TFB Short | Two Changez By: Super K Posted on: September 6, 2017

I want to use this post to highlight a couple of positive changes coach Lincoln Riley has already brought to the program.

Change #1: Social Media

A few months ago the Sooners twitter presence was limited, at best. Now?

https://twitter.com/therealnoahcain/status/905226926884782080

Does this stuff matter? In my estimation, absolutely. I’ve been around these young athletes quite a bit and many of them are on their phone…a lot. If social media is where they spend a lot of time, like any big brand, you better have a presence.

As a business owner, I like to stay relatively up to speed on digital marketing and branding. Two basic rules of branding: Use appealing design and develop an identity your customers want to relate with.

In the above post, the Sooners have a fantastic design that uses other brand names (Adrian Peterson, Demarco Murray, etc.) that were launched at OU to both strengthen OU’s brand appeal to the prospect and the public but also articulate an undeniable fact…that some of the best running backs in the league got their start at OU.

And how about this for showing off OU’s facilities and selling an “identity your customers want to relate with”?

Change #2: Building Depth Through Reps

Last weekend OU fans saw a lot more of the roster than they are typically used to. Even when the game was out of reach for the opposing team, deep into the fourth quarter Coach Stoops would still have his starters in the game.

Not Riley.

As someone who has watched Oklahoma play almost every game during coach Stoops tenure, the early rotation was a pleasant surprise.

Letting back ups play allows them a chance to feel like there is a value to the work they do behind the scenes. You reward them for their effort. Coach Stoops’ reasoning for keeping the starters in was…

The backups work hard as well.

But getting them reps isn’t just about keeping them investing and rewarding their effort. It also allows the coaching staff to evaluate them in live game situations. Football isn’t like a race. Anyone knows who is first and who is second in a race. Football is subjective and sometimes you’re splitting hairs. The back-ups deserve a chance to give the coaches more information.

It’s obvious that getting live reps builds depth but perhaps equally important is the fact that the confidence and engagement of your backups allows them to practice with an edge to hopefully push your starters. You don’t want your starters to get complacent. You want them to feel a degree of security so that they can play loose but you want them to feel a degree of insecurity so that you ensure they continue to prepare hard.

Now for change #3…

#BeatTheBucks