Coldon finding his footing at OU
It was very easy to forget cornerback C.J. Coldon was coming to Oklahoma. Even though he made his announcement during the height of transfer portal season in the winter, Coldon made a different choice than most.
Instead of coming straight to Norman for the winter semester and going through spring practice with the Sooners, Coldon opted to stay at Wyoming and finish out the school year.
It meant a lot to him to do it that way, but when summer hit? Oh man, it was a crash course for Coldon to try to get acclimated to everything Brent Venables and Jay Valai were throwing at him and asking him to do.
“Difficult and getting intimate with failure. Difficult with new terminology, more of a complex defense and learning that,” Coldon said. “It’s been difficult, no lie. Just trying to focus on getting better each day, 1 percent better each day.”
But you don’t have that type of experience and production Coldon had with the Cowboys and not eventually have that light bulb go on.
He had 115 tackles during his career at Wyoming and had the most defensive snaps of any Wyoming defensive player in 2021.
As the first month of the season ended in 2022, though, you began to wonder if Coldon was ever going to make an imprint in Norman.
“I’ve never been through a situation like that, starting in the summer time, besides freshman year,” Coldon said. “It was kind of like being a freshman again, in a way. The whole process has just been difficult.”
If you want to play more, earn it. It’s been a message from Venables and defensive coordinator Ted Roof about maximizing your opportunities instead of lamenting about the ones you didn’t get.
You usually think about that in a blowout victory, but Coldon actually made his push during the dreadful 49-0 loss to Texas that zero fans want to remember.
He played 34 snaps, was one of the highest-ranked defenders and had a gift-wrapped interception that marked OU’s first takeaway in three games. Hey, they all count the same, he joked after the Kansas win.
It all led up to that moment vs. the Jayhawks.
“When I’m on the field getting to fly around. That makes me the most happiest and comfortable,” Coldon said. “Like today (Saturday), last week, previous weeks before that, just flying around on the field and being a guy teammates can count on. That makes me comfortable.”With the game still in the balance, Coldon made one of the better interceptions you’re going to see this season. He jumped as high as he could, batting the ball down. As he was falling to the ground, he kept his concentration the whole time and was finally able to corral it.
His second interception in two weeks, and the first takeaway for the Sooners in the first half for the entire season.
“It was crazy. It kind of felt like sandlot football, just playing with your friends. I just jumped up, tipped it and try to get a PBU and knock it down,” Coldon said. “Then I saw I was able to reach out and grab it. It counted. I was trying to make sure it counted.”
That’s how you see the field more. Coldon has had 58 of his 93 defensive snaps in the last two weeks. It might have taken Coldon a bit to figure it out, but he’s there now.
In a defense in search, in need of playmakers, Coldon is someone who perhaps can bust through during the rest of the season.
“I think as far as him fitting in with us, I think we just as soon as he got there we kind of felt like he was a part of us,” linebacker DaShaun White said. “And just his comfort in knowing what he's supposed to do and knowing where people are at around him. Even his communication, different sort of things like that.
“His anticipation of what he's gonna see before the ball is even snapped. I mean there's a lot of things that I just in the last few weeks have kind of seen him just grow in a really big way. And so happy that he's performing at a high level.”
INT Reactions:
“I was about to dive for the ball and I saw it and I said "Oh, he has that." I kind of moved out of the way because I didn't want to knock that one out. We needed that one.” – Danny Stutsman
“I saw the QB throw the ball and he reached up with one hand. Instantly, when he got the hand up I thought it was going to be one of those one-handed Odell snags. But he tipped it. I started running up. I saw Stutsman running up as well. He just came up with the ball. It was a crazy play, Sooner magic with that one. C.J. is a great player. He does great stuff in practice, so it's no surprise he was in that spot to make the play.” – David Ugwoegbu
“Oh man, I’m a hard grader. I’m gonna give it a seven. I’d definitely give him a 10 if he one-handed if he would’ve caught it the first time. It was good. That’s definitely a 10 (motioning one hand up into the air). Maybe if he caught it on the first bounce it would’ve been a nine. I’ll give it an eight.” – Marvin Mims