It’s not that uncommon for a top-tier recruit to play on both sides of the ball in high school. But usually there’s an understanding of knowing which position is going to fit best in college.

The usual recruits aren’t Billy Bowman, though. Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley said back in December that Bowman was one of the most versatile signees in a long time, and nothing has changed in February.

It’s a battle between the offensive and defensive coaches to get Bowman on their side.

“When you look at a guy like that with a skillset like that, fun to watch him on film,” defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said. “Those are the guys you certainly get excited about. I only talk about him as being a defensive player, and I said the same thing to him during the recruiting process. A guy we’re excited to work with.

“Comes from a tremendous program in Denton Ryan. Dad is a coach. Checking a lot of boxes, certainly Billy does that. Not just from an athletic standpoint, but from a character standpoint and upbringing standpoint.”

Bowman could have a future in the secondary, but it’s absolutely possible for Bowman to make his mark at wide receiver.

“All of the guys like the ball in their hands,” passing game coordinator Dennis Simmons said. “I’ll let Billy work on that one for me. But no, it’s a credit to him. Speaks to who he is as an athlete. We’ve had several guys that have been very successful on both sides of the ball that have come in here and tried to figure out a package for ‘em to be able to do so.”

The tug of war is officially on because Bowman has arrived in Norman. The Sooners already had nine mid-year enrollees from the 2021 class, and then Bowman surprised a lot of people by enrolling last week and showing up for good.

There are valid arguments for either side, so it’s definitely a storyline to watch moving forward.

A ‘Key’ addition

In talking transfer portal, OU has done well in that department. But most of the hits so far have been on offense. The only defensive portal addition is former Tennessee defensive back Keshawn Lawrence.

Lawrence was the second of three former Vols to transfer to the Sooners, but it’s hard for Grinch to really classify Lawrence as a transfer too much after recruiting him for three years.

“Key, we call him a transfer but I don’t know if there was another recruit that I’ve been to more basketball games of or went to a football game,” Grinch said. “I recruited him for three years. I guess, by rights, he’s a transfer because he enrolled in another place last year.

“Really looking in, this isn’t a click on the internet and seeing what is available. In so many ways, we know more about Key than so many guys who might be signing somewhere else today. He’ll have an opportunity to compete in that way as he would have if he signed here a year ago, which I tell him he should have.”

Lawrence is enrolled and will be able to take part in winter workouts and spring football.

Williams making a splash

OU finished with three five-star recruits for the class. Everybody knows quarterback Caleb Williams, and RUSH linebacker Clayton Smith was a major get, but don’t forget about receiver Mario Williams.

He was never able to make a trip to Norman because of COVID-19 restrictions, but the mid-year enrollee is faring well in his first couple of weeks.

“Not just myself but I think the rest of the staff and some of the current players have seen how explosive he truly is,” Simmons said. “That’s a positive plus. Mario has one of those personalities that is very endearing and people just gravitate to him. He’s kind of like Baker was. He makes workouts, he makes practice, he makes all of that stuff fun because he’s always going to have a smile on his face. He’s always eager to get everybody excited and going.”

The Williams-to-Williams connection is getting a head start as both Caleb and Mario are among the 10 mid-year freshmen.

Haselwood’s path back continues

A lot was made about receiver Jadon Haselwood opting out of the Cotton Bowl. After fighting his way back to the field following a torn ACL in the spring in a non-football contact injury, it seemed strange for Haselwood to stay back in Georgia after Christmas break.

Head coach Lincoln Riley said it wasn’t a problem, and Simmons reiterated that Wednesday, saying there is zero concern about where Haselwood stands.

“As far as Jadon Haselwood, the rehab is going great,” Simmons said. “He’s in there busting his butt working hard, was at workouts this morning, was at the team meeting this morning and is looking forward to competing and getting ready to really getting back on track from where he left off his freshman year.”

Everybody is hoping this is the year for the three five-star receivers in Haselwood, Theo Wease and Trejan Bridges from the 2019 class.

Redmond welcomed back

Sticking with the opt out theme, defensive lineman Jalen Redmond has officially returned to the Sooners for the 2021 season.

Redmond decided to opt out for the 2020 season but did return for Cotton Bowl practices although he didn’t travel with the team

“It’s fun to see him around this building… But no, he’s one of the guys. He’s one of us,” Grinch said. “Thrilled to have him back. I mean, his best football continues to be in front of him, and you kind of referenced it: just the amount of time being out. Everybody’s story is different, and he’s gonna have a heck of one at the end of this deal.”

Redmond, running back Kennedy Brooks and offensive tackle Stacey Wilkins are three notable opt-outs who should be back for OU in 2021.

Harrington getting closer

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about the OU defense when you start thinking about the quality of the guys returning.

And then you start adding guys like Caleb Kelly and Justin Harrington, who missed the 2020 season because of injury, and you see the depth is starting to become real in Norman.

Harrington came to OU last summer with a knee issue, but even OU didn’t know just how severe it was, leading them to believe the original injury could have happened in high school.

He never saw the field, but if you watched him on the sidelines, you know full well he was there in every other way possible.

“I think for him there’s going to be a sense of relief and understanding in that he played really good football in the junior college ranks with an injury that might have taken place initially in high school,” Grinch said. “This is a real benefit to him and a lot of credit goes to him because you talk about a guy who was fully engaged every single day.

“Not a lot of guys, especially new to your program, that I would say could have been more engaged in terms of meeting rooms and workouts. Credit goes to the medical staff in terms of his progression. He’s a guy that we expect to get something out of this spring, which will be critical for him. Whether it’s full-speed ahead or not, we’ll kind of see how the coming months go.”