Due in large part to his last name, he’s the consummate Sooner to much of the Oklahoma fanbase. But to his peers and coaches, Drake Stoops is more than that — he’s the consummate blue-collar grinder. His relentless work ethic and unwavering focus on his craft is one of the first things that anyone who’s spent time around the super-senior wideout will reference.
When he set foot onto the familiar turf at AT&T Stadium last week as one of the Sooners’ four player representatives for Big 12 Media Days, Stoops had physical evidence of the work he’s tirelessly done this offseason to set himself up for a memorable last ride in the crimson and cream. He sported a splint and a bandage on his left pinky finger, the by-product of a torn tendon that he regards as more annoying than detrimental. And as he sat down for an exclusive with OUInsider, one of the first things he explained was that his decision to return for his final season of eligibility was a virtual no-brainer.
It may have been an easy call for a guy like you because of your deep ties to the program, but tell me why you decided to return for your bonus year.
“I just feel like for one, I want to win. And there’s more on the table. There’s more opportunity — being in Coach Lebby’s system for one year and going into Year 2, I feel different about it. I feel better about it, more confident. I’ve connected with Dillon [Gabriel] more over the offseason. And I just feel like there’s more to do, and there’s unfinished business. So I see it as a great opportunity that was sitting there waiting on me, and so I figured, why not play another year here at the University of Oklahoma? It’s such a prestigious school, and [I] just get to play football.”
As one of a grizzled few sixth-year seniors in this program, I would imagine you’re making leadership an objective with your room and this roster.
“Yeah. You know, I’ve been doing my best to just share my perspective with others and try and be a light for younger guys — let them know that we’ve been through similar things, and help in any way that I can. But also, [I] encourage them and push them and say, ‘Here’s the standard. This is what it looks like, and this is what it takes to win.’ And that’s ultimately what our goal as a team is — it’s to win. So, just trying to get everyone to buy in and really adhere to the standard that we’ve set, and just continue to push each other to try and reach that.”
You played in one offensive system for the first four years of your collegiate career. How was the adjustment in learning Jeff Lebby’s style of offense?
“I mean, the speed at which we play is like light speed. And I know he’d always say he wants to play faster. But we play fast; as soon as the play ends, we’re spotting the ball and we’re trying to run, hurry up, get teams off guard. So, just playing with speed, and also the options — the option routes give you a lot of freedom in your routes based on different looks — man coverage, zone coverage, whatever it may be. So that gives you a lot of freedom as a route runner, and it’s almost like you can’t be wrong. Play fast, don’t get touched, and you’ll be all right.”
You mentioned option routes, which is a big part of your game in the slot. For those that aren’t as familiar with the X’s and O’s, explain the option route and the responsibilities attached to it.
“Right. We have so many option routes. Each one depends on depth — there’s deeper option routes, there’s medium option routes, and then there’s shorter option routes. In zone coverage, you’re going to find the soft spot and you’re sitting down and showing the quarterback your hands, because you’re getting the ball right there between two defenders. And then whenever it’s man coverage, you know you’re one-on-one with somebody and you need to win. You can win east or west, or you can run right by him. You just have options based on [the defender]; if he’s sitting on you squatting, you’re gonna run by him. If he’s backing up, you’re just gonna get a ball. If he’s sitting kind of in no-man’s-land, you gotta shake him a little bit at the top and try and win right or left. You know what I mean? So building that [rapport] with Dillon has been a good thing this offseason.”
On Dillon, how do you feel your chemistry has grown this offseason?
“Yeah, it’s great. Getting a whole season under our belt and being able to watch all that film and learn from that, but then also getting more reps with him during spring ball and all winter in the offseason, and now in summer workouts and throwing sessions outside of workouts — it’s been good. And I think that connection is there. Even me as a player, and the rest of the wide receiver room, we have a better understanding of the routes in the system and the concepts and the schemes to where we know where we’re supposed to be and why we’re supposed to be there. And Dillon’s on the same page with us.”
What do you like about the wide receiver room in terms of the overall assets in the mix?
“Yeah, I think for one, the competitive depth — we’ve got a lot of good players in that room and we’re all pushing each other. We’ve got size on the outside. We’ve got speed on the outside. We’ve got speed in the slot. We’ve got brains in the slot, we’ve got experience from some of us who have played some ball. I mean, I think there’s just a lot of aspects that make it a good dynamic in that room. And I think we all complement each other nicely, which is good because at the end of the day, we’re going to need each and every one of us to contribute and play and be ready to go.”
What’s been your impression of Emmett Jones?
“Yeah, I’m a big fan of Coach Jones. He’s just a really good coach. He’s a technician. He’s hard-nosed, earned everything. You know what I’m saying? Really blue-collar. And that’s a good thing. That’s a good coach. But when I say he’s a technician, he’s really broken it down for us from the wide receiver position. In terms of the footwork at the tops of routes, you’re either stabbing it and coming out in one-two steps, or you’re stabbing it, and then one-two and coming out in three steps. And then even just stressing pad level, depth on routes, your body language in and out of routes — you don’t have to be running full-speed all the time, but it looks like it with your body language. [There are] so many little nuggets that he’s given us so far. And even the way we do individual in practice, he’s definitely helped my game a lot and will continue to, and I think he’s going to definitely excel with that wide receiver room for sure.”
Many have mentioned the parallels between you and Gavin Freeman — two undersized, homegrown kids who started out as walk-ons and made an impact despite the odds stacked against you. How much have you tried to invest in Gavin as a mentor?
“Well, he makes it easy. He’s a joy to be around. He’s a good person on top of all of that. But then, yeah — I see so much of me in him in terms of the path that he’s taken. And honestly, he’s just a baller. He’s gonna be far better than me, in my opinion, by the time he’s done. And that’s a good thing. So just seeing that potential, it’s been a joy to work with him and try to give him whatever advice I can. And maybe little facets of my game can fit into his — like, he can really roll speed-wise. But learning how to make people miss in a phone booth in those man-coverage situations on those option routes and stuff, yeah — stuff like that. But it’s been joy to be around him, and he’s a baller.”
Have any newcomers, whether from the portal or the recruiting trail, really stood out to you through spring and summer?
“I mean, I think just in general, there’s a lot of guys coming in with [ability], whether they’re freshmen or new guys coming in that have transferred and have experience under their belt. [I’m] seeing the energy around the locker room, and their ability to come in and continue to be leaders and be about the business and be about the work, which is what we need. A guy like Dasan McCullough from Indiana, he knows how to play ball. He’s [got a] big frame, really good player. And even the depth at linebacker right now, just having more competitive depth from all those guys, it’s going to help us in the long stretch of the season.”
To what extent have you witnessed this team’s reflection on last season with what Dillon called a “detail-oriented” approach?
“That’s been the emphasis, especially in spring ball — getting better at situational football. Like, being more efficient on third and fourth downs. You can win and lose games right there alone. Pre-snap penalties, you can’t have those. That’s just self-inflicted wounds putting you behind the ball. So that’s been a huge emphasis from our coaches, and I think we’ve really embraced it on both sides of the ball in terms of not letting Oklahoma beat Oklahoma. And on those third and fourth downs, like Dillon said, just being detailed. It really came down to details, like whether you’re sitting or you keep running, or you’re getting your depth in your route, or you’re not bleeding in and out of your route. Stuff like that, it actually goes a long way. And when you’re finally done on Sunday, if you lost, you pull up the tape and you can really point out five or six plays that completely changed the game. And you go in there and you’re just sick to watch it, because that’s ultimately the reason you lost. So it’s [about] eliminating those mental errors.”
What do you feel like you did particularly well in 2022 from an individual perspective, and where do you want to see yourself improve?
“I think I definitely did well on third-down situations and being a go-to guy in the short-yardage, gotta-have-it situations for sure. But in terms of improving, I [want] to be more of a threat in the intermediate and deep-ball game. Just working on my speed in the offseason, working on my mobility, everything like that. Opening myself up to be able to run by guys if they think that I just run underneath and they can sit on me. So just trying to improve my game in the areas that I’m a little bit more deficient in.”
Who are some of the DB’s that made it tough on you in practice this spring?
“Shoot, they’re all so good, to be honest with you. [Key] Lawrence is a baller. Reggie Pearson just came in from Texas Tech; he’s great. Billy Bowman is very, very good. Justin Harrington’s playing that cheetah position now — real tall, lengthy frame, really fast, very athletic. So he’s really good. There’s a lot of good players at corner; Jasiah Wagoner came in as a freshman and he’s really good. Gentry Williams is really good; we saw flashes of him last year. Woodi is, of course, very consistent — the veteran in that room, for sure. We got a transfer from juco, Kendel Dolby, who’s really good and a special player. You can go on and on and on. They’ve got a lot of good players over there; they’ve just got to put all the pieces together.
As a guy who’s Sooner born and Sooner bred, I imagine what happened against Texas last October stings for you as much as it does for anyone in the locker room. Are you looking forward to that game any more than usual this year?
“Nah, not necessarily. Last year, it was what it was. That’s in the past. It’s dead now. I’m really taking it one game at a time, because every week is a season of its own and you gotta win that one. I mean, definitely when that week comes, I will be very excited and very ready to go. But until that point, I’m taking it one team, one game at a time. And yeah, you’re not thinking about last year. You’re thinking about how good you can be this year. And we’ll bring our best into Dallas, Texas for that game whenever the time comes.”
As you take stock of where this program sits in July 2023, how different is it from your perspective versus a year ago?
“I think it’s just a more confident team. We’ve been in the system longer. We understand it better — some of the veterans, some of the players that have played a lot of snaps, they understand the system more. So they feel more confident, more comfortable in it. It’s not like we’re racing against the clock to try and learn something new. It’s like, now we know and it and now we’re refining the details and getting better and better at that, [which] also allows us to teach the younger guys and the new transfers. It allows us to teach them the system much easier, because we understand it. And the coaches are only allowed so much time with us in July and in the summer, so it helps when we can actually explain it, and it even helps us learn it better being able to explain it to someone else. So I think it’s just a more confident team, and [we’re] really bought into what the culture’s saying and what it’s asking. [There’s] a belief in ourselves that we can do better.”
