Just some additional thoughts about the state of this team and program:
1. I sincerely feel bad for Hawk and JA. Lack of talent at WR, poor running game, and the worst OL in P4 football. There isn’t a single QB in the country who would be successful behind this OL. Yes, both JA and Hawk have struggled with reading the field and decision making, however, this OL is doing a complete disservice to their development. I’d also argue the play calling and scheme has not helped, but without going down a rabbit-hole, I’ll just say our passing concepts should be built upon the quick game and screens. Any conventional 3 step drop, 10+ yard route combos are futile with this offense line. For two young QBs with virtually no college experience, OU has completely botched their development. Whether it’s Hawk or JA that transfers (or, dare I say….both?), I wish both of them the best and won’t be the least bit surprised when they do great things at their next school.
2. Piggybacking off of point one, I just can’t fathom how bad this OL has gotten. I know they lost Guyton, Raym, Green, Rouse, Mettauer. You also lose Savion and Shaffer from Miami OH. But to then go to the portal and miss on quite literally every single pickup, it’s astonishing. I am not a Cale Gundy apologist at all, but when he says the transfer portal OL don’t even look like P4 contributors after observing just a few fall practices…how does this staff and BB collectively miss on so many evaluations?
In terms of development, the Jake’s are so, so behind. I know Taylor has been hurt, but my goodness, SC was just abuse. Sexton was hyped to be the next Anton Harrison. Right now he doesn’t look like a starting SEC linemen at either G or T. The more sobering thought is how does this get better next year? Are we going to trust more portal evals? Pray that the Jakes, Ozeta, and Fbechi improve 10X? Play the frosh recruits at T next year? I don’t see any immediate path to improvement.
3. People will disagree and this is a contrarian take, but have we seen any tangible benefits to BV “stepping away” from calling the defense on game days? Have we seen better in game management? Better clock management, personnel management, more interaction with the offense, better special teams advantages and decision making? I would argue no to all of that. I like Zac and obviously, the defense is not the problem. With that being said, if we aren’t getting any benefits from BV being more of a “game manager”, I’d almost rather him sellout on defense.
4. My last note. I’ve seen a lot of discourse about the culture of this program. Focusing on winning vs. the Soul Mission. The athletic dept and admin being so focused on compliance as to not ruffle any feathers with the conference or NCAA.
I wanted to share a story from a buddy of mine who played at a P5 school. When he got there, this team was one of the worst in the country. They changed staffs and by the time he was a senior, they made a bowl game. We talked a lot about the cultural change and what it took to go from sub-mediocrity to winning.
He said he realized the culture had changed with the new staff during a spring practice. Their star DB is complaining out loud about getting held by a WR in “team” during practice. The OC stops the entire practice and goes after the DB. The OC says:
“What you need to realize is nobody gives a f*** if you are getting held. Nobody gives a f*** if the other team is cheating. Nobody gives a f*** if that hurts your feelings. Nobody gives a f*** if you want to go sit on the bench and b**** or if you want to stay in the game. The only thing that anyone gives a f*** about in this sport is if we win or lose on Saturday. That’s it. That’s all that matters.”
My buddy said from that moment on he realized that the new staff was so focused on winning that it was almost business-like. You’d think that might result in poor culture, but as my buddy said, they had more fun winning that last year then they ever had the previous three losing seasons.
He also mentioned that the first three (losing) seasons, the entire staff was exemplary with compliance. They followed every requirement to a “T” and were perfect with NCAA compliance. They also got destroyed on a weekly basis and couldn’t recruit worth a lick. Let’s just say when the new staff came in and started winning, things changed…if you catch my drift.
I love the human that is BV and truly love the approach of developing great young adults. At some point, though, I do think this team and program can’t forget that this sport is a business and slowly approaching a full-on semi professional model.
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