Evers commits to Sooners

It’s just one of many storylines when a new head coach is hired, but there is something to be said about being that first commitment.

For Oklahoma and defensive mastermind Brent Venables, well, it’s actually offense. Flower Mound (Texas) High quarterback Nick Evers has the honor, making the announcement Monday morning.

Evers, ranked No. 239 in the Rivals 250, had been committed to Florida since March. But after what feels like a coaching carousel across the country, Evers backed off his Gators pledge after meeting with new coach Billy Napier.

Enter the Sooners. Venables, for sure, but the key link here is offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. While Lebby was at Ole Miss, he had formed a relationship with Evers. Then everything came together with Evers needing a new school and Lebby returning to Norman.

Lebby visited Wednesday evening, and Evers was officially offered and the official visit was set for this weekend.

The consensus was pretty easy. As long as Evers made it to Norman on Friday, he was gonna go back home as OU’s quarterback commit for the 2022 class.

Evers is ranked No. 4 by Rivals as a dual-threat quarterback, and Evers going public might mean more good news is coming for OU.

Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange wide receiver Jayden Gibson was with Evers on the official visit at OU over the weekend, and Gibson has already announced he will make his choice Wednesday afternoon.

Gibson was also committed to Florida once upon a time, and there has been a strong feeling that wherever Evers goes, so will Gibson, who is ranked No. 49 in the Rivals 100.

There are a lot of unknowns about what’s going to happen with OU’s class after Lincoln Riley’s departure, but Venables and the rest of the staff put in a lot of work to attempt to get things back on track.

More good news should follow in the days to come, with the early signing period beginning Wednesday. And that’s one heck of a way to start the Venables era at OU with Evers making his call.