You talk a lot during the spring about who is going to replace so-and-so, and usually the answer is someone who had been waiting for a chance.

But when it comes to Oklahoma and the RUSH linebacker spot vacated by Jon-Michael Terry, who transferred to Tulsa, the Sooners have gone in another direction.

Obviously, Nik Bonitto has a chance to be one of the best in the conference, if not the country. The depth after that, however, was a bit thin. Sooners outside linebackers coach Jamar Cain announced Monday that Marcus Stripling has moved to the position after two years at defensive end.

“Oh, he's learning it and the adjustment is going well so far,” Cain said. “He actually had a really good practice, I was flying through practice just before I came in here, but he's actually getting better every single day. And we think Marcus is a 4.5 kid, you know, and he can run, he's athletic. So he's in that mold of Nik and I think he's kind of hit a ceiling on gaining weight to be that 260 kid that we thought he would be.

“So that's the beauty of Grinch’s defense. We're going to adjust the defense to you. So we moved Marcus over, and the only true difference is he's going to be dropping in coverages a little bit more, he'll have a little more freedom on his pass rush stuff.”

Bonitto is still the anchor, but before spring, it looked like Brynden Walker and true freshman Clayton Smith were going to have to be the backups. Alex Grinch and Lincoln Riley suggested to Cain about bringing in Stripling.

It works on a lot of levels, especially if Stripling can be as fast as advertised because he’s not trying to put on unhealthy weight. Terry had more than 300 snaps last season. One thing Cain said he likes the most about Bonitto is he knows his strengths and knows when it’s time for a breather.

“Nik is a kid that knows his limit, which is good, because sometimes you get kids out there that want to play for 8-10 plays straight,” Cain said. “Nik knows he's a 5-6 snap guy then the next guy comes in. If you break down the reps last year, there's a differential of seven plays per game between Nik and Jon.

“So those guys see there's a lot of plays out there to be made, a lot of snaps out there a good opportunity. So it's a healthy competition in that room right now.”

Ugwoegbu not looking back

It’s OK to admit it still feels odd to see someone of David Ugwoegbu’s physical stature playing inside linebacker, but he’s there to stay.

Ugwoegbu was moved by the Sooners last year, and he definitely showed a lot and exactly why the coaches thought this move would be best.

If 2020 was just the first step, opposing offense be leery of what’s to come.

“When the move happened and I got to linebacker, the coaches let me know, from coach Riley to coach Grinch to coach Odom, they let me know this is what they wanted,” Ugwoegbu said. “They had full faith in me playing linebacker here. I've just been focusing on that middle spot. I haven't gotten any noise or any word of me being any edge rusher or anything like that.”

Ugwoegbu is always going to have that distinction as being the first defensive recruit signed under Grinch, but the move took a little convincing.

No convincing necessary now.

“I definitely needed to be talked into it,” he said. “I definitely needed a confidence boost when I first got in the room because I went from playing rush, where I didn't have to know much, to being the inside 'backer. You're pretty much the quarterback of the defense. I had to pretty much learn the whole defense through different eyes, but with the coaches we've got here and the players that surrounded me, it didn't take too long to get caught up to speed.”

ISU the turning point

When OU was in the moment, Riley and the players never wanted to discuss how the season turned around, or if there was a light bulb moment.

Reflecting back now, though, and Ugwoegbu admitted that after the loss to Iowa State and falling to 1-2 to begin the season, something changed in that locker room.

You either fall apart or come together, and we know what the Sooners did the rest of the way in not losing a game and winning their sixth consecutive Big 12 title and the Cotton Bowl.

“Just the locker room and the week following that, you could just feel the whole intensity and the whole vibe and whole mindset of the whole team geared toward everything we took for granted before, which caused us to lose those first two conference games, you could tell we threw all that out the window,” Ugwoegbu said. “You could just tell we were ready to work. For the weeks all the way to the end of the season, I think it showed that our whole mindset changed. That's one of my greatest memories.”

Ugwoegbu said he believes OU can still carry that type of attitude from the end of 2020 into 2021. It’s not something that will just fade away.

Thibs paving way for Winfrey

Won’t get much crazier or more unusual of a first year in college football than what defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey experienced.

COVID-19 canceling spring, everything out of sorts in terms of conditioning and routine, and then trying to find your footing through a shortened season.

Winfrey flashed, for sure, early, but you could tell he was still coming to grips with everything. By the end of the season, the difference was noticeable. The impact Winfrey was making on a routine basis was huge, game-changing.

He credits one person, in particular, for keeping everything steady – defensive tackles coach Calvin Thibodeaux.

“Honestly, I gotta give it to my position coach, Coach Thibs,” Winfrey said. “No matter if I’m doing something good or doing something bad, he’s on me the same way. He’s not a fan like everybody else.

“When I do something good, he’s telling me what I did bad, to make myself better. Honestly, he’s one of the greatest coaches I’ve ever had. Nobody pushes me like him. So he makes me want to go harder and harder every day to perfect my craft.”