Not many Oklahoma fans ever want to think about the 2021 season ever again. Missed opportunities galore from what felt like the most talented team under Lincoln Riley.
Breaking it down more from team to player, linebacker David Ugwoegbu felt like he was on the cusp of a standout season as a junior.
Like the team, though, it never really materialized for Ugwoegbu. He played a lot and 48 tackles isn’t too bad. But no forced fumbles, no interceptions. Honestly, no games you can point toward and said that’s where he made a difference.
That has to change in 2022, and he has every single tool at his disposal to make it happen. With head coach Brent Venables and linebackers coach Ted Roof and their wealth of knowledge, Ugwoegbu doesn’t have a choice but to get better.
“They’ve definitely looked into the tape from last year because they’ve given me a couple of pointers on where they wanted to see me improve,” Ugwoegbu said. “One, my pad level as I come into blocks and take on blocks and make tackles.”
Ugwoegbu began his career on the line of scrimmage before moving to inside linebacker for 2020. It was an adjustment, but one Ugwoegbu felt he handled quite well. Nothing about 2021 surprised him, but it’s time to be that guy everybody expects.
And he’s going to do so at the MIKE linebacker spot. He’s not going anywhere.
“Definitely not, with the two guys that we had coming in,” said Ugwoegbu about potentially switching positions. “I definitely wanted to stay right where I was at. Like I said, they drop so much knowledge and insight to the position. I can't wait to show it to the rest of the world.”
Roof and Venables. Oh, and add DaShaun White. After a solid four years at OU, nobody knew if White would come back for the COVID-exception year. He chose to do so, giving Ugwoegbu another resource in the room.
Need more? There is more. Former OU star linebacker Curtis Lofton is among the group anchoring the SOUL Mission at OU, trying to benefit the mental health and other things for all the players, on and off the field.
But, yea, Lofton can obviously give some pointers to Ugwoegbu as well when it comes to on-field production.
“I pretty much have a conversation with Curtis every day after practice, asking him what he's seeing in me and what he thinks I need to improve on,” Ugwoegbu said. “He always has an answer for me.
“I've learned a lot of things. One, my pad and my punch. He has taught me certain things like knowing who is coming to block you in certain run schemes and stuff like that. He's just expanding my knowledge of the game and not just looking at it with tunnel vision. Seeing a little to see a lot is what he says a lot.”
Ugwoegbu, like every other defensive player, had a choice to make when the coaching changes happened. Gone were defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and inside linebackers coach Brian Odom, but it still wasn’t a tough decision for Ugwoegbu.
He said his heart was at OU. Add in the hires, and it made the decision to return a pretty easy one. Now it’s time to get better.
“You go out to practice and you know anything you do is going to be seen and coached,” Ugwoegbu said. “You can tell these guys are coaching from their heart and they're coaching because they want to bring the best out of us. It's good out there to just see all the different parts of people pouring into the players.”
