Sooners New Names Bring Experience on Familiar Ground

Monday's announcement of Oklahoma's two new hires, outside receivers coach Dennis Simmons and secondary coach Kerry Cooks, may not have been a surprise to well, anyone. However, that's not to say that the two new Sooner staffers are well known by most Oklahoma fans.

However, they probably should be.

That's because aside from multiple draft picks amongst their former pupils, including former Texas Tech All-American receiver Michael Crabtree for Simmons, they are also both known as quality recruiters that could strengthen Oklahoma's efforts in key areas.

In the case of Cooks his ability to help Oklahoma in, undoubtedly, it's most key area is potentially a huge boon for the Sooners. For those unaware Cooks went into Texas in the 2014 class and landed Grant Blankenship, Kolin Hill, and Nick Watkins all of whom had offers from the in-state Longhorns and both Blankenship and Watkins were pursued heavily by the Sooners.

But that's far from his only area of potential true impact for the Sooners as he'll also lend a hand in a state that has produced four Sooner signees from the past two classes. And part of Cooks's efforts in Louisiana saw him land a pair of Oklahoma's early offers.

"Cooks made inroads in Louisiana and signed the first player out of the state for Notre Dame since 1999," Andrew Ivins of BlueandGoldIllustrated.com said.

"He locked up Jerry Tillery and somehow managed to fend off Les Miles and LSU. He then got Bo Wallace out of John Curtis - and from what I have been told - he's plugged in well there. So that bodes well for Oklahoma's chances with Willie Allen during the next cycle.

"Cooks was also the only reason Notre Dame was in the mix for Justin Reid. Once he found out Cooks was gone, Notre Dame was done."

And his successes were no anomaly; in the six classes he was a part of recruiting, from 2010-2015 he landed 21 prospects, 11 of which were four-stars in the Rivals.com rankings.

And though he has a reputation in Louisiana it's impossible to ignore the Irving, Texas native's successes in the state of Texas.

"Overall, he is just a great recruiter. I think he'll clean up in Dallas."

Going back to Cali

When Jay Norvell's departure from Norman was announced some had a question how Oklahoma would hold onto some of it's ties in Southern California.

While he won't be the only one, Norvell's replacement, Dennis Simmons, seems the obvious answer according to WazzuWatch.com's Britton Ransford.

"Simmons primarily recruited Los Angeles, and was one of the Cougars' top recruiters on staff," Ransford said. "He also did some spot recruiting here and there, too. Most notably with (eventual Oklahoma signee) Dahu Green."

Though a glance over the Cougars current 2015 commitment list might lead one to believe that Oklahoma's new outside receivers coach didn't land a single commitment for Washington State, the reality might be even more impressive.

Along with Green, when news began to surface that Simmons was on his way out prospects like four-star linebacker Kyahva Tezino changed their pledge.

According to Ransford, Simmons a Memphis, Tenn. Native, is able to build such loyalty from the bonds he creates with his recruits and players.

"He is energetic, passionate about his job and really relates well with young people. He truly cares about the players he recruits and coaches, too. The players, time and time again, refer to Simmons as a 'big brother'," Ransford explained.

And though Simmons may now be recruiting a different level of prospect than those he found during his time in Pullman, Wash. his ability to evaluate talent and overall ability as a coach and recruiter will be sorely missed.

"What he was able to do with Washington State star receiver Vince Mayle, in the course of about two years, was pretty remarkable. Here's a guy that was playing college basketball just a few years ago and is now headed to the NFL Combine, which is partially credited to Simmons' evaluation and coaching ability. He did good things with Gabe Marks, Dom Williams and others, too.

"He's very knowledgeable of the Air Raid offense, and he'll be one heck of an offensive coordinator some day, too. He'll do big things with the receivers at Oklahoma.

"There's no sugarcoating it: he's a big loss to the Washington State coaching staff, both on the field and on the recruiting trail."