Goodman Clears Host Situation
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The most highly ranked player among Oklahoma's official visitors this weekend took little time making waves on Friday night. The Nation's No. 4 safety Tahaan Goodman of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. took his first trip to Norman over the weekend and began tweeting almost from the moment he arrived at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers Airport.
While the first series of tweets gave Oklahoma fans hope, it was one that drove SoonerScoop.com message boards into feverish concern.
"Wow don't even got a host....smh weak" - Goodman, and Army All-American Tweeted Friday night
While many began to wonder if the coaches had made the mistake of not assigning a host, Goodman says the issue had nothing to do with the coaching staff.
" They had someone my host but he just left, we had him in the restaurant so I just didn't have (a host)," Goodman said. "I guess a lot of the players weren't there, because they were still back home or whatever with their families. I think I had one and then he just left.
"Then I met Roy (Finch) and he kind of helped me out, I hung out with him and he showed me around."
It's clear in talking to Goodman that there is some concern over the trip but he said there was plenty of good that came out of his cross country trek.
"Everything went good, I just learned what I wanted from over there. The things I need to learn about Oklahoma and got to see the facilities," he said.
"Positives of the trip were I love the coaching staff, it was easy to connect with them and talk to them and going out to eat and whatever. I liked that, and obviously they have a good record of getting defensive backs out (to the NFL) and getting players out. That was nice to see too and all of the accomplishments of the program."
A big part of his enjoyment over the visit was the chance to hang around position coach and defensive coordinator Mike Stoops. Goodman reiterated his enjoyment of the coaching staff several times and said that the second-year Sooner assistant has two very clear messages he is trying to convey to the Rivals100 defender.
"He was definitely just saying that I could come in and start and that they have a good record of developing football players and they have a family down there. He was saying that they need people to come in and start right away," Goodman recalled of his conversations with Stoops.
While the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Goodman may be excited about the chance to start he is also aware of the dangers of such things being handled to him.
"That's a good thing, the fact that I know for sure that I'd have a chance but it is good to have people there so I know I have to work and get to where I want to be. It's not just people already being there and not work hard for it, but it is a good thing knowing that I could come in there and start right away."
It seems that most everyone looked at Goodman's trip facing the reality that the Sooners had a tough hill to climb, because of perhaps most notably that they are not truly involved in the recruitment of his good friend Priest Willis. While Goodman has always said the two would like to play together he didn't rule out the possibility of something else playing out.
"It is one thing that I consider but I took this trip because you've got to do what is best for yourself and if I liked it and he didn't, we'd have to make our separate decisions. It can go either way," he said. "It's something we'd like to do but most of our schools are pretty similar, cut it down a lot."