It’s about as close to normal as the college football world has been in the last year for Oklahoma as the Sooners get ready for spring practice to start Monday.

No doubt the COVID-19 protocols are still in place and still emphasized, but you can sense a feeling of it’s time to get back to work as head coach Lincoln Riley addressed the media Thursday morning.

What work means for this spring is having fun with the position battles because there are quite a few spots where you need to be writing your depth chart in pencil because things can be erased and changed rather quickly.

Start in the secondary where Riley said perhaps the biggest name expected to miss spring football is safety Pat Fields.

“He had a little clean-up procedure that he's getting ready to have that he'll miss the majority if not all of spring ball,” Riley said. “Something that's pretty minor, but we'll go ahead and get that cleaned up and if we get him some for the end of spring ball, great, if not, then he'll be certainly full go, ready to go as we jump into our summer period.”

OU has been looking for more depth at the safety positions, behind Fields and Delarrin Turner-Yell and now the opportunity is certainly there for someone to step up and make their mark.

“You see some guys that have been in the program like a Bryson Washington, that’s had some reps, had a chance to be behind the scenes a little bit that’s going to get the opportunity to shine,” Riley said. “You’ve got some new guys coming in like Key Lawrence, Billy Bowman, Jordan Mukes, kind of those guys that you can’t wait to just get out there and see what they’re all about.”

And if you’ve been waiting for Jeremiah Criddell to be a factor, you might not have to wait much longer, singled out by Riley as someone to watch this next month.

“Jeremiah Criddell’s one that we’re really excited to see this spring that really closed the season strong and has had a tremendous offseason, a guy that we’ve got a ton of confidence in right now,” Riley said.

Riley also said the development of guys like Joshua Eaton and Jaden Davis has been solid and freshman cornerback Latrell McCutchin will definitely catch some attention.

A name a lot of people have been wondering about is Justin Harrington, and Riley said he will be ready to roll for spring, too.

“There’s a lot of different combinations, there’ll be a lot of competition in that group but it should be a fun group to watch,” Riley said.

Blank slate at receiver

Moving on to the wide receiver room and a group that Riley was not shy to say did not perform at the OU standard level in 2020.

Everybody noticed it, especially when it came to all the dropped touchdown passes. Quarterback Spencer Rattler was still able to get some of those, but there were others where OU missed out on six points to settle for three or didn’t score.

“Although we had some great moments, that was a position that we weren't real thrilled about the way we played last year, and know that we can that we can play better there,” Riley said. “We know that we can coach better there.”

It’s not a deep group, and it got significantly smaller with four guys hitting the portal in recent months and OU not adding anybody else.

Then you look at Jadon Haselwood coming back from injury and opting out of the Cotton Bowl, and Trejan Bridges now fully entrenched after dealing with the near-year-long NCAA suspension.

Potential galore, now you need production.

“I would say more than any position on the team right now that is going to be a true blank slate,” Riley said. “We told the guys from day 1 when we came back that we’re wiping everything any of you guys have ever done. We are starting with a clean blank slate.

“We’re going to do a better job of coaching that position. We’re going to really attack it. Those guys have had a great offseason so far. I can’t wait to see them on the field and see how these battles unfold.”

Offensive line could go 20 different directions

A lot of the talk across the board when it comes to position battles is versatility. Offensive line is no exception as the days of someone being pigeonholed to one position are long gone and not the way Bill Bedenbaugh has recruited the spot.

That means, simply put, there are a ton of different ways the five spots could shake out and a lot of guys who could potentially play multiple positions.

“We have a couple of guys who are going to work at center who will get reps at guard as well,” Riley said. “We have a couple of guys like Erik Swenson and Tyrese Robinson who can play both guard and tackle. It will be really interesting to see how it unfolds.

“I don’t know if I can remember a spring, you look at it and you try to look ahead and think what that starting group of offensive linemen could look like when we get to fall, and man, it could go like literally 20 different directions. I mean it really could.”

Riley began last year’s spring press conference mentioning OU didn’t hit the standard level during the 2019 season. It definitely appeared as though you could say the same thing about 2020 being a hit-and-miss year for that group.

With a regular offseason and a regular conditioning program, this season has all the makings of the group rising back to the 2018 standard.

“I think it has a chance to be a talented group, another group that has had a chip on its shoulder this offsesason and a lot of competition,” Riley said. “As a coach, you love those two things.”

‘It’s kind of like it never happened’

In discussing position battles, you can once again include running back Kennedy Brooks, offensive tackle Stacey Wilkins and defensive lineman Jalen Redmond.

Redmond and Brooks missed the entire 2020 season, opting out before it began, while Wilkins opted out after the first few games.

All wanted to be back for 2021. All have been welcomed back.

COVID-19 has led to a lot of unchartered territory with college football and this was another. What are the conversations like to bring guys back who willingly left?

“Some of that started when they made their decisions to opt out in the first place, us trying to get a gauge of their plans,” Riley said. “And then we were periodically checking in with the guys throughout the season last year to make sure their intention was still to be back here. I think those guys were all checking in with us to make sure our intention was still to bring them back here. It was such a new situation that both sides, I think, were kind of feeling out how the process would go.

“There was kind of a breaking point around signing day last year where we had a pretty to-the-point conversation with all three. Just making sure that they were fully intent on coming back.”

There were no questions about Redmond, who returned on scout team to help OU prepare for Florida in the Cotton Bowl. And doesn’t sound like there were any complications in trying to get Wilkins and Brooks back in the fold.

“We got ‘em back and honestly now it’s kind of like it never happened,” Riley said. “You almost kind of forgot about it. Just kind of back to business as usual.”