Stoops gets ready as Ohio State and recruits descend on Norman

Oklahoma-Ohio State isn’t just a big ticket for OU fans, it’s a big ticket for anyone who plays the sport of football, including current recruits.

The Sooners will be welcoming in some of the top recruits in the country this weekend as they take official visits this weekend.

Preparing to play Ohio State is already a tough job. But looking at the recruiting numbers, Bob Stoops is going to be one very busy man.

The Sooners have 12 committed players from the class of 2017 on their official visits this weekend. They are also welcoming two 5-star recruits in Marvin Wilson and Jeffrey Okudah, two of the top 10 players in the country according to Rivals.com.

The Sooners are even hosting a University of Texas commitment this weekend in Kobe Boyce.

At last count, 19 players will be taking official recruiting visits to the University of Oklahoma this weekend.

“(It’s) incredibly difficult,” said Stoops of orchestrating such a massive recruiting weekend. “It’s a lot to manage, a lot to work through, but we have a big staff and everybody contributes and you do the best you can with it.

“It’s a grind, there’s no doubt.”

Stoops hinted the athletic department may even hire extra hands from the academic and admissions offices to help with the demands of the recruiting weekend.

Think about this: the Sooners have 19 official visitors, but they will also be welcoming in another 25 recruits, at least that’s the number we have confirmed so far, on unofficial visits.

That’s 44 recruits who are all probably bringing a couple of people with them.

That’s more people than Stoops has on his own roster.

That’s a small army to manage.

But it’s OU versus Ohio State. It’s one of the biggest games in college football. It could be an incredible showcase.

On the other hand, it makes Bob Stoops the hardest working man in Oklahoma over the next 72-hour period.

So would he rather not have a recruiting weekend this big?

“I probably don’t need to… I can’t be honest. You know I don’t lie,” said Stoops to a room full of laughter on Monday.

“I say that kiddingly. It’s part of the job. This is a big attraction, our fan base, this stadium, the games. Yeah, it would be easier not to have to deal with it, but also the experience of it, they want to be a part of it but you have to manage it that way.”

The good news for Stoops is that he’ll also have 15 current OU commitments to help show the others around and sell the program.

Every player coming in this weekend has a genuine interest in the Sooners. Stoops even confirmed yesterday recruits are still trying to score tickets to the game.

Even recruits OU and Stoops knows have no chance of winding up in Norman.

“We have a good recruiting database,” said Stoops. “You aren’t going to jump on here in the last couple of days. Not for this game.”

This weekend, Stoops’ time is more valuable than ever. He’s got the biggest game of the year to coach. He’s got the most important recruiting weekend of the year to manage.

But everything is planned out to the minute. This staff is ready to go.

The payoff for all that work could be huge however. A win over Ohio State should vault the Sooners back into the College Football Playoff discussion. But it would also embolden the class of 2017 and make a huge impression on two five-star recruits in attendance.