Sooner4OU

So Athlon sports has selected it national rankings and its rankings for the Big12 as well.  OU ranks #17  nationally and #2 in the Big12.  The selected Oklahoma State to edge out OU in the Big12 rankings, largely because they come back with more experience at quarterback, even though a starter has not been selected and a veteran defense.  

It is tough to disagree with their thinking given OU's defense was torched last season numerous times and with new coaches and schemes on both sides of the ball, the Sooner staff will need to perform one of their best coaching jobs during the Stoops era to improve on last season's results. 

What do you think?

The Sooners continue their search all over the country for tall players at nearly every position.  The offensive line is already taller than average (6'5") with players reaching all the way up to 6'9".  Also, it is no secret that Coach Mike Stoops has put a premium on tall cornerbacks as well.  The Sooners recently received a commit from a tall receiver Dallis Todd (6'5', 215 pounds), from La Mirada, Calif. Additionally, Norvell is heavily recruiting other tall star receivers like Jeffery Mead (6'5"), Mark Andrews (6'6") and Dorian Leonard (6'4").

It is no coincidence that there is a sharp focus on getting taller players with more length.  It is by design as the Sooner coaches know that their return to being an elite team will require players that can do things that allow them to compete with other elite teams.  Having more hieght allows for players to add more weight, use their bodies to shield the ball or go up and get balls against other talented players.  It is crucial for the Sooners to add taller and more skilled players to their squad.  Thier long-term success will require it.

Read the Oklahoman article linked below and then provide your thoughts.

Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

Athlon Sports has named the Top 25 Greatest College Football Dynasties of the AP Era and Oklahoma places three times in the rankings.  Bud Wilkinson's Sooners are ranked number one, Barry Switzer's Sooners are ranked number eleven and finally Bob Stoop's Sooners come in at number eighteen. 

As we enter the last year of the BCS era and move into the college football playoffs era it will be interesting to see who the next dynasty will be or if there will even be one as the playoofs should take some of the voting drama and subjectiveness out of the system.  Alabama has been on top during recent years, but the SEC teams are catching on to their tendencies and weaknesses as it always happens.  Texas A&M highlighted some of these weaknesses by innovating with the read option and you can expect others to do the same this year.

So, who will step up and become the next college football dynasty, who knows, but you can bet it will be a team using some innvoative approach with loads of talent.

Photo: AP

Another week and another Post-Spring Top 25 poll from a major sports site.  This time it is Dennis Dodd at CBSSports.com turn to prognasticate the CFB Top 25 after the Spring practices.  Other than his choice of Ohio State as the top team, it is the usual SEC love spell that so many of the press folks seem to be under.

The other conferences must step up and make a difference this year and supplant the SEC for the top team, before any of the press folks start to change their mind about their poll order.  

I mainly do not agree with where they have placed Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Texas and Oklahoma as they are victims of the SEC bias in this poll.   In my opinion, Texas A&M and Texas are ranked a little too high.  Notre Dame and Oklahoma are a little too low and there are too many SEC teams i the top 10.  Just inter-conference play alone in the SEC will ensure some of those he has in the top 10 don't stay there.  So, I firmly believe he has too much SEC bias and not enough solid research and reality in his choices.

What do you think about Dennis'rankings in his poll?

Former NFL quarterback, now ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer made some unflattering comments during the draft about OU's offense and the negative affect it had on Landry Jones draft order.  He called the Oklahoma offense a "A joke", and went on to make further negative comments about their use of the tight-end and the playcalling.  It was a widely reported and inflammatory rant that has made many in the Sooner Nation boil since the draft.

So, this week during the Sooner Caravan stop in Tulsa, reporters could not wait to get to both Bob Stoops and Josh Huepel to get thier take on Dilfer's comments.  As usual both Stoops and Huepel keep their comments regarding Dilfer short and too the point.  Nether said anything inflammatory about Dilfer and made only reflective comments regarding his negative comments.

In short, the coaches opinions is they are just random comments made by a mis-informed analyst who did not do his homework.  Too give Dilfer's comments any further credence would only seem defensive and drag the whole ordeal out further.

So, whether you agree with the coaches approach or not doesn't matter as they have no intent on carrying this matter any further.  It is business as usual.

What are you thoughts?

Photo: AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Athlon has named former University of Oklahoma Superstar Adrian Peterson College Football's Top Running Back of the BCS Era.  While only at OU for three years Adrian was able to amass 4,045 yards, 41 touchdowns and 24 recptions.  Many of these runs and receptions were amazing feats of pure power and speed, not seen since Herschel Walker back in the early 1980s.

Ricky Williams, Ron Dayne, Darren McFadden and Ladainian Tomlinson round out the top five running backs on their list.  OU had two more backs named to the list with Quentin Griffin at Number 19 and DeMarco Murray at number 24.

Athlon looked at "Statistical production, individual awards, team success, longevity, supporting cast, level of competition, raw talent and athletic ability all factor heavily in determining overall greatness" when making their choices and to me I think they got it right choosing Adrian as their number one.

What do you think?

Another day another pundit!  Regardless whether you agree or disagree with ESPN's Trent Dilfer or not, the criticism was bound to gp public in a big way.  While the Sooner faithful and press are strongly defending Stoops and Huepel's approach with statistics and rankings, the fact of the matter is many in the Sooner nation were and are unhappy with the offensive play-calling, especially in big games.  The Notre Dame and Texas A&M game come to mind instantly as the Sooner offensive firepower struggled to even create a spark.  It wasn't as the coaches put it all in execution!  Some of that blame must be shouldered by the coaching stafff as the play-calling and schemes were predictable and in-effective.  

So, even though many of us do not fully or even largely agree with Trent in his tirade about the Sooner offense, there is potentially some issues that even after the current coaching changes take hold still may need to be dealt with.  imagine the outcry from the Soner faithful if the Sooner offense struggles during one of the earlier games and loses to a mid-tier team.  It will get ugly quick as we saw the last two seasons.  Coach Heupel claims that the offense is largely the same in recent conversations, but litte change with sub-par results is problematic...just ask Coach Patton or Shipp.   

2013 will be an interesting and highly anticpated season for the Oklahoma Sooners.  Here too hoping they make a positive impact and feed the hungry monster.

This is an interesting article from CBSSports.com on whether the Big Ten was doing some serious looking and/or considering of the University of Oklahoma as a potential member of the Big Ten.  I would imagine that Nebraska would be for that addition.  How about OU versus Michigan or OU versus Ohio State as match-ups on a regular basis?  It sounds like the window is still open, but significantly smaller due to the granting of rights.  But, we can still wonder on what might of have been. 

What do you think about the Sooners in the Big Ten?

Photo: USATSI

I was reading an article David Ubben on ESPN.com and it is a really good article and video to see as he really dives deep into the high expectations the OU coaches, administration and Sooner nation has and how they got there.  I love this quote from David "Roughly 90 percent of college football programs would be thrilled to win 10 games in a season. Oklahoma is not one of those programs."  This qoute really zeroes in on what drives the Soooner Nation and how some of it's members can be calling for coach firings after a single loss or how certain players or schemes are called out if there is a perceived weakness on the field.

To me one quote from the article sums up the Sooner nation expectations and that is from defensive coordinator Mike Stoops who states "When you have Oklahoma across your chest, you expect to win championships, and that’s never going to change here.".  This one quote says it all and much like the famous Barry Switzer quote "I didn't create the monster, but I must feed it".  Expectations are not goig to decline or stay even or rise and it is up to Bob Stoops to continue to feed the Sooner championship monster.

What do you think about the expectations of the Sooner Nation? Boomer!

Photo: ESPN.com

Former Oklahoma head coach Chuck Fairbanks (on the right in the image) passed away today after year long battle with brain cancer at age 79, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Coach Fairbanks coached Oklahoma from 1967 through 1972.  He had a record of 52-15-1 at OU, before then OU offensive coordinator Barry Switzer replaced him after Fairbanks opted to become head coach of the New England Patriots in the NFL. 

While Coach Fairbanks is rarely ever considered as great of a Sooner coach as Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer or Bob Stoops, he was still a good coach who helped move the Sooners from the wishbone offense from the veer offensive schemme that lead to the Sooners largely dominating college football during the 70 and 80s.

Coach Fairbanks will be missed by the entire Sooner Nation.

Photo: Taken at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008, in Norman, Okla. BY Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman

Sooner4OU Commentary: The Sooners collected their first individual national champion in wrestling in eight years, thanks to the strong efforts of Kendric Maple. HThe two-time All American won it in a 4-3 decision Edinboro's Mitchell Port.  This type of success could begin to push the success of the program going forward.

It is great to see a 4.0 student excel in athletics.  Boomer!

Alrighty then...  Athlon Sports has released a ranking all 125 division one coaches for 2013, and in this particular article they reveal their selections amongst the coaches in the Big 12. They have selected K-State's Bill Snyder as their top pick and OU's Bob Stoops follows.  It is hard to argue with their top pick as Coach Snyder has done more with less than just about anybody in college football.  While it could be argued that Bob Stoops' consistency over the last fourteen years should give him the nod, it is a close call with either deserving of number one slot.

Many will debate the rest of the Big12 coaches rankings, but having Mike Gundy behind Art Briles is a little suspect given the Cowboys are only a year removed from almost playing for the national title.  But, I don't have a horse in the OSU race, so I'll let it go.

Photo: Big12.org

You can get 2013 Disater Relief Shirts now at SoonerSports.com (link below).  This shirt design is the result of a partnership between The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa.  The net proceeds from the sale of the shirts will be donated directly to the United Way to aid disaster relief and recovery efforts across the state of Oklahoma. 

Buying one or more of these shirts is a good way to help those in need after the horrific tornadoes that devestated Moore, Oklahoma and the surrounding area.

Be Oklahoma Proud!

On Tuesday Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops discussed Monday's devastating tornadoes.  His family watched the tornado from the back of their home as it passed about a mile away. 

Stoops was quoted as saying “Just thinking of all these, so, so many families that are devastated,” Stoops said. “This will be a long-term effort to get everyone back on their feet.”

Monday's tornado has claimed more than 24 lives, including children.  It has been initially rated as an EF4, with winds between 166-200 MPH.  The city of Moore has been hit twice before in recent history with great damage and loss of life.  Officials are still trying to come up with an accurate death toll for this tragedy. 

Photo: Oklahoman Archive

First Florida Coach Muschamp took exception to Stoop's recent comments about recent SEC dominance, now it is Alabama Coach Nick Saban.

On Thursday, Coach Saban was infomed of Coach Stoops recent comments regarding the SEC and Nick responded with "I've got more important things to do than sit around and read what Bob Stoops has to say about anything."  Saban was respectful, but obviously disagreeing with Stoop's comments and even alludes to it is because of jealousy, given the SEC's recent success.

Saban went on to say there is a ot animosity towards the SEC becuase of their success and that others outside the SEC don't understand the quality of the teams from top to bottom, which flies in the face of Stoop's comments about the SEC's botton six.

It this all just each coaches perspective of the quality of the SEC or is their truly animosity between the top leagues?  Well, given the recent exchanges one would have to think at a minimium there is strong disagreement. 

What do you think about the recent exchanges between top coaches?

So Coach Bob Stoops isn't buying the SEC dominance just becuase they have won the last seven national championships.  He points out the bottom six are not doing anything special and the conference as a whole hasn't created a huge gap when compared to the other major conferences.

He is right about the SEC as a whole, as they have had coaching turnover and bad losses to the mid-majors as well.  Just look at Arkansas last year, they were chosen to be one of the favorites and they fell apart and lost several non-conference games against supposedly inferior teams. Kentucky is another example having one of the worst records in college before ejecting their coach last year. So, like every other conference the have their haves and have-nots and just happen to have the best team in football the last couple of years. 

So, does this mean the Big12 and Big10 are inferior when comapred to the SEC?  No, it only means that the SEC's top teams have been the top national team the last cpuple of years.  The SEC conference bowl record as whole is another indicator of this.  It is not time to crown the SEC as a dynasty, only to recognize that they have had the best team in college football the last few years. 

I like the way Coach Stoops says: "He is not worried about it". 

What do you think?

Athlon has named several former University of Oklahoma star quarterbacks to their Top 50 of the BCS Era rankings.  Sam Braford came in at number nine and Josh Huepel came in at seventeeen. Jason White also made the list.

I do not agree with their number one choice of Vince Young.  Really???

What do you think?

When four-star recruit Daniel Franklin was recruited out of Mount Airy, Georgia, he was expecting to become a star football player for the Sooners.  But, instead he became a significant contributor in many other ways.  

Franklin was a player who showed pride in being a Sooner and made others better by practicing hard and lettering in the weight room spirit.  After attaining his bachleor's degree, he even gave up being a potential graduate assistant for the Sooners because they needed a long snapper.  Coach Stoops and the Sooner squad needs these kind of players to balance the kids that are more mercurial and entitled.  All teams have entitled players that are largely out for themselves, but contribute none the less.  So, this is why having selfless players like Franklin are so important.  

Championship teams are made up of all kinds of players and all kinds of contributions and Daniel Franklin defintely made his.  This Boomer goes out to him and his contributions to the University of Oklahoma football team.

What do you think of Daniel's contributions to the Sooners?

Do you think the negative stipend soundbites by Stoops is wise given that recruiting is currently going on?  

You know the other coachs like Nick Saban and Brian Kelly and others can or will use that against the Sooners on the recruiting trail. Especially, since they support providing the players with a stipend.

Not, that I don't agree with what Coach Stoops is saying, but having it become a cover story and having lots of recruits see his stance may not be the kind of press that convinces an elite recruit that the University of Oklahoma is the place for them.  Especially, using language like "crying about stipends", doesn't sound good to a potential recruit.  

It is an honerable thing that Stoops has good morales and strong leadership qualities, and he doesn't compromise on his beliefs, but the press is not the biggest fan of Stoops.  They are ready to soundbite or sensationalize his statements, accordingly, in their favor.

The article cites Stoops as saying "he credits all that he has accomplished to earning a scholarship at Iowa and playing under legendary coaches. That's benefit enough", Stoops argues, "for players today who cry for stipends".

It will be interesting over the next couple of weeks and months to see if Stoop's stance alienates any of the potential recruits.  It is amazing how viral and nasty recruiting can become, especially for the elite recruits, who have everyone talking in their ears.

What are your thoughts?

Photo: Associated Press

Sooner4OU Commentary: In this post by Travis Haney on his ESPN.com Blog, he discusses in summary the many changes that OU and Texas are making to adjust for the Read-Option (Think Johnny Manzeil) and the SEC's continued dominance of the National Championship position.  It was obvious and the two fan bases were literally up in arms over the lack of meaningful change by both coaching staffs.  While their issues may be slightly different, the need to adjust to some of the popular schemes that are driving the high flying offenses of some of the elite teams like Oregon, Alabama and Texas A&M was apparent.

Now, both teams have made changes to their respective coaching staffs, modified their schemes and are drilling their players to execute against these changes and become highly competent quickly, as the two fan bases are restless.  Although, the Texas folks have a steeper hill to climb given their record and struggles over the last three years.

Both, OU and Texas' upcoming spring games are going to be televised on Fox SouthWest and Longhorn network respectively.  So, it will be interesting to see how these changes take hold and whether they will allow either the Sooners or Longhorns back to the "Elite" level this season or next.

Sooner4OU Commentary: The OU men's basketball team's season came to end last night as the lost to San Diego Stae University 70-55 to end the tourney hopes.

But, there are brighter days ahead as Coach Kruger has some new young offensive talent joining the Sooners for next season and they really just need a bit more offense to be really competitive.  Their defense was good this season, but their offense was up and down a little too much. 

The Sooner Nation should be really proud of the 20-12 season capped by an invitation to the NCAA tourney.  Boomer!