As he lands his white whale, it's time to tip the cap to Bill Bedenbaugh

He is known by many names across the Oklahoma fanbase: Coach B, the Zyn Master, Bedenbags, Million Dollar Bill.

He turns 52 years old today.

He just beat out virtually every program in the nation for five-star offensive tackle Michael Fasusi.

And as he celebrates another trip around the sun with a seismic commitment from one of the nation's most coveted linemen, it's time to put some respect on Bill Bedenbaugh's name.

Now, to be clear, the lack of respect for Bedenbaugh isn't an issue nationally. For example, even before Tyler Guyton came off the NFL draft board in the first round this spring, Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy was already referring to Bedenbaugh as the nation's premier developer of offensive linemen.

Previously, Nagy had touted Creed Humphrey as a first-round talent in 2021, a take that's aged like fine wine since Kansas City stole Humphrey with a second-round selection. And all the way back in 2019, ESPN's Todd McShay called Bedenbaugh "the best offensive line coach in college football" when discussing former Sooner Cody Ford, who became the 38th overall selection in that draft.

For folks like Nagy and McShay, their livelihood depends on their ball knowledge. And none of the industry's top analysts, pundits and voices seem to dispute the notion that Bedenbaugh is a master at his craft. Nevertheless, there is a segment of Oklahoma's fanbase that has remained perpetually dissatisfied with Bedenbaugh's job performance for years. That's largely due to the perception that Oklahoma has not recruited the offensive line at an elite level throughout Bedenbaugh's tenure, which in turn has led many to speculate that Bedenbaugh's old-school coaching style and direct personality simply doesn't appeal to the elite recruits of this era.

It's hard to hold the line on that argument any longer given the Sooners' addition of Fasusi, who's regarded as the No. 2 offensive tackle and No. 11 overall player in the nation. The 6-foot-6, 284-pound native of Lewisville, Texas chose Oklahoma over a list of finalists that also included Oregon, Missouri, Texas and Texas A&M. Moreover, his offer sheet also included Alabama, Michigan, LSU and Penn State.

By any measure or standard, this is a seminal victory on the recruiting trail for Bedenbaugh, especially after the Sooners had come so close in recent years with several top-tier prospects. A couple of particularly painful memories for Oklahoma fans are the respective recruitments of five-star guard Devon Campbell (No. 1 nationally at the position), who picked Texas over Oklahoma on signing day in 2022, and four-star tackle Grant Brix (No. 5 nationally at the position), who agonized for months before choosing Nebraska over Oklahoma last November. Many among the Sooner faithful were panicking as recently as last month, when Missouri made a late charge to upend the Sooners in the recruitment of four-star tackle Lamont Rogers.

But with Fasusi on board, Bedenbaugh now has his crown jewel at left tackle. Provided he signs with the Sooners in December, Fasusi will likely be Oklahoma's highest-ranked signee in the 2025 cycle, and he's all but assured to become the highest-ranked signee that Bedenbaugh has landed throughout his illustrious coaching career. That distinction is currently held by Brey Walker, who was the No. 34 overall player in the 2018 recruiting class.

An inconvenient truth for the Bedenbaugh dissenters is that Oklahoma has now landed a top-100 talent on the offensive line in three consecutive cycles (Cayden Green ranked No. 61 nationally in 2023, and Eddy Pierre-Louis was the No. 33 overall player in the 2024 class). And Fasusi may not be the only top-100 player that Bedenbaugh lands in the 2025 cycle, as longtime Oklahoma commit Ryan Fodje is on an upward trajectory in the national rankings and is already regarded as a top-100 talent by multiple other recruiting services.

Moreover, only once in his career at Oklahoma has Bedenbaugh failed to land multiple blue-chippers in a recruiting class. That came in 2021, when Oklahoma took only sixteen total high school recruits and a mere two offensive linemen. Every other one of Bedenbaugh's classes since 2014 has featured at least two players with at least a four-star rating.

And indubitably, the burden of landing elite offensive linemen doesn't fall squarely on Bedenbaugh's shoulders anymore. The market for left tackles of Fasusi's caliber can reach seven figures in the modern NIL world, and Bedenbaugh isn't the one who dictates what Oklahoma will and won't spend to acquire a singular player. That said, several sources indicated to OUInsider in recent weeks that the Sooners' NIL offer to Fasusi was not the largest offer he'd received, but that Bedenbaugh's track record of NFL development was the key cog in convincing Fasusi to de-emphasize NIL earning potential in his decision-making process.

And in all truth, does landing "elite prospects" even matter given Bedenbaugh's penchant for developing players of modest recruiting allure into NFL mainstays? Ben Powers was a lightly recruited three-star from the junior-college ranks. He's now entering his sixth year in the NFL, and his current contract is worth $51 million. Orlando Brown was a three-star with significant weight issues. He's now entering his seventh NFL season, and his current contract is worth $64 million. LSU didn't even want Cody Ford, a Louisiana native whose only Power 5 offers (save for OU) were Arkansas and TCU. He ended up an early second-round pick and has spent five seasons as a pro. And Guyton, who is currently dominating camp with the Cowboys, was a defensive lineman with two collegiate offers when he graduated high school.

This argument was largely nonexistent until the last couple of seasons, as Bedenbaugh's unit did win the Joe Moore Award in 2018. Multiple 1,000-yard rushers became an annual occurrence for the Sooners, as they had at least two players cross that threshold in 2016, 2018 and 2019. But the Oklahoma rush offense hit a bit of a wall in 2020, as Rhamondre Stevenson's multi-game suspension (and the touch-and-go nature of COVID testing) threw a wrench in the machine.

Ever since, the Oklahoma offensive line has been subject to constant criticism regardless of its performance, which has been solidly above average by most metrics. The Sooners averaged 5.4 yards per carry as a team in 2021, and lead back Kennedy Brooks — famously less than explosive as a runner — averaged 6.3 yards a tote. Come 2022 (which obviously saw Oklahoma struggle to a 6-7 record), the Sooners ranked fourth in the nation in rushing yards before contact, indicating that they generated a consistent push in the trenches. And in 2023, despite a horrific backfield situation (at least by Oklahoma standards) for much of the season, the offensive line allowed just 20 sacks and paved the way for a more-than-respectable team average of 4.5 yards per carry.

No, Bedenbaugh's lines haven't been worthy of the Joe Moore Award on this side of the pandemic. But the play in the trenches has ranked quite low on Oklahoma's list of consequential issues as a football program, and in the meantime, the Sooners have continued to churn out draft picks from the O-line. Bedenbaugh has produced five draft picks in the last four draft classes, including a pair of first-rounders in Guyton and Anton Harrison. Granted, part-to-whole reasoning is inherently fallacious, but it's not fallacious to merely point out the fact that Bedenbaugh is trotting out several NFL-caliber big uglies on an annual basis.

It's borderline nonsensical that Bedenbaugh's regular use of the portal is weaponized as criticism. If anything, it's an indication that he develops too well. Guyton and Andrew Raym both chose to forgo eligibility in order to enter the 2024 draft, as each had one year left at Oklahoma. After a wondrous freshman year, Green unexpectedly bolted for Missouri under some rather dubious circumstances; most everyone chalked it up to the "whispers of dark money" that Brian Bosworth referenced at the Alamo Bowl.

Suddenly, with guard McKade Mettauer and left tackle Walter Rouse graduating, the Sooners had to replace all five starters on the offensive line. That couldn't be done — can't be done — via the high school ranks.

So Bedenbaugh did what he's done so many times before: he utilized the portal, not as a fall-back for inadequate recruiting, but in reflection of a genuine necessity for immediate starters. And he had great success, landing two coveted guards in Febechi Nwaiwu (North Texas) and Geirean Hatchett (Washington), as well as the portal's top center in Branson Hickman (SMU). He buttressed his depth at tackle with Spencer Brown (Michigan State) and Michael Tarquin (USC, via Florida).

A glimpse at Bedenbaugh's track record will indicate that his use of the portal is limited to moments of necessity, and it'll also indicate that his portal acquisitions are generally reserved for plug-and-play starters. Oklahoma got two solid seasons apiece out of Mettauer and Chris Murray, both of whom were necessary adds because Brey Walker and Nate Anderson simply weren't developing. Back in 2021, Bedenbaugh needed a tackle after Adrian Ealy bounced for the NFL two years early, and he found one in former five-star Wanya Morris. After two seasons in Norman, Morris was a third-round draft pick.

The Sooners entered the market for a swing tackle in January 2022, and Bedenbaugh acquired Guyton, who turned out to be more than just a run-of-the-mill swing tackle. He sat behind Morris for a year, got his chance to start at right tackle in 2023, and parlayed that opportunity into first-round stock. And when Anton Harrison cashed in his collegiate chips two years early to become a first-round pick in 2023, only then did Bedenbaugh pursue Rouse, who morphed into a sixth-rounder after a year at Oklahoma.

And to reiterate an earlier query, does Bedenbaugh's use of the portal really matter? Ought anyone to care about how the sausage gets made? If the Sooners continue to acquire multi-year starters and future NFL'ers via the portal, is that not more of a testament to Bedenbaugh's reputation than an indictment of any kind?

Whether Bedenbaugh is truly the best in the nation is ultimately a matter of perception and subjectivity. But it can quite objectively be argued that few (if any) offensive line coaches in the collegiate game can hold a candle to his résumé in its totality. He's long since proclaimed that he has no intention of ever leaving Oklahoma, and that he'd prefer to retire to Grand Lake rather than take another coaching job in the future.

And why walk away when you're at the top of your game? If Fasusi's commitment is any indication, that's precisely where Bedenbaugh is. And Sooner fans can take great solace in the reality that, barring any unforeseen and adverse developments, their offensive line czar is primed to spend many more successful years at Oklahoma.

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