The Football Brainiacs

Success On The Recruiting Trail:  Michael Kinney

Since Lincoln Riley was named head coach at Oklahoma, one of the biggest differences fans have taken notice of is the increased success on the recruiting trail. Over the past two classes, the Sooners have snared a large share of four and five-star talent, whereas in the past they were few and far between.

Riley offered a glimpse into exactly what type of players he looks for when they are deciding who they want to bring into the program. And it starts with are they better than who they already have.

“We look for that in every position. That is the only way we’re ever going to get better. Whether it’s offense, defensive player or specialist, that’s always the question when we kind of get down to the very end on are we going to offer this guy or not or are we really going to recruit him hard or not,” Riley said. “That’s always my question: Does he make us better? Is he better than what we have on campus? If not, then what are we doing? If you want to try and take this program forward, that’s the best way that you can do it.”

Defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said it is the same way when they are looking at defensive players. But it didn’t seem to always be that way.

“We believe you have to have competition to excel anywhere at this level,” Stoops said. “If you don’t, complacency sets in. You saw a little of that in our defense over the last couple of years. That is something we have desperately tried to change with recruits. Certainly, better players create competition across the board.”

Riley also expressed that the days of recruiting players for the future is no longer an option. Every kid that the Sooners hand a scholarship to is looked at as a possible starter from day one if they can beat out the players in front of them.

That includes quarterbacks, which is why the Sooners have a pair of signal callers competing for the starting job now.

“Most guys aren’t waiting that long anyway,” Riley said. “Especially at that position. That position is unique in that way in that guys a lot of times if they don’t get that opportunity early, there is a common trend right now they are taking their talents other places.”

 

My Take: Charlie

“It’s not the X’s and O’s, it’s the Jimmys and Joes”.

When I was watching sound bites from media day, that often used quote was exactly what came to mind as it seems like Lincoln was standing there stressing that it’s not necessarily the plays (“X’s and O’s”) that a coach runs that win games, it’s the quality of the players (“Jimmys and Joes”) who run those plays.

While Lincoln Riley may not be giving himself enough credit as an innovative game planner, he is also being brutally honest and straightforward.

Lincoln Riley had very little to do with this play…

Abdul Adams went 99 yards simply because OU had better players across the board than Baylor had. A simple inside hand-off, which was most likely designed to create some breathing room for the offense to work on additional downs, was taken the distance because of the “Jimmy’s and Joe’s” on the Sooners side of the ball.

Obviously, Coach Riley has had his moments to shine as a play caller, and he is widely regarded as among the best play callers currently in college football. The following clip shows a play coming together that was basically set up all year…

The Sooners run a variation of the jet sweep on a consistent basis. Riley added a special twist to it in the Rose Bowl and Ceedee Lamb found Baker Mayfield open by 10 yards in the back of the end-zone.

So while it is, in large part, about the “Jimmy’s and Joe’s”, as Lincoln Riley said himself, there are five or six opportunities in each game where the play-calling is the difference maker.

In regards to the defense…

Looking at the back to back losses to Clemson (2015 and 2016), you could see which side had the better “Jimmy’s and Joe’s”. Clemson dominated the trenches, and pretty much every other aspect, in both games by the time the second half rolled around and the Sooners players, and more importantly, staff, knew that to be true. They were just outmatched physically.

By the time the Sugar Bowl rolled around in 2017, the Sooners were considered underdogs going into the game by many, yet they played perhaps their most physically impressive game as they stood toe to toe with Auburn and wound up dominating the game by being more physical. On both sides of the ball.

The influx of talent was beginning to show and by the time the Rose Bowl took place last season, the Sooners felt as though they were in a much better spot in regards to the “Jimmy’s and Joe’s” then they had been at any time prior in the past dozen or so years. And they were.

OU dominated a very good Georgia defense for the first half of the game. The defense was playing well as they raced out to a 34-17 lead. Then…things like a squib kick and this happened…

…and we are brought back to the importance of the “X’s and O’s”.

The added importance that Riley and his staff have placed on recruiting has begun to bear fruit. Every position unit is deeper and more talented this year as opposed to last year. Riley’s stated goal of bringing in better players than he currently has on campus is strikingly simplistic but incredibly insightful in regards to realizing that Lincoln Riley gets it.

Riley knows that he needs to build elite depth with elite recruits at every position in order to get where this program wants to go. Does coaching matter? Of course, it does. Coaching plays a huge role in preparing the “Jimmy’s and Joe’s” to be able to go out there and be put in the best position to succeed as an individual and as a team.

Kind of takes you back to the whole “chicken or the egg” debate…in order to be an elite program…you can’t have one without the other.