Commitment means something to four-star Bauxite (Ark.) defensive back Marcus Wimberly.

It certainly meant a great deal to him when he chose to pledge his services to Oklahoma over the likes of Oregon, Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan and Ole Miss. He believed in the vision that OU head coach Brent Venables and safeties coach Brandon Hall presented to him, and he believed that the program could ascend to championship heights under Venables' direction.

And though the Sooners have experienced great turmoil throughout a 2024 campaign that has cast doubt on Venables' job security, Wimberly has no intention of bailing on the Sooners and their resolute — albeit embattled — head ball coach. Oklahoma is 5-5 and will need to pull off a major upset of either No. 9 Alabama or No. 21 LSU to attain bowl eligibility for a 26th consecutive season. But Wimberly chooses to see a bigger picture, and he's not alarmed by the Sooners' uninspiring inaugural year in the SEC.

“A lot of people are looking at it from the outside in," Wimberly remarked, "and saying, ‘OU sucks this year. Fire Brent Venables. You need to hire Indiana’s coach.’ But they’re not looking from the inside out and they’re not seeing the injuries that are affecting the team. This year, right now, is basically a depth-building year with how many injuries there are. And if you just really look at it, next year once we have all these guys back healthy, we’re building something special. And that’s what the people don’t see. They only see right now.

“I understand we’ve lost a couple close games," he continued. "But at the same time, I also understand that injuries are brutal, man. Shoot, they took our high school team out this year. I think we ended up having 18 starters out; we had four sophomores and one freshman starting on the offensive line. So I don’t think anything negative about [OU’s] season.”