Baby Boy and Pops

When Ruffin McNeill was hired by newly appointed Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley the overhwhelming review of his work at previous stops centered on one word - 'relationships'. Whether it was with former players, former coaching staff allies, or even media members, McNeill was always gushed over by those who have encountered him.

So it's probably not all that surprising that from the minute that Derek Green met Oklahoma's first-year assistant, long before McNeill was in Norman, he knew it would be hard to play for anyone else.

The Jacksonville (N.C.) Southwest-Onslow prospect recently committed to Oklahoma but as much as anything he was committing to the chance to play for a coach that almost immediately grabbed his atention.

"(Our relationship) goes back to when he was at Virginia. He just kept recruiting me when he got to Oklahoma," Green explained.

"It's a bond, when you are in the room (with McNeill), it's like happy feelings everywhere. There are no bad moments, he is always cheerful and everything. With the players he is recruiting he has a bond with them.

"For instance he calls me 'Baby Boy' and I call him 'Pops' and that is just how he clicks with everyone.

"The story is, I got offered by Virginia and since I met coach Ruff I knew that was the type of man that I wanted to play under. He went to Oklahoma and kept recruiting me and the staff when I went up there, they surrounded me and gave me all the love. It was the same way at Virginia but the only thing Virginia doesn't have is coach Ruff. The only thing was, I didn't know I had an offer, he said I've had one since the spring. Me and my dad, and my mom, and everybody started talking about it and decided it was best for me to be under someone like coach Ruffin."

Green, whose family connections in Texas are big Oklahoma fans admits that he had given them some grief over their Sooner fandom through the years.

"I have some family in (Texas). They are OU fans and they kind of pick on me about me committing," he laughed. "I always said I don't understand why they like the university so much but after going and realizing what the school was about, I can't say anything anymore.

"They picked on me a little bit about it."

During his trip, for the TCU game weekend, Green saw that it was far more than just his family who follows the Sooners with real passion.

"The game atmpshere, was one of the best I've ever seen. Well, it wasn't one of the best, it was the best I've ever been in," he said. "I thought South Carolina would be the best but OU fans are always yelling, never sitting down - they are very active.

"I didn't see an empty seat in the stadium - they are there for every moment of the game. If something goes wrong, nobody is leaving. When I was walking in they were talking about 'you have to have this DNA', they really bleed the crimson and cream."

At 6-foot-4 and 305-pounds Green could fit into multiple roles along Oklahoma's ever-shifting defensive front. North Carolina's No. 22 overall prospect says that he doesn't necessarily care which role he fits into. However, he has one Sooner defensive lineman that he can see himself emulating.

"Coach Ruff has always said I'm a three-technique, you know I'm a two-gap player. (But) at any moment I can go to nose, I have the ability to play the three or nose guard. He said If he asks me to move to a nose guard I can do that but I'm a three technique because I'm a two-gap guy.

"I don't care where I play as long as I'm on the field.

"(I watch) Lampkin. He is a very physical human being, me and him have some similarities in our game. I was seeing how he does what he does and trying to see how to work that into my game."

With more than 14 months before he can sign his national letter of intent it would be easy to think that Green's family might have some trepidation about him choosing to go so far from home. But it seems that the only thing further from the truth is the drive to Norman.

"They weren't upset, they knew where I was going, they knew where I was thinking about going - I've been talking about going and playing where he he was since I met him. It just let the weight off my shoulders. It's not something I have to worry about anymore, I know I have a home."