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football Edit

OU with a month to remember

Every school has a plan for recruiting. A window of when they want visits, camps, and ideally, commitments. Oklahoma isn’t any different in that regard.

What you see, usually, is that no matter how solid that plan is, there are always hiccups. Someone gets enamored while on another visit. Someone can’t get transportation to campus and ends up never visiting.

The list goes on and on as to why things don’t or didn’t work. But for the Sooners, in the month of July, everything that was expected or hoping to happen did just that. And even going beyond initial aspirations.

That’s something everybody was going to learn together about Brent Venables. His first year as a head coach, how would he be able to navigate that summer recruiting window and put the Sooners in a good spot for the 2023 class?

We heard him emphatically say when asked by SoonerScoop.com in March that Venables encouraged all recruits to visit as many places as possible before committing to OU. Because when you’re locked in with the Sooners, you were all-in.

Could that old school line of thinking still work in 2022? As the calendar crept up to July, the whispers started to become shouts as OU appeared to be struggling on the trail.

The Sooners entered the month in the 40s of the team rankings and with only one four-star commitment, according to Rivals, in Denton (Texas) Guyer quarterback Jackson Arnold.

Fast forward to August, and all the worries are gone. That can happen in a month that saw OU land nine overall commitments, with eight of them being ranked as four-star recruits and five being in the Rivals 250.

So we ask again, can it work?

“I mean, I think so. Again, guys — the window to go take visits was a very small window,” said Venables when SoonerScoop.com asked at media days. “So when did the window start, you know? Started in June, right?

“So it's like any normal process: you go, you take a few visits, you check out places, hopefully guys were taking advantage of unofficial opportunities as well. And now you've educated yourself and you get together as a family or whatever support system you have and you make a decision.”

The funny thing is OU’s July went according to plan because June, as quiet as it felt on the surface, did as well.

The Sooners loaded up the first two weekends of June, starting with the ChampU Family BBQ for June 3 weekend. Nine of the last 10 commitments were on campus either that weekend or the next one.

Then OU rode the rest of the month out. The Sooners were quiet the last couple of weekends in June, allowing recruits to visit other campuses before making their call.

And they did. OU saw the guys go to places like Texas, Missouri, Michigan, Iowa, Auburn and Florida, among others. It's OK to experience the trail and everything that comes with it.

“Instead of recruiting 250 guys, let's find 75 guys that we can recruit really hard,” Venables said. “We can really develop relationships, have a high hit rate … from an amount of guys that we've recruited and then this will give us an opportunity to get the best guys that fit. And hopefully not only fit, but stay here for their whole career.

“And so we're very honest and transparent. And so when they do choose to come here, they're coming here for all the right reasons, not based on emotion or, you know, what kind of a photoshoot experience they had or, you know, the Lamborghini they took a picture with.”

The Sooners are now knocking on the door of a top 10 class, and they’ve seen a lot of their recent commitments rise up the rankings, giving an idea of the staff’s ability to evaluate and be ahead of the curve.

Not everyone picked OU, and Venables is more than OK with that.

“I mean, I want them to come here because they had a chance to weigh it all out, compare and contrast and find the best place for them,” Venables said. “And you know what, I don't think this is the best place for everybody. I don't have that, ‘How could you not say yes to Oklahoma?’ I don't live like that. And I think that's naive.

“And it's got to be the right fit. And I don't want to trick anybody. I don't want to prey on the emotions of a, you know, 17-18-year-old young person and have a commitment that doesn't really mean what we've clearly defined.”

Here is a quick rundown of how OU got to where it was on the morning of June 30 to where the Sooners stand Aug. 1.

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LB Samuel Omosigho (June 30)

The story: OK, we’re going to fudge it here by a day because Omosigho kind of started the month-long bonanza. He was the first of three linebacker commits during the month. And when you start wondering about commits who could shoot up Rivals rankings this month, Omosigho is an easy one to circle.

LB Phil Picciotti (July 4)

The story: Ah yes, there were still fireworks for the Sooners. For the fourth year in a row, OU fans were able to celebrate Independence Day with a commitment. Picciotti was a nice win for the Sooners. Originally from Pennsylvania, he’s going to spend his senior season at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy.

WR Jaquaize Pettaway (July 7)

The story: Another fun part of the month was the variety of commitments. It wasn’t all offense or defense or skill guys or linemen. A mixture of everything, and Pettaway was a statement to anyone who thought Venables might just be a defensive guy. Speed for days, a huge victory in a head-to-head battle with Texas.

OL Cayden Green (July 8)

The story: Offensive line was going to work itself out one way or another. When you think of all the elite linemen brought to OU by Bill Bedenbaugh, it’s a tad startling to know Green is currently the highest-ranked commit Bedenbaugh has ever had. That’s the potential Green has and that’s why OU fought so hard for so long.

OL Logan Howland (July 9)

The story: You beat out Michigan and Iowa for offensive linemen, then you’ve done something. We’re going to find out about Howland the tackle because he’s making the move from tight end and has never played the position. Another example of OU being able to recruit nationally.

DL P.J. Adebawore (July 10)

The story: From the moment this offer was made, everybody was excited because the sky’s the limit for Adebawore. You want another ranking riser candidate, he’s your guy. He impressed at the Future 50 event and is beginning to show people what OU and Miguel Chavis already know.

RB Daylan Smothers (July 14)

The story: OU found its answers at running backs this summer between Smothers and Kalib Hicks. Not sure many expected much of anything when Smothers visited June 3, but OU made the impression and never went away. Shifty in the open field, but someone who is a lot more than just a third down back.

LB Lewis Carter (July 16)

The story: This was a funny one because you knew OU was in it, following his June 10 weekend visit. But within a 48-hour period, it went from the Sooners being in his top five to actually being the choice. The timeline accelerated greatly, and Carter is someone Venables was eyeing back to his days at Clemson.

DB Jasiah Wagoner (July 25)

The story: Get on the board, Jay Valai. And that Valai did in a big way with Wagoner’s commitment as OU goes to the state of Washington for the second time this cycle. Wagoner showed out at OU’s camp in June and still has an official visit to Norman to take whenever he feels like it in the fall.

DL Derrick Leblanc (July 28)

The story: Yes, with this staff, OU can go into the state of Florida and beat out the Gators for a Florida high school recruit. Leblanc made several visits to Norman, and the work done by Venables, Chavis and Todd Bates cannot be overstated at all. Again, if you want to watch someone’s ranking take off, Leblanc is a pretty good one to monitor as wel

More to come… sooner than later

The majority of July was a dead period for recruiting until last week, and boy did OU ever take advantage of that final weekend.

It was dubbed The Party at the Palace last Friday, and the Sooners staff came away feeling incredibly pumped about the results.

Yes, that’s five Rivals 250 defensive prospects and three of them being in the top 100. If August can be as good as July was for OU, it’s going to be because some (if not all) of these guys are firmly entrenched in the class now.

Calendar turns to August and now high school kids start focusing on their season. OU begins practice Thursday. In other words, everybody is back to work.

But after starting out as slow and quiet as possible as what OU did in recruiting in June, the narrative has been flipped upside down. Instead of OU fans wondering what’s wrong with Venables, it’s now turned into what’s the next big thing for BV and staff

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