Six players Monday night. Maybe six more tonight?
Ethan Downs
Cool to be starting w/ Reggie Grimes?
“Me and Reggie are like brothers. It’s really cool. We were just talking outside like, ‘Man, we’ve got to get on some zoom calls with the other D-Ends late at night, just going over film, studying our plays, things like that.’ Me and Reggie are really cool. We’re growing together. It’s cool to see him mature, as well as him rubbing off on me. I’m maturing, he’s taking that leadership role, I’m able to piggy back that and take a leadership role as well. It’s really cool.”
R Mason Thomas?
“I’m telling you, R Mason is someone you’ve got to keep on your radar. He is the fastest dude in the room right now. He came in, he was 17 years old just a week ago, and he’s faster than all of the D-Ends. He picked up the playbook like that. He’s just agile, he’s one of the lightest dudes in the room and he’s one of the toughest dudes in the room, just being able to use leverage, technique. He was throwing around guys that are nearly 100 pounds heavier than him.
“What’s he going to be when he’s got some weight on him, some experience, some confidence? R Mason’s going to be a dude. I’m going to be surprised if he’s not out of here in three years.”
Favorite guy to go against?
“Probably Anton. He’s the best dude out here, in my opinion. Not just draft stock but as far as his hands, he’s got patient hands, good footwork. He’s strong. His technique is unmatchable right now. To go against that all the time is only going to make me better. I get whooped, but it’s going to make me better.”
Jonah, Marcus?
“Jonah and Marcus are some of the vets out of the group. They’ve got a ton of experience, a ton of strength and speed. When the ice has gotta be broken in the room and the older guys recognize we’ve got to grow, it’s Marcus and Jonah that speak up first. They’re all about the cohesion in the group, trying to plan, ‘Hey, let’s go to Top Golf, let’s go eat, let’s go hangout.’ They’re really the bread and butter right now.
"For me and Reggie to be called up that we’re starting, it doesn’t mean we’re going to play more than them. They’re going to be right behind us. They’ve got our backs just like we’ve got their backs. It’s all about team.”
McKade Mettauer
Where have you surprised yourself?
My mental toughness — I've surprised myself with how mentally tough I am with some of the stuff that we've been doing. Like we're running however many sprints, like 20-something sprints, right? Never even done that in my life. But there's something about breaking that inhibitor in your brain that has happened here where you just keep going. It's like, 'OK, we're done,' but honestly you feel like, 'I could run 10 more of those.' But I've surprised myself in the conditioning aspect and the mental strength that we have all shown in the offseason.
Andrew Raym?
“I would claim Andrew as one of my really good friends that I've gotten to know. And playing next to him, he’s really physical and he's really smart. So that was also a good thing. You know, both of us, we have…a certain intelligence about the game. And playing next to each other, we can see stuff that other people can. So I think it's just a really good thing that we have going.”
“Football, when we do the meetings, we kind of co-lead them. Since he's the center he can call out the fronts while we're doing that and I'll work the remote and stuff. And then if he doesn't do something, he'll ask me. We bonded over that and just getting the guys together and watching film. And then we like to go fishing a lot. So Andrew and I will fish all the time. We would go to the neighborhoods. Hop in a truck to the neighborhood to go fishing or wherever he kicked out and stuff.”
Dude, it's game week?
“My first start at Cal…my first game at Cal, I didn't start. Then my second game I got put in the starting position. And we were playing Washington in Seattle. And that stadium is one of the loudest in the country. Even though it doesn't get a lot of people, it is one of the loudest. I tell this all the time: the New Post Malone album came out with Ozzy Osbourne and every time I hear that song I remember this day…I was in the hotel on my knees throwing up in the bathroom because I was so nervous. I was freaking out right. The last game I played, I was 18 in high school and in the playoffs. Now I was going against this guy named Levi. I think he plays with the Cardinals now? He got drafted in the second round so I had some nerves. Now, it’s game like 30 or 29. It’s another day in the office now.”
Anton Harrison
Welcome to the new OU?
I feel great about it. I feel like Oklahoma football is going in the right direction. It’s under the right head coach, the right staff and we have the right players. We just need to go out there and execute the game plan.
The DEs?
All of our d-ends are different in their own way. The freshman R Mason, he surprised a lot of us coming in with his pass rushing. And then we have the run-stopping d-ends. Reggie, he can play both. Jonah, he’s strong. E Downs, it’s a battle every time. Iron sharpens iron and it’s about making us better every day.
Biggest difference?
Just the mindset, really just working with Coach Schmitty all summer and getting the mindset right. Me feeling more confident, way more stronger than I’ve been, it’s going to help me. The little stuff is going to help me in the long run all season.
Danny Stutsman
Going through drills with BV?
Coach Venables puts a lot of stress on the linebackers. That's what he wants because he knows we'll respond. He wants to build the foundation. That's what the linebackers are to him, and I think we've responded really well. I'm excited to see how we keep responding.
Ugwoegbu?
He's been the best leader, man. Him and DaShaun (White) are both captains. When they announced it, I was so happy because those guys took me under their wing. They showed me the ways. Us together, us out on the field, it's going to be a blast. I'm so excited.
Physical practices?
I think we're just going to be more ready for the game, man. We're hitting every day. Our body takes a toll, but then we have time to rest. We have a really good balance. I think Coach Venables knows that. We balance thing out perfectly to where we're hitting and getting the physical aspect, but we have those days when we can recover and get our bodies right for Saturday.
Balancing personality off field/on field?
When you're out here, you can have fun. But when you step on the field, it's serious. I came here to play football. I can be lighthearted at times, but there's a time when you've got to lock in. You've got to be locked in and taking your job seriously because one little mistake and you're getting yelled out. You just have to be locked in all the time.
Jordan Kelley
Schmidty vs. Wylie trash?
I’ll say in the past, it was more running. With Schmidty, a lot more weights, getting bigger, getting swole. I think you can see that with everybody on the team. Isaiah Coe, for example, I think he’s bench pressing 405 pounds and squatting like 800 pounds. We’re getting that work in with Schmidty, for sure.
Bates?
It hasn’t changed at all. If you fix one thing, he’s going to let you know about another thing you’re doing wrong. It’s constant, but I don’t look at is as a negative. He’s trying to fix your game in every way he can and make you that much better as a player. Never look at it as a negative, just trying to get you better. I appreciate him for that.
Physical practices?
It starts in the W Drill. In the W Drill we’re just banging heads all day. I feel like that it’s making everybody that much stronger, mentally and physically. Used to be a big deal when you go out and hit someone. Now it’s like I gotta go hit him, go hit him. It’s just another job you have to do.
Watching BV work?
Oh yea, I feel it every day in practice. He’s behind us with the mic. Everybody feels it, not just the defensive line. It’s crazy. Coach Venables knows what everybody is supposed to do at any point of time. If a defensive end is too far to the right, he’ll sit there on the mic and tell you to scoot over. Then he’ll look at a safety and if they’re too far off a spot, he’ll tell you to scoot over. He’s amazing. It’s interesting how he can see everybody on the field and know what everybody is doing at the same time.
Reggie Grimes
Reggie in Year No. 3?
Definitely a lot of changes. I’ve went from being one of the youngest guys in the room to one of the oldest like that (snaps). So there’s now more of a leadership role. With leadership comes confidence. You have to be decisive as a leader in order to lead the other guys. So it’s more about focusing on the standards, setting the standard and paying it forward because I know I’m not always going to be here. So paying it forward for 10-20 years down the line for when we’ve come back and they’ve had their seventh national championship in a row, or something like that. And seeing that those guys are doing the same stuff that we were doing. So it’s really just confidence and just more focused on not just myself but the group as a whole and how we’re doing.
OL?
Absolutely. We have about four or five offensive tackles who are really, really good. And if they’re not really, really good then they’re going to be really, really good. So as far as that’s concerned man, it’s been a great ride. It’s a competition, it’s the game within the game. So if I beat him on this rush one play I may not be able to beat him on that same rush next play because they adapt. It’s the game within the game. You’ve got football then you’ve got your individual one-on-one battles. I think with Anton (Harrison) especially it’s been a lot. We’ve all gone back and forth during camp and it’s been great. Again, I’m so excited. I’ve been really blessed to have that opportunity.
Why No. 14?
Ok. So. Here’s why 14. I was 44 like forever growing up. And then all through the first few years of high school, I was 44. Then I transferred high schools. OK? So when I transferred, No. 44 was taken by a senior. I was a senior coming in. I didn’t want to be that guy. OK? Like, coming in, ‘Hey, I’m new here’…I didn’t want to just take it … 24’s a senior, 34’s a senior. You could have 94. I was like, I’m not wearing 94. OK, well there’s 14, but you might not be able to fit because that’s a medium jersey. I was more or less the same size I am now. So I was like, we’re gonna make this one work. So I put on that tight jersey, 14, and I liked it. I got here and Bookie had 44. I was gonna go over here, but 14 was still available and I just kind of fell in love with it senior year of high school.
First BV impressions?
OK, so the thing about coach Venables, I originally wanted to go to Clemson. They were my No. 1 for a while when they offered me. And that didn’t pan out, and I was bummed because I wanted to play for a guy like coach Venables. I saw him at Clemson practices. I saw him at games. I was in the locker room with him at Clemson. So I’ve been around him. He was the kind of guy that I thought, I want to play for him. It just so happened he came here. And I couldn’t wait. Now you’re on the other side of it, as opposed to you’re not a recruit any more, you’re actually one of his guys, one of his players now. So my first impression of coach Venables as he was here, as I became one of his players, was ‘This guy gets it. And it’s gonna be tough. But he coaches us harder and he loves us harder. I think that’s the main thing that may get lost when you’re going through it, because he’s a very intense person. But he loves us, and I think that’s the most important thing.
Ethan Downs
Cool to be starting w/ Reggie Grimes?
“Me and Reggie are like brothers. It’s really cool. We were just talking outside like, ‘Man, we’ve got to get on some zoom calls with the other D-Ends late at night, just going over film, studying our plays, things like that.’ Me and Reggie are really cool. We’re growing together. It’s cool to see him mature, as well as him rubbing off on me. I’m maturing, he’s taking that leadership role, I’m able to piggy back that and take a leadership role as well. It’s really cool.”
R Mason Thomas?
“I’m telling you, R Mason is someone you’ve got to keep on your radar. He is the fastest dude in the room right now. He came in, he was 17 years old just a week ago, and he’s faster than all of the D-Ends. He picked up the playbook like that. He’s just agile, he’s one of the lightest dudes in the room and he’s one of the toughest dudes in the room, just being able to use leverage, technique. He was throwing around guys that are nearly 100 pounds heavier than him.
“What’s he going to be when he’s got some weight on him, some experience, some confidence? R Mason’s going to be a dude. I’m going to be surprised if he’s not out of here in three years.”
Favorite guy to go against?
“Probably Anton. He’s the best dude out here, in my opinion. Not just draft stock but as far as his hands, he’s got patient hands, good footwork. He’s strong. His technique is unmatchable right now. To go against that all the time is only going to make me better. I get whooped, but it’s going to make me better.”
Jonah, Marcus?
“Jonah and Marcus are some of the vets out of the group. They’ve got a ton of experience, a ton of strength and speed. When the ice has gotta be broken in the room and the older guys recognize we’ve got to grow, it’s Marcus and Jonah that speak up first. They’re all about the cohesion in the group, trying to plan, ‘Hey, let’s go to Top Golf, let’s go eat, let’s go hangout.’ They’re really the bread and butter right now.
"For me and Reggie to be called up that we’re starting, it doesn’t mean we’re going to play more than them. They’re going to be right behind us. They’ve got our backs just like we’ve got their backs. It’s all about team.”
McKade Mettauer
Where have you surprised yourself?
My mental toughness — I've surprised myself with how mentally tough I am with some of the stuff that we've been doing. Like we're running however many sprints, like 20-something sprints, right? Never even done that in my life. But there's something about breaking that inhibitor in your brain that has happened here where you just keep going. It's like, 'OK, we're done,' but honestly you feel like, 'I could run 10 more of those.' But I've surprised myself in the conditioning aspect and the mental strength that we have all shown in the offseason.
Andrew Raym?
“I would claim Andrew as one of my really good friends that I've gotten to know. And playing next to him, he’s really physical and he's really smart. So that was also a good thing. You know, both of us, we have…a certain intelligence about the game. And playing next to each other, we can see stuff that other people can. So I think it's just a really good thing that we have going.”
“Football, when we do the meetings, we kind of co-lead them. Since he's the center he can call out the fronts while we're doing that and I'll work the remote and stuff. And then if he doesn't do something, he'll ask me. We bonded over that and just getting the guys together and watching film. And then we like to go fishing a lot. So Andrew and I will fish all the time. We would go to the neighborhoods. Hop in a truck to the neighborhood to go fishing or wherever he kicked out and stuff.”
Dude, it's game week?
“My first start at Cal…my first game at Cal, I didn't start. Then my second game I got put in the starting position. And we were playing Washington in Seattle. And that stadium is one of the loudest in the country. Even though it doesn't get a lot of people, it is one of the loudest. I tell this all the time: the New Post Malone album came out with Ozzy Osbourne and every time I hear that song I remember this day…I was in the hotel on my knees throwing up in the bathroom because I was so nervous. I was freaking out right. The last game I played, I was 18 in high school and in the playoffs. Now I was going against this guy named Levi. I think he plays with the Cardinals now? He got drafted in the second round so I had some nerves. Now, it’s game like 30 or 29. It’s another day in the office now.”
Anton Harrison
Welcome to the new OU?
I feel great about it. I feel like Oklahoma football is going in the right direction. It’s under the right head coach, the right staff and we have the right players. We just need to go out there and execute the game plan.
The DEs?
All of our d-ends are different in their own way. The freshman R Mason, he surprised a lot of us coming in with his pass rushing. And then we have the run-stopping d-ends. Reggie, he can play both. Jonah, he’s strong. E Downs, it’s a battle every time. Iron sharpens iron and it’s about making us better every day.
Biggest difference?
Just the mindset, really just working with Coach Schmitty all summer and getting the mindset right. Me feeling more confident, way more stronger than I’ve been, it’s going to help me. The little stuff is going to help me in the long run all season.
Danny Stutsman
Going through drills with BV?
Coach Venables puts a lot of stress on the linebackers. That's what he wants because he knows we'll respond. He wants to build the foundation. That's what the linebackers are to him, and I think we've responded really well. I'm excited to see how we keep responding.
Ugwoegbu?
He's been the best leader, man. Him and DaShaun (White) are both captains. When they announced it, I was so happy because those guys took me under their wing. They showed me the ways. Us together, us out on the field, it's going to be a blast. I'm so excited.
Physical practices?
I think we're just going to be more ready for the game, man. We're hitting every day. Our body takes a toll, but then we have time to rest. We have a really good balance. I think Coach Venables knows that. We balance thing out perfectly to where we're hitting and getting the physical aspect, but we have those days when we can recover and get our bodies right for Saturday.
Balancing personality off field/on field?
When you're out here, you can have fun. But when you step on the field, it's serious. I came here to play football. I can be lighthearted at times, but there's a time when you've got to lock in. You've got to be locked in and taking your job seriously because one little mistake and you're getting yelled out. You just have to be locked in all the time.
Jordan Kelley
Schmidty vs. Wylie trash?
I’ll say in the past, it was more running. With Schmidty, a lot more weights, getting bigger, getting swole. I think you can see that with everybody on the team. Isaiah Coe, for example, I think he’s bench pressing 405 pounds and squatting like 800 pounds. We’re getting that work in with Schmidty, for sure.
Bates?
It hasn’t changed at all. If you fix one thing, he’s going to let you know about another thing you’re doing wrong. It’s constant, but I don’t look at is as a negative. He’s trying to fix your game in every way he can and make you that much better as a player. Never look at it as a negative, just trying to get you better. I appreciate him for that.
Physical practices?
It starts in the W Drill. In the W Drill we’re just banging heads all day. I feel like that it’s making everybody that much stronger, mentally and physically. Used to be a big deal when you go out and hit someone. Now it’s like I gotta go hit him, go hit him. It’s just another job you have to do.
Watching BV work?
Oh yea, I feel it every day in practice. He’s behind us with the mic. Everybody feels it, not just the defensive line. It’s crazy. Coach Venables knows what everybody is supposed to do at any point of time. If a defensive end is too far to the right, he’ll sit there on the mic and tell you to scoot over. Then he’ll look at a safety and if they’re too far off a spot, he’ll tell you to scoot over. He’s amazing. It’s interesting how he can see everybody on the field and know what everybody is doing at the same time.
Reggie Grimes
Reggie in Year No. 3?
Definitely a lot of changes. I’ve went from being one of the youngest guys in the room to one of the oldest like that (snaps). So there’s now more of a leadership role. With leadership comes confidence. You have to be decisive as a leader in order to lead the other guys. So it’s more about focusing on the standards, setting the standard and paying it forward because I know I’m not always going to be here. So paying it forward for 10-20 years down the line for when we’ve come back and they’ve had their seventh national championship in a row, or something like that. And seeing that those guys are doing the same stuff that we were doing. So it’s really just confidence and just more focused on not just myself but the group as a whole and how we’re doing.
OL?
Absolutely. We have about four or five offensive tackles who are really, really good. And if they’re not really, really good then they’re going to be really, really good. So as far as that’s concerned man, it’s been a great ride. It’s a competition, it’s the game within the game. So if I beat him on this rush one play I may not be able to beat him on that same rush next play because they adapt. It’s the game within the game. You’ve got football then you’ve got your individual one-on-one battles. I think with Anton (Harrison) especially it’s been a lot. We’ve all gone back and forth during camp and it’s been great. Again, I’m so excited. I’ve been really blessed to have that opportunity.
Why No. 14?
Ok. So. Here’s why 14. I was 44 like forever growing up. And then all through the first few years of high school, I was 44. Then I transferred high schools. OK? So when I transferred, No. 44 was taken by a senior. I was a senior coming in. I didn’t want to be that guy. OK? Like, coming in, ‘Hey, I’m new here’…I didn’t want to just take it … 24’s a senior, 34’s a senior. You could have 94. I was like, I’m not wearing 94. OK, well there’s 14, but you might not be able to fit because that’s a medium jersey. I was more or less the same size I am now. So I was like, we’re gonna make this one work. So I put on that tight jersey, 14, and I liked it. I got here and Bookie had 44. I was gonna go over here, but 14 was still available and I just kind of fell in love with it senior year of high school.
First BV impressions?
OK, so the thing about coach Venables, I originally wanted to go to Clemson. They were my No. 1 for a while when they offered me. And that didn’t pan out, and I was bummed because I wanted to play for a guy like coach Venables. I saw him at Clemson practices. I saw him at games. I was in the locker room with him at Clemson. So I’ve been around him. He was the kind of guy that I thought, I want to play for him. It just so happened he came here. And I couldn’t wait. Now you’re on the other side of it, as opposed to you’re not a recruit any more, you’re actually one of his guys, one of his players now. So my first impression of coach Venables as he was here, as I became one of his players, was ‘This guy gets it. And it’s gonna be tough. But he coaches us harder and he loves us harder. I think that’s the main thing that may get lost when you’re going through it, because he’s a very intense person. But he loves us, and I think that’s the most important thing.
