Sooners close strong; Gabriel QB1
The last few years had seen Oklahoma sitting on the sidelines when the February signing period came around. That couldn’t be the case for 2022, and first-year head coach Brent Venables and the rest of the staff made sure the Sooners closed strong.
How strong? OU added four recruits Wednesday and secured the signing of the top-ranked player in the state once again.
That’ll do just fine.
“I'm incredibly excited. Boy, that was a race,” said Venables on Wednesday afternoon. “It's been a sprint here for the last couple of months. Our support staff, our staff and all of our coaches just did an amazing job of pulling this class together.”
It was a defensive state of mind for OU. The defensive staff was finalized in January, and it was time to shine for new staff members Miguel Chavis (defensive ends), Todd Bates (defensive tackles) and Jay Valai (cornerbacks).
Between the line and the corner spot, OU nabbed the five guys in defensive linemen R Mason Thomas, Gracen Halton and Kevonte Henry. OU flipped Thomas from Iowa State and Henry from Michigan.
Then in the secondary, it was adding Jamarrien Burt and keeping the commitment of Gentry Williams from Tulsa Booker T. Washington.
“I just really couldn't be more happy with how our guys finished,” Venables said. “Our hit rate was outstanding. I'm thinking we might have had one guy that we brought in on an official visit that we didn't get in the last three weeks, so that's a good hit rate for us.”
All five took an official visit to OU sometime in January. As Wednesday night came to a close, the Sooners stood at No. 8 in the Rivals team rankings.
If this is judged as like a bounce-back class or transition class after Lincoln Riley left, hard to ask for much more than what Venables and company just accomplished.
It’s Gabriel’s time
The conversation was about equally divided between the 2022 class and all the transfer portal additions. And when you bring that up, it quickly becomes about the quarterback position and Dillon Gabriel and Caleb Williams.
Williams, after a month in the transfer portal, picked USC on Tuesday. Gabriel was locked down by OU and locked in, beginning Jan. 3, just hours after Williams hit the portal.
“With Dillon jumping into the family, if you will, it's been just wonderful from a leadership standpoint,” Venables said. “He has really grabbed the bull by the horns in regard to connecting with the whole football team, not just the offensive side. He's done a wonderful job of doing what you would expect a guy at that position to do, which is lead and lead the right way. I've been really pleased with that.”
Of course, when it comes to Gabriel, a lot of that stems from his relationship with offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. Lebby recruited Gabriel out of high school and worked together during Gabriel’s freshman season at Central Florida.
Lebby didn’t mince his words. You want to know who the OU starting quarterback is for 2022? It’s DimeTime, it’s Gabriel.
“Dillon's our guy right now,” Lebby said. “As we move forward, again, we got one guy on our roster that's thrown a college football pass. Obviously, he’s thrown a bunch of ‘em, he’s thrown ‘em really, really well. We're going to move forward that way and go get ready.”
Lebby gave praise to true freshman Nick Evers as well and said there is the possibility of trying to find another quarterback. But it won’t be just for anybody. As much as Lebby would like to add one more in the quarterback room, it has to make sense and has to fit.
Williams staying home
There was zero drama with Gentry Williams signing for OU on Wednesday morning. OU coaches had earned his trust, and he was ready to be a Sooner.
Following the coaching shake-up, Williams opted to not sign in December. Instead, he waited for OU to find its cornerback coach and start to develop things from there.
Williams took an official visit a couple of weeks ago and got to really connect with Venables and first-year cornerbacks coach Jay Valai.
“From the get-go, he let his allegiance be known,” Venables said. “In my opinion, we had to go out of our way to not screw it up. He wanted to hear the vision for what we had for him both defensively, relationally, who we were gonna hire as his position coach. Once he got a chance to meet Jay, it was the final piece.
“Never at any time did I feel we were close to losing his commitment. His allegiance and loyalty to the University of Oklahoma were known virtually the entire time. I just felt like we had to go out of our way to screw it up just from a relationship standpoint and communication standpoint. This is where he always wanted to be.”
Williams is one of three in-state defensive backs for the class, joining Tulsa Union’s Jayden Rowe and mid-year enrollee Robert Spears-Jennings (Broken Arrow).
LB room loaded
OU had to address a lot of issues it felt it had at defensive line and in the secondary. The one spot it didn’t have to concern itself too much was linebacker.
Ted Roof’s room was pretty stacked before the 2022 class and is now maybe the best depth of the Sooners defense.
OU added three big ones in Jaren Kanak, Kip Lewis and Kobie McKinzie. All three are mid-year enrollees. And Roof had to ‘work’ so hard to convince his son, T.D. Roof, to transfer to OU.
Put that in the room with DaShaun White and David Ugwoegbu with their experience. The potential of a Danny Stutsman and Shane Whitter. There is a whole bunch there to like.
“You’ve got DaShaun and David, two of the older guys there that have played a lot of football who are doing a great job leading in the offseason program,” said Roof, who is also OU’s defensive coordinator. “You’ve got Shane and Joseph and Danny. Danny has some real toughness and has some grit. I love that about him. That’s been what he’s shown so far. With Shane, the athleticism he has, the speed, he has some real mobility there. Looking forward to working with those guys.
“Jaren, he’s really mature and his body is way ahead. His strength numbers, his speed and his measurables are all off the charts for somebody his age and where he is. Worked really hard to get there. Kobie McKinzie has a really high football IQ. Again, understands concepts and things of that nature. Kip Lewis’ got a huge upside. A guy with a lot of ability and a lot of want-to. So I’m looking forward to developing those three young men. And T.D., he’s been around the block a time or two. It’s a good land and I’m excited about all of them and the unique things they bring to the table.”
With linebacker wrapped up, it allowed Roof to help the other assistants and fill in the other puzzle pieces to the defense, either through the portal or the 2022 class.