TFB With the Family | Mr. Jackie Bridges By: Ryan Lewis Posted on: September 13, 2017

Images via Jackie Bridges of Jackie and Trejan

It’s a good time to be a Sooner. OU is coming off a huge win against Ohio State, Lincoln Riley is booming, both sides of the ball are playing well, new facilities are in place… lots of things are going very well for Oklahoma. Another great thing for OU right now is the recruiting scene; recruits are taking notice of the Sooners.

One to do so lately was 2019 WR Trejan Bridges. Bridges committed to the Sooners shortly after their first win of the season. He had been in frequent contact with the Sooners before sealing the deal.

His father, Jackie Bridges, took some time recently to have a conversation with TFB about his family’s past and future with the University of Oklahoma.

Jackie Bridges

Mr. Bridges and Ms. Sheryl are Trejan’s parents. Trejan has six siblings: two older sisters, two younger sisters, one older brother, and one younger brother. Trejan lives with Mr. Bridges during the school years in Carrollton, Texas, going to Hebron High School. His mother, Sheryl, lives just a short distance away in Plano, Texas, where Trejan spends his summers. She teaches and coaches at Robinson Middle School, while Mr. Bridges is in the medical transportation industry. They met in college in Iowa, where they were both playing sports.

The Bridges family has a huge love for sports. Ms. Sheryl played, and currently coaches, basketball, while Mr. Jackie played football. Ms. Sheryl is from Wisconsin: the Badgers and the Packers are in her blood. Mr. Bridges always cheered for Texas teams: the Cowboys and the Mavericks have his support. He also has good memories of seeing Jamelle Holieway and the Sooners play football.

Mr. Bridges is very excited that Trejan will be attending the University of Oklahoma. As they’ve researched potential universities, they have been impressed with the academics and the athletics of OU. He has a lot of respect for the excellent football program. The facilities were very impressive on their visits. Something that really stuck out to Trejan and Mr. Bridges from the first OU game of the season, and held true in game two, was how balanced the OU offense is. Mayfield distributes the ball to an incredibly high amount of receivers and running backs, the passing game and running game have good balance, the offense incorporates the tight ends and full backs… all in all, it’s a very impressive system.

Coach Lincoln Riley has a huge fan in Mr. Bridges. TFB’s own Brandon spoke with him recently regarding the Coach in this post: TFB: OP Aug 25. What Mr. Bridges had to say about Coach was so good that it’s worth repeating here.

“Well, obviously coach Stoops is a legend and built one heck of an empire the past 18 years at OU. But I think OU got the right man leading the way in Coach Riley. [He’s] a great coach that knows the game and will continue to keep Oklahoma on top. I see nothing but good things coming from Coach Lincoln Riley. I’m glad he’s in charge. Not just a great coach, but a great man in general. A honest coach and keeps it one hundred.”

That’s some great praise for the Sooners’ young leader. Mr. Jackie mentioned how well Coach Riley relates to players and how well he handles coaching and calling plays.

Trejan has really had the Sooners in his sights for a while, and his visit this summer only amplified that passion. After another visit to the UTEP game, Trejan and his dad were driving back home. Right when they got on I35, Trejan looked at Mr. Bridges and said, “That’s where I’m going.” It was exciting for Mr. Bridges to hear and he was very supportive of the decision.

Something that Mr. Jackie really emphasized was the standard in their family of loyalty, honesty, and doing what you say you’ll do. In the TFB Open post linked above, he mentions that, “...we won’t be doing any of this decommitting stuff. That’s not us.” That’s sure to be music to Sooner fans’ ears.

Trejan has some serious ties to OUDNA. The Bridges family has been friends with the family of  2019 TE, and OU commit, Austin Stogner for around eight years. The two played basketball together when younger.

Trejan has known 2018 WR, and OU commit, Jaylon Robinson for several years and trains with current Sooners freshman Charleston Rambo. He has also known 2019 WR OU targets Arjei Henderson and Theo Wease for quite some time, and speaks to Wease quite often. Bridges is really wanting to get Wease to OU, where they would be in the same recruiting class.

Mr. Bridges says that there are no visits planned to other schools. One reason for this is that, “Why even entertain another school when you know you are committed?” An exciting note of Trejan’s future is that he is hoping to, if possible, graduate high school a semester early and be an early enrollee. They are in the process of solidifying this plan.

Mr. Jackie is really excited about the proximity of Norman to his home: all of the home games will be easy drives, and many of the away games are not far from him either. He views OU as family to them now, and is excited for Trejan to get to campus. As Mr. Bridges said, “Trejan’s swagger has OUDNA all over.” Mr. Bridges won’t have long before he gets to watch Trejan show off that OUDNA in Norman.