Pieces coming together

You can only play the hand you’re dealt with and that really felt like it was the case for Oklahoma offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh the last few seasons.

It’s not like Bedenbaugh, who has been coaching for more than half his life, forgot how to coach offensive line. But everybody had noticed the dip in production for the Sooners from that group in recent years.

It wasn’t a dramatic drop, but if you really dig in, you could see it. Bedenbaugh makes no excuses about it, but in talking to him earlier this week, that felt like the real Bedenbaugh again.

Fired up, excited, dare we say happy? Everything is aligned for Bedenbaugh to get the best from his group of guys.

Part of that has to do with the hiring of Jeff Lebby as offensive coordinator, a former offensive lineman himself. The two are so connected having known each other for more than 20 years, figure it’s a perfect pairing.

Then you add Jerry Schmidt returning to OU to lead the strength and conditioning department. Bedenbaugh’s group had the most success when Schmidt was in Norman. Coincidence or something more?

“I'm as excited as I've been in 20-something years to get going,” Bedenbaugh said. “That doesn't mean I haven't been excited in the past, but it's been fun. I've learned with Coach (Brent) Venables here. I'm 49. I think I've been coaching 26 or 27 years, something like that.

“I learned as much as I have – and not football. It's not just football but life, dealing with people, relationships and all of those things. You see it's paying off. It's been really good.”

Alignment is talked about a lot, especially from Venables. OU was perfectly aligned, in his opinion, to finally make that leap to be a head coach.

But alignment can trickle down to other areas, and offensive line is a great example of that. You have a coach in Bedenbaugh who trusts the summer development with Schmidt, and everybody is hoping for a Joe Moore Award-like season.

Add in players being accountable and realizing what they need to do, again, all the puzzle pieces going into place.

“I like the mentality. I had guys, you know, they'd be watching film on their own, texting me questions,” Bedenbaugh said. “Film themselves doing drills, hey is this good how did it look? And then, you know, just seeing their bodies change. You don't even have to really work with them, you can walk down the hall and see that.

“He (Schmidt) knows what I'm about and he does a great job. I think he does a great job with everybody, but I've always really felt how he trained the O-lineman was exactly what I want. And again, that's not saying nobody else didn't. But it's where I want from the toughness and the physicality and the mentality.”

Expectations high for Harrison

It came as a surprise to some, but as NFL Draft analysts have been trying to predict the 2023 crop, offensive tackle Anton Harrison has routinely been talked about as a first-round guy.

Harrison will be a true junior this season. There is no doubt he has flashed, but it’ll be about consistency to prove he belongs in that type of conversation moving forward.

“Anton didn't really have that year of redshirting and sitting back,” Bedenbaugh said. “Now I think it'll help him as it goes on, but the guy started what 12-13 games here, you know what I mean? Especially at that position.

“He's ultra-talented, he's a smart kid, he works hard. Obviously, all of those things have got to continue to improve for him. But I think through the spring he grew up some more. He's still got to mature and grow up.”

The redshirt aspect is interesting because Bedenbaugh brought up how guys like Orlando Brown and Creed Humphrey went through that process, and it made them better for it. Harrison, basically, learned on the job, but the growing pains definitely could have helped him mature.

Guyton impressing early

Looking for a dark horse transfer candidate to really pop and make a difference? You might have your answer in offensive tackle Tyler Guyton.

His path hasn’t been a straight line. From being recruited as a defensive lineman coming out of high school to playing some tight end at TCU, it’s been a game of adapting.

Now set at tackle, he’s someone who has immediately embraced being a Sooner and made the strides to perhaps be in the conversation for playing time.

“Just the maturity I’ve seen from him, off the field more than on the field,” Bedenbaugh said. “His body looks better. I think he’s at 317 (pounds). I think he came here at 332. So again, feel good about him. It’s just the maturity. He’s growing up. You can go out there and watch him run around and say, ‘Hey, this is a dude that has a chance to be special.’ But again, you gotta put in the time every day. So, excited about Tyler.”

‘Center’ of attention

We’ll close by talking about the center spot, and the competition that will be ongoing between Andrew Raym and Robert Congel.

Raym missed so much of spring that it’s hard to really evaluate where he stands, but Bedenbaugh has liked the attitude, if nothing else.

“That’s such a hard question to answer. I thought he had — I’d say 2 1/2 days (of spring practice). I think where he was in those days, I liked,” Bedenbaugh said. “You know what I mean? Do I think he worked hard throughout the summer? Yeah, I do. He’s always been a hard worker. It’s just, it’s growing up. It’s maturing. You know what I mean?

“He’s going into his third year. I know he played as a freshman a little bit; sophomore started on and off. He’s still a young dude. But I feel good about him. We’ll see. It’s hard to sit here and give you any predictions right now today. I mean, even two weeks into camp. But I’ll have a better idea at that point in time.”

Congel has definitely proved to be a significant transfer addition from last season and should be more comfortable in his second year in Norman. And Nate Anderson is clearly in the mix.

“It’s gonna be obviously Andrew, Congel, Nate Anderson and then Gunnar Allen, who’s a walk-on — who I really like. I don’t know where he’s gonna go, but those three freshmen that came in, you watch them, they work really, really hard. And they’re passing some dudes up. So we’ll see if it stays that way. But I think those are the four guys right now.”