Jump to content

🔴 Sooners 2022 thread


Mr. P

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, Lobo97 said:

Not sure I'd call that a shot. Who wouldn't imagine leaving a place like Norman, OK for Southern CA?! LOL

There are lots of people who would rather live in a place like Norman than LA. 

That is why I live in Longview and not Austin.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I don't get into college location smack talk... 

For one, if you're an elite college athlete, you're not hanging out at the beach or the club. You better be watching film and training. Or you're not gonna be elite very long. Besides, anyone can vacation anywhere during the offseason. 

For two, different places are better for different lifestyles. When I was a young single man, I lived in Austin, Dallas, Cleveland, and Philadelphia. It was cool. But when it came time to put down roots and raise a family, my priorities changed. 

I loved living in Norman. As a married guy with young children, it was almost perfect. But single me would've likely been quite bored. 

However, if younger me had been a four- or five-star athlete with NFL ambitions, it wouldn't have mattered if I was in Tahiti or Siberia. My ass would've been eating, lifting, and breaking down tape 24/7. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, LOL said:

Yeah, I don't get into college location smack talk... 

For one, if you're an elite college athlete, you're not hanging out at the beach or the club. You better be watching film and training. Or you're not gonna be elite very long. Besides, anyone can vacation anywhere during the offseason. 

For two, different places are better for different lifestyles. When I was a young single man, I lived in Austin, Dallas, Cleveland, and Philadelphia. It was cool. But when it came time to put down roots and raise a family, my priorities changed. 

I loved living in Norman. As a married guy with young children, it was almost perfect. But single me would've likely been quite bored. 

However, if younger me had been a four- or five-star athlete with NFL ambitions, it wouldn't have mattered if I was in Tahiti or Siberia. My ass would've been eating, lifting, and breaking down tape 24/7. 

I see the big cities as tourist destinations.  I love going to Atlanta, GA.  I freaking hated living there.  I love going to Ft. Worth to shop etc, but I didn't like living in the city, which is why I am now just outside of the city in Aledo.  You can literally find anything you want to do in Los Angeles, CA but as a college athlete that is all distractions... or whatever Nick Saban called that mess a few years ago.  

As a college student, your life should be on campus, or associated with the campus.  Anything outside of it, will be a distraction at some point.  In Norman, in College Station, in Baton Rouge, in Tuscaloosa, those cities by themselves are boring... but on campus and the businesses surrounding campus, it is a wonderland for college students and athletes.  I am not sure you get that in at USC or UCLA or the east coast version, Miami.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, MavGrad99 said:

As a college student, your life should be on campus, or associated with the campus.  Anything outside of it, will be a distraction at some point.  In Norman, in College Station, in Baton Rouge, in Tuscaloosa, those cities by themselves are boring... but on campus and the businesses surrounding campus, it is a wonderland for college students and athletes...

Way back in the early '00s, my wife and I were literally a stone's throw from the OU campus. We both worked for and attended the university. One of my roles was keeping athletes on pace to graduate, whether that was tutoring, advising, or just pretty much doing their homework for them (kidding, sorta). However, despite the common stereotype of the dumb jock, my experience was that these guys lived extremely structured, rigorous, and heavily scheduled lives. Outside of an occasional half-hour here or there, the athletes always had somewhere to be and something to do. 

Oh sure, I get the recruiting pitch of <sleazy McConaughey voice> "Hey y'all, don'tcha wanna come out to the beach, have some beers, and chase the muff around?" but it seems asinine to try to tempt (presumably) serious elite athletes with idle leisure and social media clout. It just seems so incredibly short-sighted and self-defeating. 

But then again, when you're chasing NIL endorsement deals and social media engagement, maybe the new mem quote will be: "Maaaan, we ain't come here to play football!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, LOL said:

Way back in the early '00s, my wife and I were literally a stone's throw from the OU campus. We both worked for and attended the university. One of my roles was keeping athletes on pace to graduate, whether that was tutoring, advising, or just pretty much doing their homework for them (kidding, sorta). However, despite the common stereotype of the dumb jock, my experience was that these guys lived extremely structured, rigorous, and heavily scheduled lives. Outside of an occasional half-hour here or there, the athletes always had somewhere to be and something to do. 

Oh sure, I get the recruiting pitch of <sleazy McConaughey voice> "Hey y'all, don'tcha wanna come out to the beach, have some beers, and chase the muff around?" but it seems asinine to try to tempt (presumably) serious elite athletes with idle leisure and social media clout. It just seems so incredibly short-sighted and self-defeating. 

But then again, when you're chasing NIL endorsement deals and social media engagement, maybe the new mem quote will be: "Maaaan, we ain't come here to play football!"

I worked in college athletics for a while, and I can confirm that these athletes rarely have any free time. Occasionally you'll see them out at a bar, but during the week they have so much structure that going off campus is almost not even possible. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, ETXfan16 said:

I worked in college athletics for a while, and I can confirm that these athletes rarely have any free time. Occasionally you'll see them out at a bar, but during the week they have so much structure that going off campus is almost not even possible. 

As a guy who coached at that level in a smaller sport (so I didn't have that giant staff to delegate and hand off to)...multiple universities, and multiple levels...would totally agree with you. 

Had my handful that you found early on that had "substance issues" or something asinine that would cause them to not devote those 14 or so hours a day - was sad to have to cut those folks off scholarships or cut them off the team period to rid myself of the midnight or 2AM calls from the police or teammates but...back to the subject (I'm taking into consideration to include their 3-4 hours of classes a day 4 or so days a week) during the week that most of us were grinding away...and the stars would do 4 or so hours of work/day if we weren't playing on the weekend. 

I think the pitch to most of these elite guys is..."come here and help do something incredible"..."come here -- do something special -- be someone that will never be forgotten -- be a HOF'er here"

my schools had never won a natty, so my pitch was that with a..."DO SOMETHING THAT'S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE...YOU'LL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN...DON'T JUST BE ONE IN A CROWD SOMEWHERE ELSE"

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, PelvisPresley said:

As a guy who coached at that level in a smaller sport (so I didn't have that giant staff to delegate and hand off to)...multiple universities, and multiple levels...would totally agree with you. 

Had my handful that you found early on that had "substance issues" or something asinine that would cause them to not devote those 14 or so hours a day - was sad to have to cut those folks off scholarships or cut them off the team period to rid myself of the midnight or 2AM calls from the police or teammates but...back to the subject (I'm taking into consideration to include their 3-4 hours of classes a day 4 or so days a week) during the week that most of us were grinding away...and the stars would do 4 or so hours of work/day if we weren't playing on the weekend. 

I think the pitch to most of these elite guys is..."come here and help do something incredible"..."come here -- do something special -- be someone that will never be forgotten -- be a HOF'er here"

my schools had never won a natty, so my pitch was that with a..."DO SOMETHING THAT'S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE...YOU'LL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN...DON'T JUST BE ONE IN A CROWD SOMEWHERE ELSE"

But the addition to those you listed is, "come here and you can make a lot of money."

I would be interested to take a survey of athletes 5 years from now who are in the pros and ask them if they made their choice in school because of the school or because of the $$$ they could make from the school.

I'm totally fine with players making money, btw. It's been long overdue. But it certainly does change recruiting pitches, and it's definitely not the college football/athletics we have always been used to.

  • Like 1
  • LOL! 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ETXfan16 said:

But the addition to those you listed is, "come here and you can make a lot of money."

I would be interested to take a survey of athletes 5 years from now who are in the pros and ask them if they made their choice in school because of the school or because of the $$$ they could make from the school.

I'm totally fine with players making money, btw. It's been long overdue. But it certainly does change recruiting pitches, and it's definitely not the college football/athletics we have always been used to.

you know, the hard part (I said I didn't have that big staff)...I felt that pressure every year that made me feel I was constantly re-recruiting my top players because there was constant backwater recruiting going on (me against my top rivals and lower guys on D1's that are disillusioned)...it was soooo cut throat, I cringe thinking that monthly I start to miss that battle and building of a team/family for constant war, but after losing two marriages to WIN and "make them proud" but "really lose", I can not imagine what pressure would be there daily in "NIL world". I slept 3 hours a night on good nights...I'd be on some type of illicit drug myself to never sleep now probably.   :(

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OU predicted to win Big XIIhttps://sports.yahoo.com/oklahoma-picked-win-big-12-191422776.html

Quote

Much has been made of Brent Venables’ inexperience as a head coach. However, Gibbons speaks to the championship pedigree of Venables and several of his assistants, including Ted Roof, who was the defensive coordinator for Auburn’s 2010 title run.

The Sooners still have a lot of work to do to install Venables and Roof’s defense and adopt Jeff Lebby’s offense. Despite the losses, they’ve got experienced players on both sides of the ball that should help minimize the impact of the Sooners coaching change.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/28/2022 at 1:14 PM, LOL said:

But how can OU be better with Venables? Riley won so many games! 

One word: culture

I have zero doubt that OU hit the jackpot by Lincoln leaving and paving the way for Venables. Lincoln would have really struggled in the SEC. Venables is much more equipped to have the physicality needed to push the rest of the sec. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/5/2022 at 9:08 PM, WETSU said:

I have zero doubt that OU hit the jackpot by Lincoln leaving and paving the way for Venables. Lincoln would have really struggled in the SEC. Venables is much more equipped to have the physicality needed to push the rest of the sec. 

I'm still expecting a pretty steep learning curve, as the players gradually buy into a new system and culture. I expect 2-3 losses next year to provide the adversity needed for this team to grow the right way. 

But am I happy with the direction we're (finally) going in? Totally. 

Vibe is 'just different' at OU right now: https://oklahoma.rivals.com/news/vibe-is-just-different-at-ou-right-now

Venables isn’t the same guy who was the defensive coordinator in Norman all those years ago. He wouldn’t have gotten the job if he was.

All those years as the Clemson defensive coordinator and two things stand out. One, he waited for the right moment. You hear that a lot in coaching circles about not taking the first offer but taking the right offer.

That was Venables. He wasn’t going to leave unless everything was aligned. It is at OU between president Joe Harroz and athletic director Joe Castiglione and going on down the line.

Why leave when you’re happy like Venables was at Clemson? Because the perfect opportunity at the perfect time arrived.

 . . . 

OU is striving to be the best. Aiming to hit a standard. And with Venables in charge, they’re taking a different pathway.

Different might have been exactly what OU needed. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/7/2022 at 11:35 AM, LOL said:

I'm still expecting a pretty steep learning curve, as the players gradually buy into a new system and culture. I expect 2-3 losses next year to provide the adversity needed for this team to grow the right way. 

But am I happy with the direction we're (finally) going in? Totally. 

Vibe is 'just different' at OU right now: https://oklahoma.rivals.com/news/vibe-is-just-different-at-ou-right-now

Venables isn’t the same guy who was the defensive coordinator in Norman all those years ago. He wouldn’t have gotten the job if he was.

All those years as the Clemson defensive coordinator and two things stand out. One, he waited for the right moment. You hear that a lot in coaching circles about not taking the first offer but taking the right offer.

That was Venables. He wasn’t going to leave unless everything was aligned. It is at OU between president Joe Harroz and athletic director Joe Castiglione and going on down the line.

Why leave when you’re happy like Venables was at Clemson? Because the perfect opportunity at the perfect time arrived.

 . . . 

OU is striving to be the best. Aiming to hit a standard. And with Venables in charge, they’re taking a different pathway.

Different might have been exactly what OU needed. 

Since I'm just talking to myself in here, I figure I'll go ahead and add this: 

Brent Venables going 0-to-100, without missing many details along the way (Tulsa World)

NORMAN — Former Oklahoma defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas propped up new OU head coach Brent Venables, and Sooner Nation tingled.

“‘How’s Oklahoma gonna be?’ When I first got asked that, I was saying, ‘Y’know, I’d give Brent a year or two. Get his recruits in and get these guys in order and whatnot,’” Thomas said Wednesday following his OU Pro Day workout. “Now it’s ‘Give him a month or two.’”

Former Sooner defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey replaced Thomas at the Pro Day podium and doubled down on the hype.

“(Venables) ran past me. I was thinking he was coming to shake my hand, but no, he was coming to get on somebody’s ### because they were walking off the field. Just to see him sprint and get on somebody for something so little — that we think is so little, but he knows that’s such a big thing. ... I could just tell right away he was going to do what he needs to do to make this program what it has always been.”

Look, I get it. I know there's a LOT more to winning than just being a hardcore get-after-it kinda coach. Heck, I'm sure most coaches at sub .500 programs tell their players to hustle.  

But I'm just glad to see it at my alma mater. I like the "uncommon man" and "above the standard" philosophy. If it means a few 3-loss and 4-loss seasons to get there, I'm okay with that. 

Obviously the expectation is that Venables positions OU to be successful in the SEC and competing for titles on the regular, and that will be the sole determination on whether or not he was/is the right hire. 

For now, however, I like where this is going. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
1 hour ago, ETXfan16 said:

 

 Pot, meet kettle.

goufpCc.gif

Yeahhhh, I can see why he's wanting to characterize the *situation* as toxic in hindsight, but in this case it takes two to tango. 

That said: one party of this "toxic situation" was a dumb college kid, the other one is a grown man. So, yeah...  

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Mr. P locked this topic
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...