NORMAN — It was a wild ride for Jayden Gibson to start his collegiate career.

After recording 1,600 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns over his junior and senior seasons at West Orange High School, Gibson initially committed to Florida. However, Oklahoma took a late run at Gibson in the final days of his recruitment, and the Sooners managed to nab the former 2022 four-star prospect.

Upon arriving in Norman, Gibson had incredibly high expectations for himself.

“I tell people all the time, I didn’t dream of being a college football player, I dreamed of being a college football star,” Gibson said during his media availability on Monday.

Unfortunately for Gibson, things didn’t work out that way. Gibson played 92 snaps last season, per Pro Football Focus, catching just one pass for 12 yards.

It’s the mental aspect of football that’s served as a road block since Gibson landed on campus.

“It’s definitely tough because you want to be great so bad for your family and for the fans and for everyone who supports you,” Gibson said. “It’s kind of like who I was in Florida. When I was back at home, (people said), ‘He’s a dog, he’s a baller. That’s what he (does).' So it’s kind of hard when that identity is, not taken from you, but put on hold.

“They say you wanna separate yourself from football. Football shouldn’t determine who you are and all that type of stuff that people say. But people don’t realize that football, some of us, this is what we do. That’s what we’re doing our whole life. This is the thing we’ve put our time and energy and whatnot into.”

However since the preseason began, Gibson feels like he’s in a much better place compared to last season. He credits new wide receivers coach Emmett Jones and head coach Brent Venables for the turnaround in his mentality.

​​“I feel like a lot of times people overlook the effect that that’ll have on a player, the confidence level they have,” Gibson said. “Coming from high school and having to take that step back and really evaluate yourself and all that kind of stuff — I’m the same player. I have the same love for the game. But I feel like now I’m just more sure of myself.

“Regardless of what happens around me, outside of me, on the inside I know who I am as a player. I know who I am as a person. That’s credit to coach Venables and coach Jones and my teammates, building me up, helping me realize I’m more than a football player.”

That newfound confidence for Gibson, both on and off the field, bodes well for his chances of success in 2023. In addition to developing a healthier mentality, Gibson credits Jones for helping him work on his weaknesses and turn them into strengths.

At 6-foot-5, the sophomore is the tallest wide receiver on the Sooners’ roster. But the coaching staff has challenged the sophomore to be more developed outside of his size on the perimeter.

“I feel like a lot of my battle – like I previously said plenty of times in interviews – was a lot mentally,” Gibson said. “And now that I’ve got that out of the way, I feel like I’ve become more of a sound player. I think one of my biggest strong suits is big plays and being able to stretch the field and that kind of thing. But I know the coaches wanted to see a lot more consistency from me in the short game and just being a more sound player in my concepts and that kind of thing.

“You’ve got to be a cerebral receiver to play here and to be successful in coach Lebby’s offense and I feel like I’ve taken plenty of steps forward in that area for sure.”

One coach that never lost confidence is Venables, who spoke highly of Gibson during Big 12 Media Days last month.

“Jayden Gibson’s a big ol’ long target that’s improved strength and knowledge and confidence in developing his skill set,” Venables said. “Really looking forward to J-Gib being able to help us.”

Gibson is confident in what he can bring to the Sooners’ offense, and he knows he has to prove it on the field. But his newfound confidence and mindset puts him in a much better position than he was in a year ago.

“So it takes a real man, it takes becoming a man to be able to take a step back from that and be like, regardless of how much I love the game and regardless of how hard I go for it, I gotta be patient and I gotta know I’m still me,” Gibson said. “I’m still Jayden Gibson. I’m still the same guy, My family’s still gonna love me, my mom’s still gonna love me, God’s still gonna love me regardless of all that.

“So I feel like that helps me be patient, knowing that regardless of what happens on the football field, I’ve gotta be the same guy every day."