For whatever reason, when people were thinking of Oklahoma players who were going to hit the transfer portal after the coaching moves, wide receiver Marvin Mims was always among the first names mentioned.

People wondered, initially, after Lincoln Riley left. Then things calmed down a bit, especially with the hirings of Brent Venables as head coach and Jeff Lebby as offensive coordinator.

But a second round of rumors swirled following the departure of quarterback Caleb Williams. Mims never entered the portal, for the record. But you can tell the 2021 season and everything that surrounded it took its toll on him.

“I needed a mental reset, for sure. It was a blessing,” Mims said. “I’m not going to say anything else, but it was a blessing for them to come the way that they did. Coach Lebby, Coach Venables, you think about those two weeks or week and a half we didn’t have a coach, stuff around here’s just weird. It was different.

“No one really knew who was going to do what, no one knew if this guy was going to be here, that guy was going to be here, so it was great. It turned out real good, too, so I’m excited about it.”

Following an outstanding freshman season during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, the numbers weren’t there as much as people had expected for Mims as a sophomore.

Nobody was pointing the finger at Mims, but it had people speculating about how happy Mims was in Norman and if he’d stick around.

“It was up in the air but I always wanted to stay,” Mims said. “There was never a point where I was like, ‘All right, I’m leaving and I’m going here,’ or, ‘I’m leaving and I’m going here.’ I had some people not reach out to me but like third parties talk to me and stuff like that and then pretty much that was it.

“There wasn’t one moment where I was like, I’m staying for sure… At the end of the day, it was going to be my decision and just decided to stick with it.”

Gray bouncing back

Expectations were high for running back Eric Gray when he transferred to OU from Tennessee last winter. It went even higher after the way he performed during spring ball.

During the season, though, it never really materialized. Gray had his moments as a runner and as a receiver coming out of the backfield, but the production wasn’t what was envisioned.

Not by OU fans, and clearly not by Gray himself.

“As a player, you always want to kind of, when things don’t go your way, you think about, ‘How can I get better?’ I think last year was just a way for me to get better,” Gray said. “I can still look at my runs from last season and say, ‘OK, I can get better there’ and help me in this season.’ I think last season was a stepping stone for me and my growth to getting better physically and mentally.”

Gray came to OU to play in Lincoln Riley’s offense. Less than a year later, Riley is at USC. But no second-guessing or anything from Gray. No buyer’s remorse.

An obstacle or an opportunity, and it’s an opportunity that still remains for Gray because DeMarco Murray is still around.

“Being able to talk to DeMarco and him saying, ‘I’m here’ — so with DeMarco, I trusted in him to say he’s here, so I’m here,” Gray said. DeMarco’s the reason I came to be able to learn from a great, learn from somebody that played at that level I want to go to. So being able to learn from him and him staying was good for me.”

Evers on the right path

A lot of the quarterback conversation is about Dillon Gabriel, and that makes a lot of sense. In watching practice, though, it’s easy to see why coaches and teammates are fired up about the future for freshman Nick Evers.

Gabriel has stepped right in to become a leader, and part of those responsibilities include helping mentor Evers through this mid-year enrollee process.

“I think he’s super talented,” Gabriel said. “Obviously, he can spin the ball but all-around a talented guy. Early on it’s just being a freshman. I was in his shoes, right? I know he should be in high school right now, but he took the chance to come here earlier, to learn, to get ahead.

“There’s going to be challenges regardless, but the way he has continued to fight and learn and continue to grow, I try to give him two cents here or there but for the most part he knows what he’s doing. He knows what he’s got to improve on. It’s just continuing to strain every single day.”

Gibson turning heads

Sticking with the true freshmen theme, wide receiver Jayden Gibson was given high praise by wide receivers coach Cale Gundy as one the pleasant surprises of the first two weeks.

Gibson stands out when seeing the group because of how tall he is, but it’s about a lot more than that for him to leave a mark.

“Young guy, Jayden Gibson, is a true freshman coming in,” Gundy said. “Is obviously someone that still should be in high school. Again, you know guys are talented. That's why you bring them here and you let them come here, but sometimes it takes you a spring ball or another practice, a fall camp or something. But he's very talented.”

Parker adjusting just fine

When tight end Daniel Parker transferred to OU, he didn’t know if he was going to be the only experienced tight end on the roster.

The room received a huge lift when Brayden Willis opted to return for one more season, and Parker was happy to see it.

“Getting here it was obvious to see that every player loves Brayden Willis. Every coach loves Brayden Willis,” Parker said. “So he kind of took me under his wing and I accepted this role humbly. I didn’t come in expecting to be a starter.

“I came in knowing who Brayden Willis was. Knowing what he was about. And being willing to learn from his game and takes a piece from his game to make myself better. So he’s been absolutely incredible for me and my game.”

Parker had the relationship with tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley from when Finley was the tight ends coach at Missouri during Parker’s freshman season.

He has seen what Finley has done for other tight ends, and Parker is hoping for more of the same during his one season coming up at OU.

“For me, he shows a lot of tough love and that’s what I need as a player. I need tough love,” Parker said. “And he fine tunes those little techniques that the next level is really looking for.”