Comments on: OU football: Pull a Leach and go for it

By: Nathan

Nathan — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:28:17 +0000

If he really wanted to go Mike Leach, he would have a contest to see if any students could win the job. That guy did at Tech did pretty well, IIRC.

By: Tom Goodall

Tom Goodall — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:04:25 +0000

Maybe one might suggest having Stevens to kick field goals of 40 yards or less….and then O’Hara kick longer than 40…and, unless it is the end of the half or the end of the game..don’t try 49+ field goals..punt for field position…not sure that having two kickers specialize by distance is radically different than field goal and extra point specialization..just requires keeping three kickers (or possibly four if you have a kick-off specialist) on the team.

By: Randall

Randall — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:15:31 +0000

To all of the crimson Kool-Aid drinkers: It is inexcusable for an all-time top-10 program to go two years in a row without a reliable field-goal kicker. You can call names all you want, but at the end of the day, a program like OU has no excuse for not having a kicker. Again.

A coach is judged by his results. If OU doesn’t have a good kicker for the second year in a row, or can’t coach up the guys who have been recruited to kick field goals, who is responsible if not the kicking coach, who happens to be Bob Stoops?

By: will k

will k — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:50:16 +0000

i think ou needs a new offensive cooridinator that calls plays that doesn’t get the offense stuck in the mud at the 30 which puts the kicker in bad position to try for a 40+ yarder. seriously no one else has noticed how boring this guy gets when the game is on the line? stoops is to blame as well for the team turning into zombies when the game is close in the 4th. that’s been the difference between ou and other schools, our guys can’t pull off the close ones. it’s like they have to win big or not at all sometimes

By: Don

Don — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:02:46 +0000

I agree with going for it on fourth down unless you are within easy field goal range and it is further than five yards for a first down. Take the field goal if it is fourth and eight at the 10.

By: Devin

Devin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:53:23 +0000

A bit surprising that some of these guys were really good in high school, but all of the sudden can’t kick consistently.

By: Gene

Gene — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:56:01 +0000

If Stevens was 11 for 11 inside the 40, why not continue using him on short kicks (inside the 40) and use O’Hara outside the 40? I don’t think Stevens was that accurate, even inside the 40.

By: KBarrow

KBarrow — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:34:37 +0000

You idiots who think you know how to develop football players, why don’t you put up or shut up? If you think you can do better, then go do it. Think you can coach better? Go do it.
Kickers are not like other positions. On the field….many plays…get into rhthym…flow of the game. They are like golfers that get one chance every 1/2 hour or so. Oh, and they aren’t throw or catching with their hands….they are booting and hitting an object with their foot to propel it thru the uprights. Less eye/hand or motor control over the ball.

They do recruit….but lets face it…..there are not a lot of good high school kickers out there. Believe me, I know….I officiate football….and even on Friday nights, not many good kickers out there. They don’t get a lot of training at a young age for this position. A team really is fortunate to land someone who is good and well-trained and consistent. This position combines the skills from soccer and golf. No other position lays claim to that.

By: taylor

taylor — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:36:15 +0000

Lynn1 is an idiot. Only 2 of the kickers mentioned were recruited, the others were walk-ons. Tress was a kicker that they moved to punter. Coach stoops doesn’t need to hand over anything. He makes millions for what he does, im guessing randall and lynn1 don’t. Obviously they have kicking problems and obviously they are trying to fix it. Amazing. Truly amazing.

By: Randall

Randall — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:12:15 +0000

Bob Stoops apparently thinks that he can “win championships” while being competent in only two of the three phases of the game.

OU hasn’t had a reliable field-goal kicker since Garrett Hartley left. It was a problem last year–one that cost the Sooners 3-4 games. And what got done in the off-season to fix it? Nothing. Amazing. Truly amazing.