Video: Freshman Tony Jefferson talks about his experience at OU
Former Sooner raiding Oklahoma
Defensive tackle Calvin Barnett, a player Rivals.com tabbed as the best in Oklahoma, spurned Oklahoma State on signing day for Arkansas.
His recruiter? Former Oklahoma quarterback Garrick McGee, now the offensive coordinator for the Razorbacks under Bobby Petrino. McGee, a graduate of high school football powerhouse Booker T. Washington in Tulsa, helped the Hogs grab give of the top 35 recruits in Oklahoma. The five were as many as Arkansas signed from in-state.
From the Arkansas News:
“One of the things when I first got the job that was important to me was to try to get Garrick down here,” Petrino said Wednesday. “He can walk in there and basically knows just about everybody in the city of Tulsa and that certainly helps.”
McGee also corralled former OU commit Jarrett Lake, a linebacker from Jenks in Tulsa. If his comments on Wednesday are any indication, his impact in the Sooner State could only widen.
“I’m going to try to branch out this year and get into Oklahoma City,” McGee said. “Get on the other side of the state and get us some kids from that side of the state.”
Sooners host Florida State on Sept. 11
Florida State released their 2010 schedule on Thursday, putting a date on their trip to Norman to face the Sooners.
The Seminoles and Sooners will play at Owen Field on Sept. 11, a week before Jimbo Fisher hosts Brigham Young in his first season as head coach.
Oklahoma has yet to announce the dates of its 2010 non-conference schedule, but it will also host Air Force and Utah State. The Sooners lone road game before conference play will be a trip to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats.
Here’s how the conference schedule looks for 2010:
Oct. 2 – Texas (Dallas)
Oct. 9 – OFF
Oct. 16 – Iowa State
Oct. 23 – at Missouri
Oct. 30 – Colorado
Nov. 6 – at Texas A&M
Nov. 13 – Texas Tech
Nov. 20- at Baylor
Nov. 26 or 27 – at OSU
Sam Bradford pays the Gatorade Lab a visit
Former Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford paid the Gatorade Performance Lab at the Super Bowl a visit earlier this week and got to test out all kinds of futuristic-looking fitness equipment.
All photos courtesy of Gatorade. Click any photo for a higher resolution version.
What Sam is not doing: Waking from a four-month cryo-sleep after midseason shoulder surgery.
What Sam is doing: Taking a turn in the Bod Pod, which analyzes body composition.
What Sam is not doing: Being measured for the helmet on his space suit.
What Sam is doing: Getting fitted with the equipment for a caloric expenditure test, which does exactly what you think. It measures how many calories the body loses during exercise.
What Sam is not doing: Being force fed Gatorade’s new G Series, which is three different drinks for before, during and after competition.
What Sam is doing: Taking part in a caloric expenditure test.
For more photos and a brief video, head to Sam Bradford’s page on Gatorade’s Web site.
Bradford says he’ll be 100 percent for Pro Day
Sam Bradford stopped by the Dan Patrick Show this morning and gave a brief update on his recovery from shoulder surgery last fall.
He said the shoulder is still healing, but he should be 100 percent by OU’s Pro Day and that the injured portion of his shoulder could be stronger than before when everything is fully healed.
“We’re on a throwing program and my last throwing session consisted of 50 balls at 30 yards,” Bradford said. “And those were ropes; those felt good.”
Jim Jeffcoat says he’s staying at Houston
Jim Jeffcoat told Fox 26 News in Houston that he would remain the defensive line coach under former OU assistant Kevin Sumlin at Houston in 2010 for his third season.
Jackson Jeffcoat is billed as the No. 1 defensive end prospect by Rivals.com, and the No. 2 prospect overall by ESPNU. Jim Jeffcoat, a former NFL player for the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, was reportedly in the mix to take over for Chris Wilson as Oklahoma’s defensive ends coach, and reportedly interviewed for the job in 2005, when Wilson was hired.
Wilson left Oklahoma last week to become Mississippi State’s co-defensive coordinator.
His father isn’t his only link to Oklahoma, either. His sister, Jacqueline, will be a freshman on the OU women’s basketball team next season.
Jackson Jeffcoat, of Plano West in Plano, Texas, is scheduled to visit Norman this week, and is also considering Texas, Arizona State (his father’s alma mater) and Houston. He says he’ll cut down the list and possibly commit after his visit. National Signing Day is February 3.
“He is going to be there four or five years. He has to be happy. I want him to make a decision that best suits him, not me, his mother or anyone else,” Jim Jeffcoat told Fox 26.
Another branch hacked from the Stoops coaching tree
In 2007 and 2008, former Oklahoma assistants Mark Mangino and Mike Leach had their teams, Kansas and Texas Tech, in the nation’s top 2 and in the national title hunt.
Now, before 2009 comes to an end, both are unemployed.
Leach was Bob Stoops’ offensive coordinator in 1999 before leaving for Lubbock.
Mangino worked under Stoops as offensive line coach in 1999 before succeeding Leach as offensive coordinator for the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
Leach made a name for himself with his quirks, both offensively and personality…ly. Should he stay outside the conference, the Big 12 will miss both his outings flirting with 70 passes and his dating advice.
Remember, always look for the underneath receiver in space, and never take a girl out to a restaurant that’s too formal on a first date.
Oh, and there was also that one play that OU fans might be just a little bit thankful for.
Leach will surely field calls from programs with coaching vacancies in the weeks that follow, but for my sake, I hope he spends at least a season or two as an analyst somewhere. Charles Barkley would no longer be the only must-watch voice on TV.
On a serious note, though, is it not somewhat strange that Texas Tech would hire Bob Knight to coach its basketball team after he was fired after being accused of plenty of incidents far more scandalous than forcing a player to study outside in the cold or stand in a dark equipment garage?
Just a thought.
But Texas Tech now has a vacancy of its own, and the race to fill it should be something to watch. Houston’s Kevin Sumlin, another Stoops disciple, could be a favorite, but he might be better served to stick around Houston for another season or two and wait for a job that doesn’t require him to knock off Texas and/or Oklahoma to win more than an Alamo Bowl trophy.
Plenty of names other than Sumlin will emerge in the coming days. So will the torch-bearing hordes that want Leach reinstated.
Lubbock, Texas is many things. When Mike Leach is involved, boring is rarely one of them.
Mortensen says Cowboys could call Stoops
Brian Kelly packing up his things for South Bend still didn’t end the speculation over Bob Stoops’ coaching future.
This time, though, the possible destination is quite a bit more attractive than Notre Dame.
On an ESPN radio show Friday, NFL reporter Chris Mortensen speculated that if the Cowboys fired Wade Phillips, a possibility inching closer to reality with a difficult closing schedule and waning playoff hopes, Oklahoma’s head man could get a call.
His exact words: Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would have Stoops “in his discussions,” should the job open up.
Mortensen stressed that to even call the move a rumor was a leap of faith, but did say the speculation came with a “little bit of knowledge.”
Saturday, Mortensen revisited the idea in a Twitter post, again referencing Jimmy Johnson, who Jones hired away from Miami in 1989 and won two Super Bowls with.
“As for Cowboys, if Wade goes, sources say he prefers some in 40′s. Maybe a back to the future deal like a Bob Stoops. Not saying Stoops will be Cowboys coach – he has said he’s staying put, as has Urban Meyer. But J. Johnson and B Switzer. 3 Super Bowls,” read Mortensen’s posts.
Unlike the original Stoops to Notre Dame rumor, Mortensen suggests the interest is, at this point, only one-sided.
But for Oklahoma, which is home to plenty of Cowboys fans, college coaching rumors don’t get much more interesting than that.
Leaving for Notre Dame was a lateral move, if not a step down. But an NFL job with one of the league’s premier franchises? Stoops would be sacrificing the comfy job security he enjoys in Norman, but if Jerry Jones’ name pops up on his cell phone, he’d have to at least answer, right?
Bedlam live chat
Murray: ‘Pretty sure I’ll be back’
When DeMarco Murray dazzled fans in the spring game before his freshman season, plenty in attendance wondered how long they’d get to watch the Las Vegas native run over and around opposing defenders.
Injuries have kept Murray from playing in several of the Sooners’ biggest games since, including last year’s national title game, and they’ve no doubt played a role in his draft stock as well.
With at least three members of his offense destined to hear their name called on draft day next April, Murray said on Tuesday he likely won’t make it four.
“It’s something my family and I will look into, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be back here next year,” he said.
Non-committal, perhaps, but Murray likely didn’t expect the questions about his future to come so soon. He’s played the entire season without suffering a major injury, sitting out just one game, and making it through a second injury-free season could only help his stock.
As he showed on Saturday, there’s been little doubt about his performance when he’s on the field.
The only worries are making sure he stays there.
