Boy, would I have loved to cover this kid for another four years. I wish him and his family all the best in his next chapter; they are truly the salt of the earth.
It was a really tough decision for Brix, who told me last week that he "felt like crap" calling Bill Bedenbaugh and letting him know he wouldn't be a Sooner. We spoke last Wednesday for about half an hour, and he continually reiterated that saying no to Oklahoma was even more difficult than he imagined it would be when he made up his mind. The family had watched Oklahoma's games on a regular basis, kept up with local coverage of the Sooners, and had become particularly fond of our Bryan Clinton's Field Vision series on YouTube. They were all on board with both Oklahoma (for the tradition of excellence) and Nebraska (for the chance to watch Grant play nearly every week). To that point, his father told me, "I have mixed feelings about Grant not choosing Oklahoma, but it is his decision and I respect it."
It's been a month to the day since the Huskers hosted Brix on the visit that ultimately won him over. If the decision was made without that final round of visits, it would have been for Oklahoma, and he did come very close to pulling the trigger in mid-October. But as I reported last week, that last visit to Lincoln convinced Brix that he fit better amongst his peers at Nebraska than at OU. Bill Bedenbaugh did everything he could, all the way down to connecting Brix with Creed Humphrey. If the campuses were equidistant from his hometown, I feel pretty confident that Brix would have been a Sooner. But especially with his mom's recent surgery (which was the day before that final visit to Nebraska), the comfort of being close to home and around other Midwest kids was enough to turn the tide.
This one stings for Oklahoma, as the Sooners had hoped to add a true crown jewel to their offensive line haul. If there's any solace to be found here, it's that OU suddenly has new life in the recruitment of Eddy Pierre-Louis. While I'm still skeptical that OU is the eventual choice, I don't think any of his final four programs can be all too confident. That recruitment is one that will likely keep everybody guessing until he picks a hat.
