Notebook: Chavis enjoying the ride
Oklahoma defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis thought he was going to have fun last season in his initial year as a full-time position coach.
Not even a 6-7 season can lessen that enthusiasm for the job. He’s having even more fun than he thought he would as he tries to get the Sooners defensive line up to their standard in year No. 2.
Head coach Brent Venables loves to say you don’t know what you don’t know, and Chavis echoed those thoughts about his first year. It’s time to turn the page.
“I feel like I'm cheating life every day,” said Chavis on Wednesday night following practice. “I love recruiting. I love coaching my guys. I love seeing them be successful. And I love building this thing with Coach Venables. Nothing’s ever easy.”
Chavis said it’s not easy when you’re 15-0 and beating Alabama in the national championship game when Chavis was in a support staff role at Clemson. Nor is it easy when you’re 6-7 like the Sooners last season.
No matter how you slice it, it’s about how you prepare and execute and how every single thing matters. He’s ready for, and hoping for, a little more fun.
“Didn't meet our standard. Didn't meet our expectations,” Chavis said. “Losing the bowl game. That's hard. So I think that whether you win is hard, whether you lose is hard, so it's better to win. The fun is in the winning.”
Skalski making a difference
There aren’t a lot of new faces for the Oklahoma defensive coaching staff, but it doesn’t take you long to find the new guy.
OU has brought in former Clemson linebacker James Skalski as a graduate assistant. That passion and fire he displayed with the Tigers all those years is absolutely still there now that he’s in Norman.
You might say he looks like a familiar face.
“It's an energy booster, for sure. You feed off of that. He's literally a younger Brent Venables,” linebacker Kobie McKinzie said. “It's crazy. But he gives this group a lot of adrenaline and a lot of energy all of the time.”
Of course, that can’t be the only reason he was brought in. His experience in the Venables system, his success in the system is something this year’s crop of linebackers can use as just another resource.
“That guy played a lot of college ball,” McKinzie said. “I'm pretty sure he played in like four national championships, give or take, so he knows what he's talking about. That's just another seed. You have to take that seed and understand who that is and what that is. He's played in this system for a long time. He understands where everyone is supposed to be, so he can help you out a lot.”
Special teams a priority for Bunkley-Shelton
No debate the 2022 season didn’t go the way wide receiver LV Bunkley-Shelton had hoped. After 33 catches at Arizona State in 2021, he only had two with the Sooners.
As he works to carve out his receiving role and get more time and production, there is another aspect of the game he has circled.
Bunkley-Shelton perked up when being asked about special teams and how he can perhaps be a factor with those units in 2023.
“Special teams, period, is a big role for anybody on the team,” Bunkley-Shelton said. “I feel like if you’re not that guy on the field or in the draft stocks, you better be on special teams. I’m trying to get every role I can. But punt returner is kind of conflicting it. So I’m not tripping, but I’m gonna do the best I can to make a big impact on special teams.”
Bunkley-Shelton was one of several guys taking reps as a punt returner this week, joining Drake Stoops, Gavin Freeman, Jalil Farooq and Andrel Anthony.
Stoops doesn’t mind being the old man
Ask any newcomer at receiver about who is helping show them the ropes, and Drake Stoops is the answer time and time again.
As a 2018 class member, he’s been there and done that and has seen just about everything you can in college football.
It’s more than his last name or experience, though. It’s the productivity that came along with him having career highs with 39 catches for 393 yards and three touchdowns.
He’s earned that locker room role.
“Being the older guy with a lot of experience, your voice carries a little bit and I think that’s an important part,” Stoops said. “As you get older, it’s kind of an obligation. It’s a privilege as well to be a leader in the room and guide your guys through experiences that you’ve been through and adversity you’ve been through and kind of help them along that way.”
Guyer connection still going strong
Nothing has changed with that bond between freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold and freshman safety Peyton Bowen.
The former five-star products of Denton (Texas) Guyer are now roommates in Norman and that kind of camaraderie and friendship means a lot as they get acclimated to college life, on and off the field.
“It’s nice to have a familiar face. Maybe you get homesick or something like that,” Arnold said. “It’s nice just having a friend in your dorm you’ve essentially known before. It is. I think I take it for granted sometimes. A year ago, I was recruiting Peyton but I never thought it would actually happen. I think I might take it for granted sometimes.”
Bowen is currently away from the team, following the death of his sister last weekend. Arnold said his role is to be there for Bowen at all times right now, no matter what.
Bates not scared
Center Andrew Raym is back and healthy after shoulder surgery toward the end of the season. He has a new partner this spring, too, in freshman center Joshua Bates.
It’s just the first couple of weeks, but Raym is enjoying watching Bates give as good as he can take and show he belongs with the Sooners.
“I love Josh. He’s feisty. He likes to hit people,” Raym said. “He reminds me of me. He’s been in four scraps in four practices now. Shoot, I love his mentality. He’s going to continue to get stronger and has to work on his hips a little bit. He’s going to be one heck of a player.”