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OU Recruiting 2023: Blowing and Going


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49 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Below found by @Yuk 

 

 

10 minutes ago, Constant said:

Looking like a good weekend. Rumor has it at six commits gained this weekend. 


I’m thinking Vickers, J. Johnson, Vasek, Renaud, and Hicks. Not sure about the sixth, but Bowen would be nice. 

 

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I might be wrong, but seems like a few things may factor in Vasek possibly going to blOU

  • blOU defense system more DE friendly
  • Proven DE development by blOU assts including high NFL draft selections
  • Pac12/Oregon uncertainty going forward
  • Some kids don't want to stay home for college
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Just now, LTtxfan said:

I might be wrong, but seems like a few things may factor in Vasek possibly going to blOU

  • blOU defense system more DE friendly
  • Proven DE development by blOU assts including high NFL draft selections
  • Pac12/Oregon uncertainty going forward
  • Some kids don't want to stay home for college

Beautiful 

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22 hours ago, Constant said:

Looking like a good weekend. Rumor has it at six commits gained this weekend. 


I’m thinking Vickers, J. Johnson, Vasek, Renaud, and Hicks. Not sure about the sixth, but Bowen would be nice. 

Hicks isn’t telling anyone anything until his announcement approaches. 

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23 hours ago, Constant said:

Looking like a good weekend. Rumor has it at six commits gained this weekend. 


I’m thinking Vickers, J. Johnson, Vasek, Renaud, and Hicks. Not sure about the sixth, but Bowen would be nice. 

I agree, the most buzz is about these guys, but doesn't it seem like a best-case scenario? OU hasn't gotten 3 top 100 players on the defense since 2018. In fact, they've only had 3 in the last 4 years.

Vickers, Johnson, and Renaud would make 4 top 100 defenders in Venables first year (LeBlanc is #101 at 247). This is before on-field production and with OU apparently still at an NIL disadvantage. Even without Hicks and Bowen, that would something I'm sure the Coach would drink too.

Arguing in favor of your prediction, especially on the DL, they don't seem to many backup options identified.

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9 hours ago, cafe society said:

Peyton Bowen?

Dunno. They're going after Ryan Yaites too. He would also be good.

The weird thing is that I can't see OU getting all these guys with an anemic NIL program, regardless of Venables reputation. The information we have on the NIL stuff in Norman indicates that it is just now getting off the ground.

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Wasserman article from The Athletic
 

Quote

 

He does not want someone to issue a commitment to Oklahoma unless that prospect is unquestionably convinced he wants to be a Sooner. That prospect doesn’t need visits and doesn’t need to talk to anyone else. His mind is made up. There’s no going back, and the word commitment actually means what you’ll find in the dictionary.

“He’s thinking how recruiting was years ago,” a Power 5 recruiting coordinator told The Athletic. “Unfortunately things have changed rapidly. The words ‘offer’ and ‘commitment’ do not hold the same weight as they used to.”

 

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Quote

 

What if Arnold wants to visit Texas A&M? How is Venables going to react to that? Is he going to accept the reality, encourage the jewel of his class to look out for himself and feel certain in his decision? Or is there going to be contention? Is Oklahoma going to develop a steadfast no-visit policy? If I’m an Oklahoma fan, I’d hope it’s the former. Because like in a marriage, trust is a basic tenet of a relationship.

“If he approaches it like (his quote implies), I don’t think he will be successful,” the recruiting staffer said. “He will put himself behind the eight ball.”

 

 

article:

 

Spoiler

Wasserman: Is Oklahoma’s Brent Venables truly committed to the word commitment?

Apr 23, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA;  Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables runs onto the field  during the spring game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
By Ari Wasserman
Jul 30, 2022

227


Four-star safety Peyton Bowen committed to Notre Dame on Jan. 1 of this year. Rated the No. 47 overall player in the 2023 class in the 247Sports Composite, Bowen — who plays at Guyer High in Denton, Texas — is an integral piece of what has a chance to be the Fighting Irish’s highest-ranked class in the modern recruiting era.

Bowen is committed to Notre Dame.

But how do you define committed?

Let’s allow first-year Oklahoma coach Brent Venables to give his definition.

“There are a lot of flaws in taking a commitment, making a reservation and then going and doing your thing,” Venables said recently in a news conference with the local media that has been making the rounds on social media. “How can I manage a roster or who else I have to offer if I have nine guys committed but they are going to Bama, Georgia, LSU and A&M? How can I manage? How can I take commitments when I don’t know what my numbers are?

“I don’t want a guy to commit. Do not commit. ‘Hey coach, I’m ready to commit.’ ‘Hey buddy, here’s what commitment looks like now.’ I want to make sure you know, that you know, that you know, that you know, so when I say, ‘Will you marry me?’ and you say, ‘Yes,’ we get married and we start off on the right foot, not like I dated four or five women and all of a sudden we’re feeling some kind of way. Is someone actually going to show up?”

 

According to On3, Bowen was scheduled to visit Oklahoma on Friday despite being — wait for it — committed to Notre Dame.

Hmm. So if we stick with the marriage analogy, which is used all too often by coaches in the world of recruiting, is Venables saying that it’s OK to cheat as long as he’s the one doing the cheating?

 

Listen, it’s very obvious what Venables means. He does not want someone to issue a commitment to Oklahoma unless that prospect is unquestionably convinced he wants to be a Sooner. That prospect doesn’t need visits and doesn’t need to talk to anyone else. His mind is made up. There’s no going back, and the word commitment actually means what you’ll find in the dictionary.

“He’s thinking how recruiting was years ago,” a Power 5 recruiting coordinator told The Athletic. “Unfortunately things have changed rapidly. The words ‘offer’ and ‘commitment’ do not hold the same weight as they used to.”

Wouldn’t it be great if that’s how the system still worked? Wouldn’t it be something if the word commitment meant, well, commitment? Unfortunately, it’s an idealistic, yet unrealistic, view of the way recruiting operates.

It’s like when a beauty queen says in a pageant she yearns for world peace. Yeah, wouldn’t that be great? Too bad the world gets in the way of that.

It’s no surprise this is how Venables thinks. Before arriving at Oklahoma, he spent 10 years as the defensive coordinator on Dabo Swinney’s staff at Clemson. This is Swinney’s view. If a player commits to Clemson, that player has to be steadfast in that commitment, all the way down to not exploring other options and definitely not taking visits. If a player visits another school, Swinney has shown in the past that he’s willing to move on from that commitment.

That simply doesn’t work. Or it’s not true if the prospect is good enough.

Remember former five-star defensive end Korey Foreman’s recruitment in the 2021 cycle? Foreman, a native of Southern California, issued an early commitment to the Tigers. When his recruitment really blew up, he decided he wanted to visit other schools. Swinney didn’t like that, and as a result, Foreman had to decommit from the program. Fast-forward months later with signing day approaching: Swinney and Clemson were back pursuing Foreman all over again. Full-court press. So what was the point of the whole charade months before? If Clemson would have kept him in the class — symbolically or not — and supported his decision to see other places and feed his desire to explore, heck, maybe there would be another five-star defensive lineman on the Tigers roster right now.

Nobody is saying that Venables can’t feel that way. Urging players not to commit until they are ready makes a lot of sense. If players really give a lot of thought into how Venables views the commitment, maybe that will mitigate the risk down the road of a prospect wanting to visit other programs.

But it’s going to happen. And how Venables reacts is going to be critical.

Oklahoma’s 2023 class has 18 commitments and ranks No. 6 nationally. Of those 18 commitments, four are top-100 players and six are ranked in the top 150. As typical with Oklahoma, the class is led by a five-star quarterback — Jackson Arnold of Guyer High and a teammate of the Notre Dame commitment who reportedly was visiting OU this weekend.

What if Arnold wants to visit Texas A&M? How is Venables going to react to that? Is he going to accept the reality, encourage the jewel of his class to look out for himself and feel certain in his decision? Or is there going to be contention? Is Oklahoma going to develop a steadfast no-visit policy? If I’m an Oklahoma fan, I’d hope it’s the former. Because like in a marriage, trust is a basic tenet of a relationship.

“If he approaches it like (his quote implies), I don’t think he will be successful,” the recruiting staffer said. “He will put himself behind the eight ball.”

Despite suffering the gut punch of unexpectedly losing Lincoln Riley to USC, Oklahoma bounced back by hiring a highly coveted defensive coordinator who won two national titles while at Clemson. Venables is unquestionably the type of hire Oklahoma needed to make, and he seems to have the program headed in an exciting direction. He’s landing elite offensive talent and pairing it with high-end defensive prospects, something any Oklahoma fan will tell you is a welcome change from the past.

But recruiting is a delicate balance.

Let’s hope he treats his commitments who opt to visit elsewhere the same way he treated the Notre Dame commitment who was on campus this weekend.

 

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5 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

Venables seems like a likable guy. I figured he would recruit pretty well, but he is also kind of a goof who has two left feet. 

the stance with no visits for committed players is dumb and will absolutely, 100% bite him in the ass.

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6 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

Venables seems like a likable guy. I figured he would recruit pretty well, but he is also kind of a goof who has two left feet. 

I’ve been trying to think of any of these intense, high energy, “maniac” type coaches who have worked out well once they got the head job. Muschamp had a good year or two at Florida, but eventually flamed out there and then again at South Carolina. Jeremy Pruitt was a disaster at Tennessee (he was arguably more of an asshole than high intensity, though), Tom Herman tried to be that guy, head butting helmeted players in pregame. Ed Orgeron did manage to win a championship, but was otherwise a train wreck at LSU and Ole Miss before that. 

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1 hour ago, kilroydos said:

An interesting take on that from an ex-student employee with the football team from Brent's first term at OU...

 

He's a positive ball of energy and he's totally changed!!

OU hired Bob Stoops and I didn't like it. OU hired Lincoln Riley and I was depressed. OU has hired Brent Venables and I like every aspect of what that hire means. I think he's going to suck and it's going to be a lot of fun to witness. Of course he's an amazingly positive and energetic guy. He hasn't lost a game yet. You guys are used to winning a fuckton of games. Let's see what happens if homeboy goes 8-5 to open his tenure. If he goes 13-1 and makes the playoffs this year, I'll show up here to be shamed.

Also, Jeff Lebby is a piece of shit and should be a perfect fit for you guys. 

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11 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

He's a positive ball of energy and he's totally changed!!

OU hired Bob Stoops and I didn't like it. OU hired Lincoln Riley and I was depressed. OU has hired Brent Venables and I like every aspect of what that hire means. I think he's going to suck and it's going to be a lot of fun to witness. Of course he's an amazingly positive and energetic guy. He hasn't lost a game yet. You guys are used to winning a fuckton of games. Let's see what happens if homeboy goes 8-5 to open his tenure. If he goes 13-1 and makes the playoffs this year, I'll show up here to be shamed.

Also, Jeff Lebby is a piece of shit and should be a perfect fit for you guys. 

Glad you’re finally seeing the cup as half full.  Good for you guys.  Been a while.  

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2 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Glad you’re finally seeing the cup as half full.  Good for you guys.  Been a while.  

While I can appreciate subtle condescension as well as anyone, I didn't make any references to anything positive other than your new coach sucking shit through a straw, or fire hose, perhaps. I have zero optimism around UT under Sarkisian.

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Jury is out on how well Venables handles setbacks, agreed 100%.  Also don't have any arguments about Lebby.  There's got to be someone who knows offense that wasn't complicit in sexual assault coverups AND wasn't previously banned from the OU sidelines.

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2 hours ago, NoName said:

the stance with no visits for committed players is dumb and will absolutely, 100% bite him in the ass.

When initially stated, I agreed.

But continuing the usual tacit of allowing players to take other visits hadn't worked out so well for OU. In 2021, prior to Riley's departure, they lost their entire WR class (Burden, Shettron, Hudson). The 2020 class lost 2 players to Bama and 1 to A&M, Ohio St, Oregon, and Miami.

So far, there's been surprisingly little evidence of this strict policy dissuading players (1 decommit, Cozart). Despite this policy and apparently limited NIL, the OU recruiting staff is doing remarkably well.

 

2 hours ago, Duane Moore said:

I’ve been trying to think of any of these intense, high energy, “maniac” type coaches who have worked out well once they got the head job. Muschamp had a good year or two at Florida, but eventually flamed out there and then again at South Carolina. Jeremy Pruitt was a disaster at Tennessee (he was arguably more of an asshole than high intensity, though), Tom Herman tried to be that guy, head butting helmeted players in pregame. Ed Orgeron did manage to win a championship, but was otherwise a train wreck at LSU and Ole Miss before that. 

That's the point. Venables isn't like that any more. He and those in the program indicate that he's kinder-gentler. The program itself has a whole personal development arm largely staffed by former players. Let's see if it sticks when there is adversity.

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14 minutes ago, kilroydos said:

Jury is out on how well Venables handles setbacks, agreed 100%.  Also don't have any arguments about Lebby.  There's got to be someone who knows offense that wasn't complicit in sexual assault coverups AND wasn't previously banned from the OU sidelines.

Lebby's employment is the #1 example of Venables' hypocrisy.

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1 minute ago, quigley said:

So far, there's been surprisingly little evidence of this strict policy dissuading players (1 decommit, Cozart). Despite this policy and apparently limited NIL, the OU recruiting staff is doing remarkably well.

It works until it doesn't.  He's selling nothing but potential right now, with no negatives other than the uncertainty that comes with any coaching change.  If he can keep it up and maintain that scarcity by demonstrating value, it's great.  If there's any decline in that value, it becomes a joke among those who actually matter in the process.

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30 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

While I can appreciate subtle condescension as well as anyone, I didn't make any references to anything positive other than your new coach sucking shit through a straw, or fire hose, perhaps. I have zero optimism around UT under Sarkisian.

That’s all fair.  And I thought he’s a guy that would properly change the culture and get OU ready for the SEC with a real defense.  Maybe a playoff run or two…

One good month of recruiting and I became the douchebag fanboy I tend to laugh at.  It happens.  

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3 hours ago, closetojumping said:

Also, Jeff Lebby is a piece of shit and should be a perfect fit for you guys. 

Haha truth.  Goes right with Stoops' many wifebeating players.  Winning with integrity my ass.

 

Lebby was one of the coaches at Baylor during the sexual assault scandal...  How involved he was and how much he knew about the women who were raped and assaulted is unknown. At least one former Baylor student has reported she contacted Lebby directly after being slapped, kicked, choked and slammed against a wall by one of his running backs...  

After Baylor fired then-head coach Art Briles — his daughter Staley is married to Lebby — Lebby became one of Briles’ most vocal supporters. Lebby was involved in getting T-shirts made with #CAB on the front, which stood for Coach Art Briles and was used to rally support on social media.

Some have even called Lebby a Briles apologist.

 

 

NORMAN — The other day during his introductory press conference, Brent Venables started ticking off the things that matter most to him.

“I’m passionate about people,” he said. “I am passionate about winning.”

Then, almost as quickly as the new OU football coach seemed to be getting going, he stopped himself and clarified.

“I’m passionate about winning the right way, never compromising those values.”

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18 minutes ago, jdizzle34 said:

Legacies go to other schools all the time. Dax Hill spurned OSU to go to Michigan, Arch is doing it by going to UT, and spurning Ole Miss. 

Daxton hill? That guy "spurned" Alabama for Michigan.

He had a brother who was really good at Oklahoma State.

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Quote

I cannot stress how impressive of a grab this is for Miguel Chavis and the OU staff.

Vasek is a big time talent.

He is a Texas Legacy.

His father played football at Texas.

He plays at a position of desperate need for the Longhorns. 

Chavis is a first year position coach who hasn’t coached a game…ever.

The new Sooner staff has not played a game together.

They went into Austin, pulled out a kid who’s dad played DL for the Horns, and got him to commit to a vision. 

Really mind blowing and not something you see everyday and there really is nothing to compare it with.

Wild.

- From TFB. 
 

If Chavis can prove himself on the sideline, he’s gonna be an absolute force. His recruiting message has been solid since he set foot in Norman.  We’ll see what happens. 

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5 minutes ago, Constant said:

- From TFB. 
 

If Chavis can prove himself on the sideline, he’s gonna be an absolute force. His recruiting message has been solid since he set foot in Norman.  We’ll see what happens. 

I don't say this lightly but that is some Liucci levels of weird sweaty hyperbole. Ick.

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54 minutes ago, texifornia said:

I don't say this lightly but that is some Liucci levels of weird sweaty hyperbole. Ick.

When you have a fuckload of trophies to show, you get away with more of this type of hyperbole.  When you build an amazon warehouse to house all your trophies and quite literally have a handful then you'll get laughed at long and hard.  If OU starts to lose at aggy levels for a while I'll be the first to pile on this type of shit too.  Until then...keep it rolling.  Like Boom MF was great...until he wasn't. 

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10 hours ago, Constant said:

- From TFB. 
 

If Chavis can prove himself on the sideline, he’s gonna be an absolute force. His recruiting message has been solid since he set foot in Norman.  We’ll see what happens. 

Could be I’m misremembering, but wasn’t there a post describing Chavis and Vasek in conversation AT last week’s Texas get together?  If true, why was an OU coach allowed into a Texas event … and why wasn’t he escorted to the Congress Avenue bridge for a refreshing dip?

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11 minutes ago, VirginiaLonghorn said:

Could be I’m misremembering, but wasn’t there a post describing Chavis and Vasek in conversation AT last week’s Texas get together?  If true, why was an OU coach allowed into a Texas event … and why wasn’t he escorted to the Congress Avenue bridge for a refreshing dip?

They used this rare and marvelous piece of modern technology

158444-phones-review-apple-iphone-13-rev

Edited by texifornia
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