— Spoke last night with three-star defensive lineman Kole Briehler, a former teammate of current Oklahoma OL Logan Howland at the Hun School in New Jersey. Briehler’s top schools right now are Oklahoma and Michigan, with Stanford also in the mix, but the Sooners certainly seem to have the upper hand in his recruitment of late. He’s well aware that the situation in Ann Arbor is highly fluid depending on Jim Harbaugh’s eventual decision, and he values the stability and developmental opportunities that Oklahoma offers. As we reported last week, Briehler got an in-person visit from Brent Venables and Todd Bates, and he’ll be back on campus with the Sooners for their junior day this weekend. Briehler also informed me that he’s already set an official visit with Oklahoma for the final weekend of June; it’s his only scheduled official right now and he doesn’t intend to take more than four OV’s. At this point in a previous cycle, I’d probably be confident enough in Oklahoma’s standing with Briehler to drop a FutureCast. But because this class will be smaller and spots come at a premium, I’m going to hold off for now and see how the visit this weekend affects Briehler’s potential timeline. Also of note is a very pertinent detail that Briehler shared at the end of our conversation: he’ll have company when he takes his OV.
— Four-star linebacker Kamar Archie and Oklahoma have quietly been a thing for some time now, and Briehler told me that he and Archie plan to take their Oklahoma OV together. For the moment, the Sooners are only recruiting for one additional linebacker spot in the 2025 class. And although Zac Alley’s arrival could impact the priorities with regard to that spot, I have been told by a well-placed source that Archie is on the short list of players that would be a take to fill that spot at any point. He’s a bona fide two-way star who is a menace at linebacker and a unit at running back, and for those that haven’t watched his junior film, treat yourself at some point today. Archie is the real deal. In fact, last November, Rivals national recruiting analyst Adam Friedman had him first on his list of most impressive linebackers he’d watched in 2023. For my money, that’s easily a top-100 player by year’s end if his senior tape lives up to expectations.
— Caught up with 2026 Southlake Carroll wideout Brock Boyd last night. I’d already been told by a couple of sources in the Lone Star State that the Sooners had jumped out to a big lead in Boyd’s recruitment, and I’ve got an itchy trigger finger with the FutureCast on this one. Emmett Jones recruited Brock’s older brother Brady to Texas Tech, and if memory serves me correctly, Brock might actually have been the first 2026 WR to get an Oklahoma offer. He’s been a priority for Jones and OU from the jump, and he’s a certifiably elite prospect — so much so that Cam Newton sought him out from hundreds of miles away for his national 7-on-7 team, which is comprised almost entirely of players from Florida and Georgia. TCU, SMU, Nebraska and Texas Tech have been steady in their pursuit of Boyd, but Oklahoma appears to be a few steps ahead of the crowd here. Boyd told me he wants to commit pretty early in the process, as he’s mindful of the portal’s impact on numbers. I think this is one that should be wrapped up before the calendar year is over, and though I’m holding off the FutureCast for the time being, this is definitely a prediction I could see myself making in the not-too-distant future.
— Another 2026 wideout with whom Oklahoma is in good standing is four-star Dominic Saidu-Robinson, the son of former Oklahoma wideout and revered DFW-area skills trainer David Robinson. I spoke to Saidu-Robinson last night, and when I brought up Emmett Jones, he referred to the Sooners’ wide receivers coach as “my dawg.” Jones has been recruiting and maintaining a relationship with Saidu-Robinson since his freshman year, and that has put Oklahoma abreast of Baylor and TCU at the forefront of this recruitment. The young receiver is big on relationships, and he’s got long-standing ones with Jones, Malcolm Kelly and Baylor running backs coach Khenon Hall. This is one that I’m watching closely, but given where Oklahoma already stands with Boyd, Legend Bey and Mason James, I think much will depend upon Saidu-Robinson’s ultimate timeline here.
