Castiglione named to bowl licensing task force
OU athletic director Joe Castiglione will be part of the Division I Bowl Licensing Task Force, the NCAA announced Tuesday.
The panel will examine several areas, including “governance and oversight by bowl sponsoring agencies, conflict-of-interest rules and policies, advertising and title-sponsorship standards and the oversight and reporting of financial management of bowl games.”
Others on the task force include co-chairman Harvey Perlman (chancellor of the University of Nebraska) and Kenneth Chenault ( CEO of American Express), Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe.
The task force expects to report findings and recommendations to the NCAA board of directors in October.
-JT
Sooners snag Tallahassee tight end
Bruce Kittle has earned his first verbal commitment as Oklahoma’s tight ends coach.
Tuesday, Kittle and the Sooners plucked tight end Laith Harlow out of Tallahassee, Fla., according to Rivals.com, giving OU six commitments for the Class of 2012.
Harlow, 6-5, 245 pounds, had offers from Alabama, Miami, Notre Dame, South Carolina and UCLA. He is a 4-star prospect according to Rivals, and a 3-star recruit according to Scout.com.
-JT
Ex-OU safety Brandon Everage drowns in river
Former Oklahoma All-American safety Brandon Everage, one of the hardest hitters of the Bob Stoops era, passed away this weekend while swimming in a river with friends.
According to Sheriff David Greene of the Milam County Sheriff’s Office, Everage, 30, drowned in the Little River about 80 miles northeast of Austin.
Authorities received a call late Friday about a possible drowning and commenced a widespread search into the night. Everage’s friends told police he had been swimming, went under water, but never resurfaced.
Everage’s body was finally found by a dive team about 10:50 a.m. Saturday, and he was immediately pronounced dead. His body has been sent to the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
Everage, a native of Granger, Texas, played safety at OU from 1999-2003. He was a member of the 2000 national championship team and earned All-American honors 2002
Everage’s unexpected death caps what’s been a tragic couple of weeks for the Sooner community. On Friday, friends and family gathered in Enid for the funeral of 22-year-old Austin Box, who passed away May 19 after being found unresponsive at a friend’s home.
-JT
Former Sooner Brandon Everage missing after falling in lake
More tragic news appears to have hit the Sooner community.
The same day Oklahoma linebacker Austin Box was memorialized at his funeral in Enid, former All-American safety Brandon Everage may have drowned in his hometown of Granger, Texas, according to multiple former OU players.
Everage fell off a boat and never resurfaced.
No official confirmation has been made, but several “RIP” messages were sent out via social media Saturday morning by people claiming to be family members.
Everage played safety at OU from 1999-2003 and was a member of the 2000 national championship team. He was an All-American in 2002, and is regarded as one of the hardest hitters to play in the Bob Stoops era.
-JT
Venables dealing with another death
The brother of Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables died unexpectedly in Colorado, a day after his starting middle linebacker, Austin Box, passed away.
The Tulsa World first reported Venables’ brother’s death Saturday, after he canceled a previously scheduled phone interview.
“My brother passed away (Friday) unexpectedly,” Venables wrote in a text to the World. “Young, 43 years old. Had to leave town immediately.”
It’s unclear how his brother passed away, but an OU official verified the news.
With head coach Bob Stoops on vacation in Europe, it was Venables who addressed reporters Thursday after it was confirmed that Box had passed away.
“We’re numb, heartbroken,” Venables said then. “Austin was a great teammate. He was a joy to coach. Everybody on our team loved him. He will be greatly missed.”
-JT
RB Clendon Thomas to join College Football Hall of Fame
Former Oklahoma All-American running back Clendon Thomas will be named to the College Football Hall of Fame next week, Archie Manning, chairman of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, revealed Saturday night during his keynote address at the “Sooner Spectacular.”
Thomas was a key cog in OU’s back-to-back national championships in 1955 and 1956. He led the nation in scoring in 1956 and was a consensus All-American in 1957. Thomas was also a prolific defensive back.
He played 11 seasons in the NFL, four with the St. Louis Rams and seven with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
-JT
Power Lunch Chat Recap: Jake Trotter
How OU’s draft picks fit in
Four Sooners were drafted last weekend. Dallas took running back DeMarco Murray in the third round, the Broncos also selected OU safety Quinton Carter in the fourth, and safety Jonathan Nelson (Rams) and end Jeremy Beal (Broncos) both went in the seventh.
Here’s how these four players fit with their respective new teams:
DeMarco Murray
Dallas Morning News columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor wrote this week he thinks Murray will challenge Felix Jones for the starting running back position, and that “there’s no reason why he shouldn’t expect to win the job.”
I think that’s a bit of a stretch. While Jones had a disappointing season in 2010, he’s still the primary guy for now.
But the Cowboys have shown the propensity for giving carries to their No. 2 and 3 running backs in recent years. And with Marion Barber on his way out, Murray is almost assured of snagging one of the top three spots.
Look for Dallas to utilize Murray’s receiving skills on third-and-long passing situations. But on top of that, Murray could get a couple of series a game in the backfield, as well.
If he produces — and, he can stay healthy — Murray could get even more opportunities with the ball in his hands. Without a breakout year, it’s not, as Taylor writes, inconceivable Murray ultimately wins the starting job.
Quinton Carter
Carter was one of the top safeties in the draft. But anymore, unless it’s an Eric Berry, safeties don’t get picked in the first round, which is about quarterbacks, defensive lineman and offensive tackles.
Carter, taken by the Broncos in the fourth round, is walking into a franchise attempting to retool its secondary. Carter is part of the plan.
With CB Champ Bailey resigned, and SS Brian Dawkins still a feared hitter, Denver could have one of the league’s better secondaries, especially if its rookie safeties — Carter and second rounder Rahim Moore (UCLA) — show up.
Executive John Elway said that the Broncos had Moore and Carter rated as two of the three best safeties in the draft.
“We are adding competition at those spots,” said Broncos general manager Brian Xanders.
Because he’s more of a natural free safety, Moore has the better shot of starting this season. But considering Dawkins is 37 years old, Carter could emerge into the heir apparent to take over at strong safety in the next couple of years.
“I don’t like really defining the players before they get here,” said Denver coach John Fox. “If you were looking at it, generally speaking, you would probably say that Moore is probably more the free and Carter is more the strong. I hate to pigeonhole them at this point; they will kind of define what they can do. They have some veteran guys to learn from and that will speed the process. We needed some youth there and we think we picked two very good ones.”
Jonathan Nelson
Odds are usually against any seventh-round pick making a teams. But Nelson’s odds of making the Rams may be higher than usual.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Rams are in need of a solid cover free safety. As a former cornerback, that’s Nelson’s forte.
Nelson is also a hard-worker, a good kid and one of the smartest players on last year’s Sooner team. All of that should augment his chances.
“It’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, it’s about the size of the fight in the dog,” Nelson said, “and I just feel like I have a whole bunch of fight.”
Jeremy Beal
It’s hard to believe Beal won’t make an NFL squad. Then again, it was hard to believe Beal wouldn’t get drafted until the compensatory stage of the seventh round.
But listening to Bronco executives, Beal could be given the chance to show the teams that passed on him made a mistake.
“We were definitely excited to see him there at the bottom of the seventh,” said Broncos GM Brian Xanders. “He was very productive in college, 57 tackles for loss and 29 sacks. He was really the highest remaining guy on our board in the seventh round.
“He’s a productive guy that makes a lot of plays, we’re surprised he fell down that far — that’s probably because of the Combine or Senior Bowl stuff — but we really evaluate off the football tape and we’re really excited to have him. He’s going to compete at the defensive end position and hopefully he comes in and contributes for us.”
At the moment, Beal is one of four defensive ends, along with Elvis Dumervil, Robert Ayers, Jason Hunter.
Remember this tidbit: Twenty-three players at this year’s Pro Bowl went undrafted. Beal, one of the most productive ends in OU history, has the potential to become a similar success story.
-JT
OU releases 2011 football schedule
Sept. 3 – TULSA
Sept. 17 – at Florida State
Sept. 24 – MISSOURI
Oct. 1 – BALL STATE
Oct. 8 – Texas at Dallas
Oct. 15 – at Kansas
Oct. 22 – TEXAS TECH
Oct. 29 – at Kansas State
Nov. 5 – TEXAS A&M
Nov. 19 – at Baylor
Nov. 26 – IOWA STATE
Dec. 3 – at Oklahoma State
Read more here. What do you think of the schedule? How many games will the Sooners lose in 2011?
Landry Jones a future Top 15 draft pick?
Sooner quarterback Landry Jones’ pro potential continues to pick up steam.
A trio of 2012 mock drafts from reputable sites came out this week, placing Jones in the Top 15.
While draft eligible, Jones has the option of coming back for his senior season in 2013.
But ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay, who remember was the first to predict that QB Sam Bradford would be a No. 1 pick, has Jones going No. 15 overall to the Miami Dolphins.
Writes McShay: “It will be interesting to see how Chad Henne does behind an upgraded offensive line, and if he is unable to get the job done, Miami will be one of the quarterback-hungry teams entering the 2012 draft. We still need to study more film on Jones. Although he continues to improve and has prototypical size and the arm strength to make all the throws, to work his way up to this point, he needs to become more consistent in terms of footwork, accuracy and decision-making in 2011.”
CBSSports.com’s Chad Reuter has Jones going fourth overall to the Denver Broncos.
Writes Reuter: “Unless Kyle Orton or Tim Tebow becomes a breakout star and the team defense greatly improves under John Fox, John Elway may have no choice to pick a strong-armed quarterback like Jones.”
SI.com’s Andrew Perloff (a.ka. “McLovin” on the Dan Patrick Show) has Jones going third overall to the Cleveland Browns, behind Stanford QB Andrew Luck and Oklahoma State wideout Justin Blackmon.
Writes Perloff: “The 6-foot-4 Jones has NFL size and arm strength and has proved a lot in college already. He threw 38 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season and should put up Sam Bradford-like numbers this season.”
Coincidentally, McShay and Perloff also have OU’s Travis Lewis going No. 24 in the first round — even though 4-3 outside linebackers seem to rarely get picked that high anymore.
McShay predicts Lewis to the Eagles. Perloff, the Rams.
Writes McShay: “Lewis is a quicker-than-fast weakside linebacker and one of the most productive in the nation the past two years. I’ll be interested to see after studying film how much of that is due to the scheme and how much is due to his tools, but he does appear to have the closing burst to contribute in the NFL.”
Adds Perloff: “Teams want to wait to draft 4-3 linebackers, but Lewis will be productive enough this season to overcome that handicap. The Rams could also look at North Carolina LB Zach Brown.”
Interestingly, none of the mocks have OU receiver Ryan Broyles in the first round. Even though he figures to break the NCAA career receptions record this season, Broyles could fall to Day 2 of the draft because of his 5-foot-11, 187-pound frame.
-JT
