Boulware go and keep JH as QB coach?
Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
There will not be a new OC at OU. My very outsiders perspective.
Why absolutely not? What has he really done?
What has any tightend/special teams coach really done? They do a lot within the program that outsiders do not see. What I see as an outsider is a coach that has his guys ready. Our special teams play has been pretty tight knit. our H-backs/Tight Ends tear it up when asked to block, and they can show skill to catch and score as well. The idea to just let people go, specifically Boulware, is like you are playing a video game or something. This is a high quality program with high quality coaches. The ditch coaches and search for new guys mentality is really a fan mentality, not a program mentality, at least not under Stoops. I understand though. I want to watch our team do well like the other top five teams in the country just as bad as any fan. But we gotta ride with our team, show some support. If not, then being a fan is really just like having an Xbox with NCAA 14′.
To some extent I see your point, but with zero punt return , a kicker who was money before boulware and the mess up with Dimon going after the punt after stoops called for punt safe I have to think he is on thin ice. I know kick return has been good and rip has done well but flower has not really done much yet. Outside of Bell do we have a game ready TE? I think if it comes down to making room for a new OC it will be Boulware that goes. JH will be for reasons we all know.
so if boulware is saying we need to fair catch every single time, don’t you think by now bob would have changed that? or might bob be the one saying just take the punt where we get it? do you actually think boulware is giving kicking lessons? and boulware’s fault that someone got a personal foul on a block try? seems to me you’re trying too hard to fire someone, which seems par for the course on here lately
I don’t want to see anyone fired but I think for what all of the coaches are getting paid we should see a better team on the field. Can I do what they do? No, but they are not trained to do I can do and I don’t get paid as well as they do. If I did the job they have done this year my job would be on the line as well. Change needs to happen, this is not good enough. I want CBS here and what ever he does I will be in full support of as a fan.
As for boulware and the mess up on Dimon punt block, yes that is on Boulware. CBS said in his press conf he called for punt safe and boulware called for the block. Players do what the coaches ask of them. Dimon is a great kid and one of my sons HS friends and I know he would not have gone after the punt unless it was called.
Boulware, like it or not is the most replaceable. JH is not going anywhere unless he wants to.
-first of all, you’re talking about one play, no one deserves to get fired on one play unless a guy pointed a nuke in the wrong direction and pressed the red button-and are you sure bob wasn’t close to hear the call go in? are you sure dimon didn’t make a mistake? are you sure it was boulware’s mistake? the answer to all of those is no.
-second of all, not sure how much he gets paid, but it probly ain’t that much in respect to all asst. coaches and taking an average, but he gets paid more than you do because 80,000 have no interest in seeing what you do and paying to see it-no offense intended here
-thirdly, boulware is the most replaceable but unless you’re kim jong-il or kim jong-un, you don’t just fire people on a whim or your one play scenario
I am sure Dimon did what he was told, he was not told to run into the kicker but was told to go after the block if he had the angle.
Your right 80,000 people don’t come watch what I do so I don’t get paid as much as he does. I am not a coach I just take part in thousands of peoples cancer treatment each year. I know not as cool as a job as a coach, but rewarding all the same.
At this point lets just agree that we disagree on coach boulware. Cool?
cool. i’m not trying to put you down in any way. i hope you don’t think that. just disagree with the mindset that’s all. agree to disagree and thank you for what you do to try to keep people comfortable or whatever it is with that awful awful disease
No worries I did not take it bad at all. Thanks for expressing your view points that’s what makes this site so cool. We as fans can come here and express our thoughts and everybody on here is cool about it, unlike other sites?
You watching KSU VS WVU? What’s on WVU helmets
Haha. Very much unlike other sites. Is that the state outline on the helmet.? Those unis work I think. Looks sharp with the white helmet
Yeah works well together
NO………………….help JH find a HC job and thank him for his service……………..
When I look back at the best teams that Stoops has had a Oklahoma, there is something that stands out to me- OU was consistently at the forefront of the offensive evolution of the game. First, the spread, then the hurry-up offense that they nearly perfected in 08 (the last really nationally-competitive team IMO). I don’t think OU will be “back” until they can get someone who is truly innovative at coaching offense. They’ve been missing that for too long and at a place like Oklahoma, there’s no reason they shouldn’t have that guy.
The Swofford article made me ill so I’m going to rant for a minute…. ABC/ESPN knew all along that the four team playoff was dead long before it was ever born, but they also knew the only way to make an expanded playoff happen was to start at four and work their way up. Did anyone believe that Swofford or Delaney or whoever would simply say, “ maybe next year” when they were the odd man out? Did anyone believe for a moment that the mid-majors (and their federal representatives) would stand idly by while everyone else made all the money? I am truly disgusted at the whole situation. It’s to the point for me that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to play along at home. They are willing to put at risk everything that’s beautiful about this game to transform it into something that will better serve their financial interest and there’s nothing any of us can do about it.
It all starts with the media push of the SEC agenda. This somehow must end, but it won’t until it forces everyone to come back to the table and accept an expanded playoff. The ESPN bias is delegitimizing the sport, but for them it’s a means to an end because they stand to make more money than anyone from this. After all, they own the television rights to the playoffs thru the 2025/26 season.
So here are a couple of storylines to consider in all of this… OU begins the season as the AP #4 team in the country. They lose to #25 TCU, #14 KSU and there’s the blowout loss to #10 Baylor. After the final loss OU finds themselves unranked. I would think that any reasonable person who has witnessed this season would likely agree that OU deserved to be unranked after their third loss.
And there’s storyline number two… Auburn begins the season two spots behind OU at #6 in the AP poll. They lose to #6 MS ST, unranked A&M and are blown out by #16 GA. Auburn, who was somehow still ranked #9 after their loss to unranked A&M, now find themselves at #16 after losing to Georgia and simply switching poll positions with them, thereby allowing the SEC to continue on without any slippage in the polls.
So given our starting positions of #4 and #6 in the AP Poll, I find it questionable that after three comparable losses we were unranked and Auburn was/is #16? Basically, by the time they received their third loss, Auburn had somehow netted 12 spots on OU from the beginning of the season. Shocking? Not really, but Auburn’s ranking does help legitimize Mississippi State’s ranking. Let’s not forget, MS ST’s victory over Auburn catapulted them to the #1 spot in the AP Poll and the #1 seed in the playoffs as their only ‘signature’ win. That’s right, their signature win is against a team that should be unranked right now! So life goes on then Alabama beat MS ST as their only ‘signature’ win, catapulting them to #2 AP and the #1 seed in the playoffs. And that’s how it works. It’s not completely scripted with names and dates, but no doubt there is an agenda at play in all of this.
I could go on forever, but I was just trying to make a point that most everyone here already realizes anyway. It’s just frustratingly ridiculous and it’s bad for the sport. To say that we should potentially have an SEC regular season rematch in the playoff, rather than give a one loss BIG 10 or one loss BIG XII team a shot, completely delegitimizes the entire committee, the process and the sport itself. If we had to have a playoff, there was no reason why we couldn’t have allowed the BCS to select the top 4 teams. It was seldom ever wrong when choosing the top two and would have been spot on when selecting the top four, without bias. Instead, we will allow the game to be stripped of its’ integrity to the point that we can now legitimately draw parallels between CFB and the WWE. But ABC/ESPN doesn’t care, they just want to see the playoff expanded and their models flourish. That’s all that matters.
Sorry I didn’t realize how long that was until I posted it!
Very well said!
no worries about length. you nailed it. the only difference, i think, people would shout about abu vs ou is that aub went to ksu and won. now those of us not in the media and those of us who know ksu and the lockett family will tell anyone that aub had zero business winning that game with his drop in the end zone that turned into a pick and touchback and all the missed kicks. and when you get a big stink about two or three sec teams in the top four and then change it to one the next week because of the stink and then go right back to two more teams in there, etc etc…it starts to get a little tiring. what i hope is that if there are two or more sec teams in the playoff that no one will watch. if we go through several years and the playoff stays at four and you continually have two or more sec teams in the playoff, you will ruin college football. i think they know this and are trying to push it to eight, which hopefully doesn’t mean six sec teams
Auburn winning at KState was big, but it was more than offset by losing at home to an unranked opponent. These types of things are always an easy back and forth, but I feel their losses are fairly equal.
Anyway, you’re right, the constant SEC jockeying in the polls is quite tiresome. A couple of years back, I combed thru the viewership numbers per conference and it was unbelievable how many more television sets are tuned in in the SEC states as opposed to other states, and it’s not even close! Even the BIG 10 and PAC 12 states couldn’t come close to matching up with the SEC’s numbers, then the SEC acquired A&M along with Mizzou. The more SEC teams that can be built up and kept in contention, the more ad revenue will flow into the networks. That’s important when you consider that SEC schools will be receiving in the neighborhood of $560 million per year, collectively, within the next couple of years. Unbelievable, CBS and ESPN (mostly) along with the bowls and playoffs will be paying the SEC over 1 billion dollars every two years. Let that sink in for a minute. Just wow.
The College Football Playoff human committee has the power to save our beloved game from ESPN/CBS/ABC/NBC. I haven’t visited espn.com since the beginning of the season. I will not tune into ESPN unless a Big 12 game, or a Big Ten, Pac 12, or group of five conference, is being televised. I will not watch the SEC on CBS. I love the game of football, but the only way the game stays is when the money fingers don’t call the shots. So, my viewership, TV and web,is my only power.
“The College Football Playoff human committee has the power to save our beloved game”
Indeed, and I too hold out hope that common sense will prevail when selecting the top 4 teams. However, if the early playoff polls are any indication, it looks like business as usual.
And nice job on taking a stand. I do the same thing to some degree, although I’m not as disciplined as I’d like to be.
I’m watching closely as well. Thank you.
Nice post!
“It was seldom ever wrong when choosing the top two ” As the only person in the entire country 🙂 who defended the BCS and for this very reason, it did what it set out to do, I agree with your identification of the issues here. You can have 8 and then 9 and 10 will have a gripe. Hey, maybe 64 would be good, we could call it, March Madness, since that’s how long it would take to play all the games…
It is definitely about the money, and the SEC/ESPN tie in completely warps the universe, because even the committee members end up having to get a good portion of their football info from the ESPN “family of stations,” and their commentators.
There’s no doubt ESPN controls the message and it’s unbelievable the power and influence they hold over college football. It’s also more than just a little insulting when their talking heads deny what’s taking place week in and week out. Given this, I have little hope that non SEC teams will receive a fair shake from the selection committee, but I don’t know if the average fan will even notice. Those of us that do notice will be emotionally beaten into an apathetic state soon enough anyway!
That is where I am headed, “…beaten into an apathetic state…”. And that isn’t the end of my little world. I have to be able to walk away from being a viewer if I want to retain my spiritual/intellectual dignity. Listening to the guys on ESPN is like listening to a state controlled broadcast, except its sports. It boggles my mind how distasteful I become while listening/viewing because these guys are getting paid to be listened to and watched. My wife has consistently implored me to write a letter. But I won’t because I know the ESPN culture. If you haven’t read anything on what it is like within the walls of ESPN, it is not surprising that their dysfunction and insularity drool onto their broadcasts. A bright spot: WVU v KSU broadcast on Fox1 last night. Joel Klatt and the play-by-play did one of the most professional, pleasant, and personable calls I have ever heard, I really enjoyed it. Fox will pick up their branding game, put a little more money in their technology, and most importantly, have a sports group that has integrity, and sees the picture as it is.
So perfectly stated… “Their dysfunction and insularity drool onto their broadcast” I think I’ll steal it!
One of the advantages ESPN maintains over their competitors that allows them to get away with what they do, is that that their brand is included in most all cable and satellite packages, even the $30 and $40 ones. This is huge for ESPN because now even the 90 year old widow down the street is unwittingly contributing to their power structure. She never watches ESPN, but each month she sends them a check thru her cable or satellite provider. The FCC estimated at one time that the average subscriber could save 15-20% if there were a la carte packages rather than bundling, but as you can imagine there has been a tremendous pushback from multi-channel networks like ESPN. Some of their feeds would never stand alone under any other format.
A couple of years ago a study was released that stated that a la carte would bankrupt 120 channels and 1.5 million jobs would be lost. Congress used this as a basis to not pass an a la carte bill that had been introduced. That to me is exactly why you WOULD pass it! Who are they to force me to spend my money to prop up an otherwise failed model? They may as well demand someone go out and bust windshields every night because it creates jobs in the window business!
Anyway, your post brought something to mind for me. Living in rural Oklahoma 25 years ago, I purchased a 10’ dish and received video feeds from sporting events all over the world, but many of them didn’t contain any audio. I eventually came to appreciate the absence of commentary and learned more about sports in the process. You see so much more when someones not telling you what you’re seeing.
It’s 2014 and the 10’ dish is a thing of the past, but now I can receive broadcast via the internet from almost any radio station in the United States! I occasionally sync the radio broadcast up with the video broadcast from the game, then pipe it into the surround sound system in my home. It’s a great way to watch a game. It has a very cool, nostalgic feel to it. I still occasionally watch with the audio turned down though, because it’s peaceful and less frustrating, haha!
That is an action step I am going to try out.
The cable industry research you have done is solid. I am on the same page with you, I see the under girding and overriding web of controls and gifts. Thanks for doing the work to see the system itself.
“No” to Wilson. OU needs to get a coordinator who has trained and run a spread option system. Neither co-offensive coordinators have either run one before to my knowledge. We also switched to the 3-4 yet I don’t recall Mike Stoops ever running it anywhere else before. We hired Wilson to go no huddle and we did very well with it, hired Leach to run the spread and did very well with it. Promoted Mangino to emphasize the run and did very well with it. Now our coaches just watch some you tube videos to learn a new scheme and install it and wonder why it sucks, them blame the players.
so our “coaches watching you tube videos to learn a new scheme and install it and wonder why it sucks, then blame the players” is about the same as a bunch of yahoos playing madden and thinking they know what they’re talking about when it comes to coaching football and come on a message board to run their mouths? cool man. i think i’ll let the coaches coach and the bitches bitch
Why Stacey Dales? No offense, but why?
I guess I’ll be the lone voice in the hate-Heupel echo chamber here. 🙂 I thought Kevin Wilson was doing a much better job than those who were screaming for him to be fired, (and now want him back,) did. But IMHO Heupel is both more creative in play design and uses a much greater variety. In my view, his play calling has been consistently excellent, he calls play after play that is well within the capabilities of his players and is wide open for huge success. Even when players don’t execute he seems to be able to come back with another good, well-designed call. And in games where the players haven’t made simple mistakes, the offense has been unstoppable.
I have gone through the games in previous posts and detailed examples, so I won’t waste time with that here. In spite of the criticism by those who are sure they understand what the players can do better than all the coaches, IMHO Heupel has a thorough understanding of the capabilities of his players, and tailors his play calling to that extremely well. I think Bob Stoops understands this, knows he has a unusually creative and talented OC, and isn’t about to listen to the noise and misplaced criticism from the internet or the media.
I’ll take a double shot of this post. Good music, sooner.
I’m riding BS so if he doesn’t make any changes, I’m fine. If he does, I’m fine. He’s the captain of this ship, not me so I’m along for the ride.
Yeah, same view here.
There have been head scratching moments, but that is true for any and every OC in the game. Otherwise, I agree with what you’ve said.
I’ve been a Sooner fan for over 4 decades, and in that time, I’ve learned that when expectations aren’t met, the quickest (easiest) target is the staff. Specifically the coordinators. Bob has earned enough of a leash that prevents most from calling for his head, so that target usually drops to the coordinators.
Personally, I never think things are as good, or bad as they seem. This year, I think we’ve seen an unusually high amount of breakdowns on the field. You do that enough, against quality teams, you’re going to lose. I haven’t had a problem with JH play calling in any game this year. He’s doing fine as far as I’m concerned.
I’m a Stoops supporter, and will be until he is gone. But above that, I’m a Sooner fan. I support the kids on the team through thick and thin. I also have faith that Bob knows better than anyone what needs to be done within the program…and he will continue to do what it takes to win games.
“that target usually drops to the coordinators” I’m sure you’re aware that the next thing is always, “and if Bob won’t fire So and So, then it’s clearly time for him to go…”:-)