Aaron Colvin experiment no longer experimental
THE IDEA of moving Aaron Colvin from cornerback to safety originally was experimental. After the first two weeks of spring ball, the “experimental” tag can be removed.
“We like him right where he’s at,” said secondary coach Willie Martinez if Colvin’s shift to strong safety was still experimental.
“We’re going to see how the young players are developing and how things go the rest of spring and how the other corners are progressing too. But right now we feel comfortable and he feels comfortable. It’s really amazing how he’s caught on, a very instinctive player. He’s a playmaker. We’re excited right now about him at the strong safety position.”
Colvin obviously still needs to put on weight. Martinez said he’d like Colvin to go from 185 to 190 before the season.
“He’s a physical kid,” Martinez said. “He’s that type of player. He’s a physical player.”
OBVIOUSLY, FOR THE COLVIN experiment to work to its fullest, Gabe Lynn needed to step up this spring at cornerback. So far, so good.
“Gabe’s doing a great job,” Martinez said. “Once the season was going on you know it was kind of tough to get the amount of reps Aaron was getting. It was basically a three man rotation at corner (with Fleming, Demontre Hurst and Colvin) but Gabe really has come back and really focused this spring and in the winter and he’s done a really good job in the weight room. That has carried over to the field.”
Right now, OU’s starting secondary is Hurst and Lynn at cornerback, and Colvin and Javon Harris at safety. Harris is a key piece to the defensive backfield, if for no other reason, he’s the only returning safety with any game experience.
“He’s a smart player,” Martinez said. “He’s picked up the scheme very fast and you know he’s the guy that last spring really didn’t know much about him then all of the sudden he came on at the end of spring.
“Obviously the game experience that he experienced this past year really playing well in the Oklahoma State game that has given him a lot of confidence. He’s really feeling comfortable and we really felt comfortable moving him to free safety. And he can bump back and forth and that’s really what we’re trying to do, is have the flexibility. He knows strong safety so we’re just going to put him over a free safety and if anything happens or if we want to swing some players we’ll end up doing that.”
BOB STOOPS was asked what he thought about the Fiesta Bowl, which made headlines last week for its extravagant nights to strip clubs and trips to exotic golf courses, all on the company dime.
“For the Big XII and all that has been associated with it, it has been a positive experience,” Stoops said. “Unfortunately some people that have been associated with it has had some bad experiences, but that is not everybody so at the end of the day I am sure that there are a great number a people that have done it the right way there and will want to in the future.”
There has been speculation that if the BCS pulled the Fiesta Bowl off the card, the Cotton Bowl could replace it, which would give the Sooners a BCS game in their backyard.
“That would not be right for me to get into that debate,” Stoops offered. “At the end of the day I trust our administrators, presidents, and all of our commissioners and people running our conference to decide that. I am very aware of my job as the coach and my job is to run our team and their job is to manage the university and what is best for our league and everyone else so I will leave it to them to determine that.”
-JT
Lane Johnson could join battle at RT
THE SOONERS HAD SUCCESS WITH ERIC MENSIK going from tight end to tackle. In light of Jarvis Jones’ torn patella ligament, they’re wondering if Lane Johnson can make a similar transition. Johnson played quarterback at his junior college, was recruited to OU as a tight end and last season flipped to defensive end. Now, the Sooners are considering auditioning Johnson at right tackle.
“Lane has a good idea about it, but he is doing really well at d-end and so we worry about even giving him a little peek,” Stoops said. “But he’s up to 275 and he has about eight percent body fat. He is about 6-10 — kidding, but Lane is huge.
“Lane actually has more years than Eric Mensik did, so that may be something that we stumble into. We are going to look at it and make sure that Lane has a good idea, and a good attitude and he seems to like it. He thought, ‘Hey it is worth it if it will get me a look.’”
Johnson’s chances of getting on the field might actually be better at tackle. The Sooners are stacked at defensive end with Frank Alexander and Ronnell Lewis and R.J. Washington, David King and Geneo Grissom. But at tackle, his competition is Josh Aladenoye and Daryl Williams. Neither player has started a game.
IF JOSH ALADENOYE WINS the starting right tackle job, it will be in large part because of the work he’s put in the weight room. Aladenoye came to campus overweight at almost 360 pounds. He now weighs 315 and is beginning to show some natural quickness.
“He’s got a chance,” line coach James Patton said. “We have to refine some technique with him. Jarvis was quick footed and a really good athlete. Josh is the same kind of way he just needs to play more. He needs to get more reps. He’s getting that right now.”
IN KENNY STILLS, OU had arguably the most productive freshman wideout in school history last season. Stills’ freshman outburst has overshadowed the other four receivers in the recruiting class of 2010. But with Stills banged up with a hamstring tweak, some of those wideouts like Sheldon McClain and Justin McCay have been getting a lot of work with the first-team offense.
“You know, they’re getting better,” Stoops said. “Sheldon is coming on and he is beginning to get a little more consistent. Justin is doing better and showing up with his big body and making plays. Joe (Powell) is too, but Joe is still a little too inconsistent here and there, but they are getting better, which is exciting to see”
The chances for any of those three to break the receiving rotation, however, are slim. In addition to Stills, the Sooners bring back All-American Ryan Broyles, Trey Franks and Dejuan Miller back at wideout, and also signed arguably the No. 1 wideout in the country in Trey Metoyer.
SPEAKING OF METOYER, position coach and co-offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said “hopefully” Metoyer will qualify academically and be with the team this fall. Norvell didn’t expound, but at this point, it’s too early to know if Metoyer will make it or not.
But if the Sooners can get Metoyer to campus, he should compete for a substantial role in the offense immediately. Metoyer is top 10 in the Texas high school football record books for career receptions, yards and touchdowns.
SPEAKING OF MILLER, the 6-foot-4 junior stepped back on the practice field this week. Miller is coming off a season-ending knee injury.
“He will be fairly limited in how much he gets, but he looked good out there,” Stoops said. “We had been holding him out of a lot of team stuff, but he had been doing some individual stuff, but he looks good.”
Said Broyles: “He needs to get some more confidence in the knee. But he’s a veteran, he knows what’s expected of him.”
BROYLES STEADILY has been adding weight to what three years ago was a skinny frame. Last season Broyles played at 185 pounds. Broyles got up to 195, but expects to play at his target weight of 192 during the season.
“I can tell the difference,” he said. “When I get into contact, I don’t notice it as much.”
DEFENSIVE TACKLE DANIEL NOBLE IS BACK AND FEELING BETTER than ever after returning from a concussion that ended the second half of his freshman season.
Noble was beginning to surge following a banner performance in a win over Texas. But the following week, he was chasing Iowa State’s quarterback when an offensive lineman wheeled around and popped him in the head. Noble was diagnosed with a concussion. Noble thought he’d be back soon. But the concussion kept lingering.
“There were some bad days,” he said. “Headaches and fatigue. Just a bad place for me.”
Noble said the most frustrating part of the injury was the lack of a timetable.
“With a knee injury, the trainers tell you in six months you’ll be here, in eight months you’ll be here. With concussions you don’t really know,” said Noble, who eventually saw an Oklahoma City neurologist. “I was talking to the trainers to see where I was going, and they couldn’t really give me a definite timeline. They were just kind of, ‘You’ll get better when you’re better.’”
Noble ultimately got better. He’s had a great winter, according to Stoops. Now, he’s trying to work his way back into the rotation at defensive tackle, where the Sooners desperately needed him last season.
“Through all the winter, I’ve been feeling great,” Noble said. “I had great workouts. I got back to feeling like I should feel, back ready to play football. It’s been a relief, definitely.”
THE SOONERS MIGHT HAVE UNEARTHED another Brian Lepak. Drew Serruto, a walk-on transfer from Eastern Michigan has been getting some reps on the interior of the offensive line at guard and center.
Serruto attended high school in Centerville, Ohio, before accepting a scholarship to play at Easter Michigan. Patton says he has no idea how Serruto ended up all the way in Norman, but he could prove to be a valuable reserve.
“He’s got good feet, good quickness,” Patton said.
Serruto was with the team last year, but on the defensive line.
-JT
OT Jarvis Jones injures knee
Offensive tackle Jarvis Jones suffered a knee injury during Friday’s spring practice, a source confirmed to The Oklahoman. The injury is believed to be a torn patella tendon. It’s unclear how long Jones will be out, but at the least he will miss the rest of spring ball. Jones had surgery on Saturday.
With Jones out, freshman Daryl Williams and sophomore Josh Aladenoye will both get time at right tackle this spring.
-JT
Landry Jones pumping up
MUCH LIKE SAM BRADFORD before him, quarterback Landry Jones has transformed his body the last two off-seasons.
“He really did that a year ago and has done the same here,” coach Bob Stoops said. “He is a great worker. His
strength has improved and he is constantly working on it and his footwork, strength and body. Again he
is a big strong guy and that works hard and looks good.”
Jones is all the way up to 230 pounds. He weighed 211 when he first got to OU. He’s noticeably stouter this spring. That should only help him stand tall in the pocket and deliver throws with more power and zip.
“I definitely changed my body more this winter,” he said. “During the season, you are really just trying to survive. During the winter you build on what you already had. I’ve gotten a bit faster and put more muscle on.”
Jones said during the spring, he’s really focused on quickening his release and his footwork, two areas he really improved on from his freshman to sophomore seasons.
BRUCE KITTLE, who just five years ago, was coaching seventh grade football in Iowa has to pinch himself that he’s now an assistant at OU. Kittle was promoted from recruiting coordinator to offensive tackle/tight ends coach in the off-season, taking Kevin Wilson’s spot on the staff.
“To to tell you that I thought I would get it done in five years, it’s a little bit more than surreal,” he said.
“Every morning my feet hit the ground, I drive in and park in the stadium and I walk into the OU Sooner football office, and this is my job. I still have to pinch myself a little bit.”
Kittle graduated from Iowa in 1983 with a degree in business. He obtained his law degree from Iowa in 1989 then received a master’s in divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary in 1998. Years later, he decided he wanted to be in football.
“Kind of a funny thing, my different jobs and career changes, I get cold calls from all over,” he said. “Anytime an article runs on my history, I get calls from people asking me how I did it, why I did it. I don’t know if there’s a good answer. I’ve been very fortunate that I haven’t spent too much time doing things I really didn’t believe in. I feel very blessed to be in this spot.”
LONDELL TAYLOR learning how to play linebacker is a bit like Bob Stoops “reading Japanese” the coach cracked. Taylor, a walk-on out of Vian, has been playing pro baseball since being drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 13th round of the 2007 MLB Draft. Taylor originally had a scholarship and signed with OU before deciding to pursue his baseball career.
“We’re still working through that with him,” Stoops said. “There’s a lot of understanding that needs to still happen there. He’s got a lot of developing that way to go. Physically, he’s done a great job. It’s just getting him to understand everything. I think sometimes it’s a little bit like me reading Japanese when you’ve been away that long.”
Stoops could once read Japanese?
“No, (laughing) I guess I should say he’s further along than that. But you get what I mean. The terminology is just different than what he’s heard the last few years.”
THREE INTERESTING NATIONAL STORIES have been penned about the Sooners in the last week.
* From SI.com, about linebacker Tom Wort, who isn’t a stranger in a strange land, but a stranger in his homeland.
* From Rivals.com, about the working relationship co-coordinators Josh Heupel and Jay Norvell now share.
* From Dr. Saturday, about defensive tackle Jamarkus McFarland, the “missing link” on the Sooner defense.
STOOPS ON EMBRACING THE POSSIBILITY of being preseason No. 1: “We are always talking, regardless of what our expectations or rankings are, our expectations internally are always pretty high. Our whole focus is then talking to them about what are we going to do about it and how are we going to go about earning this. That’s what we did in the winter and I felt great about the way we came out of that. Now the second part of the whole year process is spring ball and how are we going to change and develop as a team in the way we go on the field. We talk a lot to our guys about earning what you get so hopefully they have had that kind of attitude.”
-JT
Regents approve new dorm to replace the Bud
The University of Oklahoma’s Board of Regents approved the conceptual design for the $75 million Sooner Center Student Housing, which will house almost 400 students.
The new facility, of which 49 percent will comprise athletes and 51 percent non-athletes, will replace Bud Wilkinson Hall and be funded by the athletic department. The location will be where the old O’Connell’s was.
The 230,000 square foot housing center will have 392 beds in two- and four-bedroom units. The building will include central dining, computer labs and study rooms as well as a faculty-in-residence unit.
The facility could be ready for occupancy by the fall of 2013.
-JT
RB Brandon Wegher no longer with team
Running back Brandon Wegher, who transferred from Iowa to OU in the offseason, is no longer with the team, coach Bob Stoops said following Wednesday’s practice.
“Yeah, he’s not with us anymore,” Stoops said. “That didn’t last real long.
Wegher, who rushed for an Iowa freshman record eight touchdowns in 2009, left the Hawkeyes for “personal reasons” and later announced he would transfer.
He enrolled at OU as a walk-on, but was going to have to sit out the upcoming season due to transfer rules.
“We’ve got a few backs as it is,” Stoops said, “so we’ll be OK.”
-JT
Kevin Brent to transfer
Sophomore safety Kevin Brent has elected to transfer and is no 
longer with the team, Bob Stoops said following OU’s first spring practice Monday.
Brent, a former 4-star Rivals prospect out of Dallas South Oak Cliff, came to OU with much fanfare, signing with the Sooners over Texas, Notre Dame, USC and Miami.
But the summer going into his freshman year, Brent suffered a shoulder injury, forcing him to redshirt, and he never could pass defensive backfield classmates Demontre Hurst, Javon Harris and Gabe Lynn on the depth chart.
With Brent’s departure, the Sooners are currently only two scholarships over the NCAA 85 allotted limit.
-JT
FSU’s Greg Reid: “Every time I’m working out I think about Oklahoma”
It’s only spring, but already Florida State has Oklahoma on the mind. The Seminoles, routed by OU last season, haven’t forgotten and have their Sept. 17 home date with the Sooners circled.
“I believe we really didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into, but this year, they have to come to the big brick place, they gotta come to Tallahassee,” FSU cornerback Greg Reid told ESPN’s Bruce Feldman. “Everybody’s excited. This place will be jam-packed. We got something on our shoulders where we have to prove a point, especially if they’re preseason No. 1. From a defensive standpoint, we just have to stay focused, have fun and communicate. Not let the quick hurry-up offense get to us.”
Reid, who was burned several times by the Sooner wideouts last season, says he’s especially motivated for what should be a bout between Top 10 teams.
“I’m not even gonna lie,” he said. “Every time I’m working out I think about Oklahoma.”
-JT
Recapping Bob Stoops’ press conference
TODAY, OKLAHOMA opens spring drills, and before his team took the field for their first practice, Bob Stoops held a press conference.
“We’re excited,” Stoops said. “We expect to have a really good football team with the limited number of seniors we had a year ago and the experience we gained with so many young players that came on a year ago and played well throughout the year and in particular the second half of the season. So it’ll be exciting to start the building process.”
THE SOONERS are relatively healthy for spring ball. Fullback Trey Millard and tight end Trent Ratterree will sit out after undergoing surgical shoulder cleanups earlier this off-season. Running back Jermie Calhoun, who tore his ACL, “is not ready but healing fine and doing well,” Stoops said.
Running back Roy Finch, however, is “expected to go” coming back from a December stress fracture. Wideout Dejuan Miller, coming off a torn meniscus, hasn’t been cleared yet, but is expected to sometime this week.
The Sooners will take it easy with defensive end Ronnell Lewis, who spent two nights in a Phoenix hospital after being carted off the field with a neck injury during the Fiesta Bowl. Lewis suffered a concussion and neck stinger, but has long been cleared to resume working out with the team.
“We want to be smart with how much we give him,” Stoops said. “But right now, he went through the whole second half of our winter with no problems and is feeling good. He has been cleared to go.”
THE MOST INTERESTING off-season position change made by the Sooners was shifting Aaron Colvin from cornerback to safety. Stoops said the switch is “experimental,” but he expects Colvin to stick there.
“I believe it’s gonna be great for us,” Stoops said. “And that position, in today’s world, much like we moved Jonathan Nelson from corner to that position because of his speed and athleticism, the way that strong safety plays, in today’s world, the guy has to have corner-like ability, to be able to run and change direction, because of the nature of so many spread-out teams.
“That position is usually to the split-out side or wide side of the field, where there are 2-3 receivers. And a lot of times, even if he’s playing zone and gets some underneath coverage, anything down the middle of the field, he’s in a man position against a speed receiver, a slot receiver. So it’s not like the old days of two tight ends or pro or twins where there’s personnel on the field, where that guy’s taking on blockers and filling holes. That isn’t so much the position any more. Eighty or 90 percent of the time, he’s out in a spread position. So that worked really well for us with Jonathan, and Aaron is an excellent athlete. We saw that a year ago, and believe it’s gonna be great for him and the team.”
I asked Stoops if the decision to slide Colvin was also a vote of confidence in sophomore cornerback Gabe Lynn, who now is OU’s starting corner.
“Gabe has had a great winter, and coach (Jerry) Schmidt has been really excited about his progress through the winter. So sure, we’re anxious to see him to continue to develop on the field.”
STOOPS WAS ASKED IF HE EXPECTED CB JAMELL FLEMING to rejoin the team in the fall. Read into this how you want.
“Since he’s not here, I’m not going to talk about him. I’m not sure whether I’m allowed to or not.”
Fleming is currently serving an academic suspension and not enrolled in school.
EVEN THOUGH MILLARD will be out this spring, Stoops wants to see his role increase.
“He’s one of the best players on our team. I would like to see us enhance more of what we do with him… because he’s that kind of player.”
Stoops indicated Millard could see more time as an H-Back/Tight end.
STOOPS DOESN’T HAVE A SOCIAL MEDIA policy for his players, several of whom are on Twitter. But… “I’m going to have one,” he said. “Guys that don’t know what they’re doing need to have it taken away. It’s hard to believe they don’t get it. They still think they’re at East Handkerchief High School, where no one cares. And that’s not the case. The ones that don’t know what they’re doing are going to have it taken away.”
-JT
Fran Fraschilla’s son walking on at OU
ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla confirmed in a radio interview Wednesday that his son, James, is going to college at Oklahoma and plans to walk on in basketball.
James Fraschilla, a 5-foot-10 point guard, attends Dallas Highland Park High School.
Fran Fraschilla has been rumored to be a possible candidate to replace former OU coach Jeff Capel, who was fired this week.
-JT
