Best of the best from the guys heading into Tulane.
Eric Gray
Jaden Knowles, Todd Hudson?
Both of them have done a great job all camp, learning, getting ready for this situation, getting ready for this opportunity for them. This is an unbelievable opportunity for both of those guys. They are very good runners. They are very hard workers. They try to learn all the time. They're asking me all the time, 'So what do we have one this? What if this happens? What if this happens?' So they're soaking up a lot of knowledge and they're doing a great job.
First OU game?
The spring game was amazing. Being able to play in front of those fans was amazing and now you get to play in front of everyone, even more fans. Home opener at home, season opener at home. It's going to be a great feeling. I'm very excited to put on the uniform again, take the little concussion thing off the helmet and just go out there, let loose and just really have fun.
Worried about depth?
For me, it's always been—you know when you're young, you always want to play a lot. You want to be out there a lot. So for me, you've got to go out there—you've got to play. It's on you to go out there and play. I'm fortunate to have three other guys behind me, three other guys with me, to be able to go out there and play. You have to go out there and play and let loose and just have fun. You leave that for the coaches to worry about.
***
Jeremiah Hall
Jaden?
First, starting off with the football stuff, this past spring game, obviously Jaden had a great game at running back. It was kind of like his breakout game for all the Sooner fans to see what he can do. And then his track over the course of the past, I’d say, winter workouts, spring workouts, summer workouts, he has had that type of mentality all the way through. For him, it’s just all coming together. I’m proud of what he’s accomplished so far. And even more proud of him off the field. He’s The Weatherman. He’s involved in off the field events, he’s a man of Christ like me, so I’ve always stayed around him a little bit. But we kind of clown him sometimes. Because you know, Jaden’s kind of spoiled us. I call him the Mini-Bennie Wylie. So yeah, he’s the Mini Wylie or Weatherman J.
Jeremiah the RB?
As I’ve said in the past, the great thing about playing H-back is we have to know everything that’s going on on the field. And so I already know the running back spot. You guys have seen me get a few carries in the past. But we also have faith in the guys that we have in that room, Jaden, Kennedy, Eric and Todd Hudson. Those guys have been performing well, and we’ll see what Coach Riley has dialed up this weekend.
***
Caleb Kelly
RUSH LB?
It’s cool because it’s similar to playing SAM back in the day, but playing both is pretty cool just because you get to show your versatility. It can put you in weird situations with the NFL and stuff like that, like is he an in-betweener, is he really inside, is he really outside? It can put you in a weird situation that way. In terms of playing outside, when I do get that opportunity, it’s fun just because I get to rush the passer a lot more than you do at inside backer, and there’s a lot less you have to see and the angles are different.
So when you play both and you go back and forth, it’s kind of weird how much your brain has to work and people don’t know. They see on the outside it’s a lot of reading the O-linemen and reacting off of your steps that way, but then the inside linebacker is reading different linemen and reacting your steps that way, as well. So it’s just a lot of work, but I like it just because you kind of get to see everybody at one time and you’re the lever player a lot of the time, you get to just make sure everybody’s inside you and kind of see what it is. It’s a lot like how I played SAM back in the day, and then like I said, pass rushing has always been something I loved doing.
How supportive has your family been?
I mean, my family is everything to me, for sure. I wear my last name with pride. When I told everybody I was moving away out of California, back when I was a sophomore, I was like I just want to go and kind of like see who I can become as my own man. I remember everybody was so mad at me and they were like why would you do that? But at the same time, they were like, I understand you want to see who you are. So in my family, I was one of the people in my family that glued everybody together, whether it was at the football games, whether it’d be at family dinners and at my cousin’s who we lived real close to, and we all grew up more like siblings.
My family has my back. My little brother’s always saying something outlandish, like the days I got hurt, he’d tell me, ‘It’s OK bro, you’ll come back and start right away. I’m not worried about it,’ things like that to where he has this like upmost belief in me. My mom just always being there for me, always making sure she could be there for the surgeries, always making sure she could have my back. Now she’s got a lot of games to finally prepare for instead of flights for surgeries. So, it’s just exciting to kind of represent my family and kind of give them love. And of course, my girlfriend helped me out a lot, too. So I just have so much support back home and I love them all to death. So it’s an easy question for sure. I could talk about them forever.
Ever get sick of being asked about injuries?
“It’s weird because you go from the top, like, ‘Oh, we’re expecting you to make plays for the team,’ or ‘How are you going to do this week?’ to ‘Oh, how is everybody else going to do?’ Then they’ll ask you ‘Oh, how’s your knee doing? How’s your knee doing?’ Over and over again. You just hear it all the time, but honestly it’s what’s expected. Every day my trainer was asking me how my knee was doing. People have a tendency to see what’s in front of them and react off of that. It’s not always about ‘Oh, I need to care about this dude’s feelings. He’s going through something. I should really be nicer to him.’ People don’t think like that. They’re like ‘Oh, you’re out so let’s who can move past this guy.’ In (the media’s) situation, I don’t even blame you all for that. In the locker room, it can be like that too. You get left out of things because you can’t even go to practice in a COVID year. Or you can’t even travel with the team, so you’re left out of everything. It just naturally happens. It’s not like it’s anybody’s fault. My coaches tell us all the time that the world doesn’t care about your feelings. It’s ‘What have you done for me lately?’ That’s how humans are, and it is what it is. So I’ve gone through it, but you just have to find a way to keep on focus on yourself and keep getting better each and every day. Then, all of a sudden, you’re looking back and you’re like ‘Wow, I’ve been through two injuries. We’ve got a game on Saturday. I’m so blessed.’ Now those questions start to come back up like ‘Are you excited to make plays? Are you excited to do this and that?’ And it’s like ‘Of course.’ So it is natural.”
Sticking it out & being named captain?
“I’m the fourth player, I think, from Fresno, California to come through (OU), and nobody has made it all the way through. Like they transferred or got kicked off the team, they’ve had everything happen. And so when I was coming in it was kind of like ‘You’re going to make-or-break Fresno. You’re going to save Fresno.’ So I’ve held that in my heart this whole time being here. I’m really prideful about that to where I’ve got to make it through. I’ve got to make it through. I’ve talked to those guys who have left, and they’re like ‘You know, man, you’ve already done that. Like, you’re good. Just go play and do whatever you need to do. If you need to leave, that’s fine. Just go do whatever you need to do. It’s fine. You’re going to have three degrees from there. You’ve made it. You’ve saved the name of Fresno already.’ And it just wasn’t good enough for me at that. It was like ‘I’ve gotta make it through. I’ve gotta make it through. I’ve gotta play. I’ve gotta finish strong and get drafted and do all these things because that was the goal from the jump.’ I can’t just give up on that because things got hard. Coach Grinch talks about that all the time. You’ve got to be able to go through hard things. Like, even the hard stuff in practice. Even the hard stuff in life. If you go through it, it’s just going to make you a better person. So that’s why I’m still here, for sure. When they named me captain, it was a cool moment, for sure. It was just kind of like a respect thing. I always said ‘I’m the team OG. I’m going to be a captain regardless.’ But when they named it, it’s cool to have the title. It’s cool to know that your guys give you that respect, for sure.”
***
Pat Fields
Safety depth there now?
I think we have a lot of depth, a lot of guys that have made huge jumps even from spring football alone like Key Lawrence, Justin Broiles. Our freshmen like Jordan Mukes, Bryson Washington, Damond Harmon. We have a lot of depth in the room and a lot of depth on the entire team. That will just help with rotations, guys won’t have to be playing as many snaps. We look at some of our most productive players last year, especially on the d-line like Isaiah Thomas and Nik Bonitto and a lot of their production came from just being fresh and not having to play the entire game. I think it will help not only our room, but the entire defense as a whole.
Broiles?
I think Justin has always been a guy – because like he’s always been a year above me so like he had me in a little brother/mentorship position. I think the thing with him is he’s always been a guy who has worked extremely hard, whether that is in the weight room, on the field, the film room. I think this year he just trusts himself a lot more and is a lot more confident in his ability. He’s always been a guy that has brought energy to the team, to the field. I think his confidence is at a whole different level. That’s why you see the big leap in his play and what he’s able to do.
Silver lining to miss spring?
It allowed me to go without the game for a while. You have this perspective of appreciation more and gratitude for the game. Gratitude for the little things like practicing, being out there with your guys. Appreciation of the hard things like whenever you’re tired in practice, the ability to push through. It’s weird that I appreciate the hardest things, most difficult things in football but I think that has just helped me this year in terms of being able to attack every single day in practice. Being able to appreciate every single moment. Like we just got done with this Tuesday and Wednesday, so that’s one less Tuesday-Wednesday I have in my career at the University of Oklahoma. Just that appreciation for every single day. Since I’m appreciating each day, working on my game a lot more and things like that.
Two-time captain?
I just appreciate it a lot. I took a lot of pride being that I’m here from Oklahoma. I’m trying to set the standard for the next guys coming through, coming from Tulsa or Oklahoma City to the University of Oklahoma. I’m looking at Gentry, I look at Jayden Rowe, I look at Micah Tease, Chris McClellan. All of those younger guys. I want (to be there) like Steve (Parker) was for me when Steve was a team captain. I should one-up Steve and the next person in line should one-up me and keep that trend going.
Bowman and McCutchin?
To start with Billy, he’s a mature guy. From day one, he’s come in … and I think with a lot of mature guys, you may see they are impressionable sometimes and I think that can be a bad way. They may just want to do everything. They may want to be out everywhere. Billy came in extremely focused. He’s extremely responsible. He was a guy who was coming in on his own initiative. Not us leading him, but coming into get extra work in, watch extra film, things like that. I think that speaks a lot to who he is. He didn’t need the leadership of anyone. He did it on his own. I think that shows everything you need to know about him.
With Latrell, you see a lot of the same thing. He’s a lot more social and a funny guy. He’s bringing energy to the team. If it’s a bad day, he’s going to be the one with a smile on his face and happy. He has a lot of the same traits as Billy with work ethic and things like that. Latrell will stay after practice and work on his technique or do extra reps. You see that pro mentality at a very young age.
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D.J. Graham
Consistency?
It keeps you grounded and it humbles you. For me, I definitely think I need to be more consistent. I feel like, they say all the time consistent players play better than a person that is up and down. I think when our young DBs all become like this, like the corner room is gonna take off. Not only corner, but the DB room. I think once that happens, we're gonna take off and everything's gonna go so much smoother. That's when you're gonna see not just one young DB playing but you're gonna see a whole rotation of us because we're all interchangeable and you know you're gonna get the same consistency out of one guy as you are from this guy.
Toughest WR?
Mike Woods. I think he's an NFL caliber receiver. He's big, he's physical. He can surprisingly run. I didn't think he was that fast, but you've gotta get on your horse because he'll get out of dodge quick. He runs good routes. Not too much shake. His releases are effective and it's straight to the point, not too much dancing. Like I said before, he's gonna have a great season, I feel like. He's a formidable opponent I would say.
Formula 1?
I've been into cars my entire life. But we would turn on F1, my dad would turn it on if there was nothing else to watch as a little kid. It was cars and the fastest cars, so I'd watch it. It wasn't until my sophomore year, I think 2018, I started really getting into F1. I figured out that Lewis Hamilton, my favorite racer, the only Black racer to ever race, I just naturally gravitated toward him. The Netflix series Drive to Survive came out and that's one of the best Netflix series I've ever seen. It really shows you how cutthroat that business is, in Formula One. It's crazy. Like I said, I figured out Lewis Hamilton, he's doing this, he's doing that. Not only what he's doing on the track, but what he's doing off the track. It's like Muhammad Ali stuff. The cars, like, they're the best, the tip-top, the best in the world. Ever since then, I don't know, I just started gravitating toward it more and more and more. It's one of my favorite things.
***
Nik Bonitto
Tyrese at RT?
Tyrese has been looking really good. Sometimes last year he played tackle so he kind of had a gist for it a little bit. You can see he’s taken a lot of steps. He’s making it hard on me and other people at my position. He always had those quick feet. Now he has that power and strength as well where in the run game he can really knock you off if you’re not bringing your stuff. I feel like Tyrese has really taken a lot of steps at tackle.
Whirlwind year from nobody to dat dude?
I’ve seen the hype and I get why, just because of my numbers last year. But just me personally going back and looking at a lot of the games last year, I have so much room to improve in a lot of areas in my game. Just having that in the back of my mind and knowing I still have to get better at a lot of things, it pushed me this offseason and throughout fall camp to work on the things I need to get better at and continue to try to be a better player than last year. That humbles me and keeps me grounded to get that much better.
Eric Gray
Jaden Knowles, Todd Hudson?
Both of them have done a great job all camp, learning, getting ready for this situation, getting ready for this opportunity for them. This is an unbelievable opportunity for both of those guys. They are very good runners. They are very hard workers. They try to learn all the time. They're asking me all the time, 'So what do we have one this? What if this happens? What if this happens?' So they're soaking up a lot of knowledge and they're doing a great job.
First OU game?
The spring game was amazing. Being able to play in front of those fans was amazing and now you get to play in front of everyone, even more fans. Home opener at home, season opener at home. It's going to be a great feeling. I'm very excited to put on the uniform again, take the little concussion thing off the helmet and just go out there, let loose and just really have fun.
Worried about depth?
For me, it's always been—you know when you're young, you always want to play a lot. You want to be out there a lot. So for me, you've got to go out there—you've got to play. It's on you to go out there and play. I'm fortunate to have three other guys behind me, three other guys with me, to be able to go out there and play. You have to go out there and play and let loose and just have fun. You leave that for the coaches to worry about.
***
Jeremiah Hall
Jaden?
First, starting off with the football stuff, this past spring game, obviously Jaden had a great game at running back. It was kind of like his breakout game for all the Sooner fans to see what he can do. And then his track over the course of the past, I’d say, winter workouts, spring workouts, summer workouts, he has had that type of mentality all the way through. For him, it’s just all coming together. I’m proud of what he’s accomplished so far. And even more proud of him off the field. He’s The Weatherman. He’s involved in off the field events, he’s a man of Christ like me, so I’ve always stayed around him a little bit. But we kind of clown him sometimes. Because you know, Jaden’s kind of spoiled us. I call him the Mini-Bennie Wylie. So yeah, he’s the Mini Wylie or Weatherman J.
Jeremiah the RB?
As I’ve said in the past, the great thing about playing H-back is we have to know everything that’s going on on the field. And so I already know the running back spot. You guys have seen me get a few carries in the past. But we also have faith in the guys that we have in that room, Jaden, Kennedy, Eric and Todd Hudson. Those guys have been performing well, and we’ll see what Coach Riley has dialed up this weekend.
***
Caleb Kelly
RUSH LB?
It’s cool because it’s similar to playing SAM back in the day, but playing both is pretty cool just because you get to show your versatility. It can put you in weird situations with the NFL and stuff like that, like is he an in-betweener, is he really inside, is he really outside? It can put you in a weird situation that way. In terms of playing outside, when I do get that opportunity, it’s fun just because I get to rush the passer a lot more than you do at inside backer, and there’s a lot less you have to see and the angles are different.
So when you play both and you go back and forth, it’s kind of weird how much your brain has to work and people don’t know. They see on the outside it’s a lot of reading the O-linemen and reacting off of your steps that way, but then the inside linebacker is reading different linemen and reacting your steps that way, as well. So it’s just a lot of work, but I like it just because you kind of get to see everybody at one time and you’re the lever player a lot of the time, you get to just make sure everybody’s inside you and kind of see what it is. It’s a lot like how I played SAM back in the day, and then like I said, pass rushing has always been something I loved doing.
How supportive has your family been?
I mean, my family is everything to me, for sure. I wear my last name with pride. When I told everybody I was moving away out of California, back when I was a sophomore, I was like I just want to go and kind of like see who I can become as my own man. I remember everybody was so mad at me and they were like why would you do that? But at the same time, they were like, I understand you want to see who you are. So in my family, I was one of the people in my family that glued everybody together, whether it was at the football games, whether it’d be at family dinners and at my cousin’s who we lived real close to, and we all grew up more like siblings.
My family has my back. My little brother’s always saying something outlandish, like the days I got hurt, he’d tell me, ‘It’s OK bro, you’ll come back and start right away. I’m not worried about it,’ things like that to where he has this like upmost belief in me. My mom just always being there for me, always making sure she could be there for the surgeries, always making sure she could have my back. Now she’s got a lot of games to finally prepare for instead of flights for surgeries. So, it’s just exciting to kind of represent my family and kind of give them love. And of course, my girlfriend helped me out a lot, too. So I just have so much support back home and I love them all to death. So it’s an easy question for sure. I could talk about them forever.
Ever get sick of being asked about injuries?
“It’s weird because you go from the top, like, ‘Oh, we’re expecting you to make plays for the team,’ or ‘How are you going to do this week?’ to ‘Oh, how is everybody else going to do?’ Then they’ll ask you ‘Oh, how’s your knee doing? How’s your knee doing?’ Over and over again. You just hear it all the time, but honestly it’s what’s expected. Every day my trainer was asking me how my knee was doing. People have a tendency to see what’s in front of them and react off of that. It’s not always about ‘Oh, I need to care about this dude’s feelings. He’s going through something. I should really be nicer to him.’ People don’t think like that. They’re like ‘Oh, you’re out so let’s who can move past this guy.’ In (the media’s) situation, I don’t even blame you all for that. In the locker room, it can be like that too. You get left out of things because you can’t even go to practice in a COVID year. Or you can’t even travel with the team, so you’re left out of everything. It just naturally happens. It’s not like it’s anybody’s fault. My coaches tell us all the time that the world doesn’t care about your feelings. It’s ‘What have you done for me lately?’ That’s how humans are, and it is what it is. So I’ve gone through it, but you just have to find a way to keep on focus on yourself and keep getting better each and every day. Then, all of a sudden, you’re looking back and you’re like ‘Wow, I’ve been through two injuries. We’ve got a game on Saturday. I’m so blessed.’ Now those questions start to come back up like ‘Are you excited to make plays? Are you excited to do this and that?’ And it’s like ‘Of course.’ So it is natural.”
Sticking it out & being named captain?
“I’m the fourth player, I think, from Fresno, California to come through (OU), and nobody has made it all the way through. Like they transferred or got kicked off the team, they’ve had everything happen. And so when I was coming in it was kind of like ‘You’re going to make-or-break Fresno. You’re going to save Fresno.’ So I’ve held that in my heart this whole time being here. I’m really prideful about that to where I’ve got to make it through. I’ve got to make it through. I’ve talked to those guys who have left, and they’re like ‘You know, man, you’ve already done that. Like, you’re good. Just go play and do whatever you need to do. If you need to leave, that’s fine. Just go do whatever you need to do. It’s fine. You’re going to have three degrees from there. You’ve made it. You’ve saved the name of Fresno already.’ And it just wasn’t good enough for me at that. It was like ‘I’ve gotta make it through. I’ve gotta make it through. I’ve gotta play. I’ve gotta finish strong and get drafted and do all these things because that was the goal from the jump.’ I can’t just give up on that because things got hard. Coach Grinch talks about that all the time. You’ve got to be able to go through hard things. Like, even the hard stuff in practice. Even the hard stuff in life. If you go through it, it’s just going to make you a better person. So that’s why I’m still here, for sure. When they named me captain, it was a cool moment, for sure. It was just kind of like a respect thing. I always said ‘I’m the team OG. I’m going to be a captain regardless.’ But when they named it, it’s cool to have the title. It’s cool to know that your guys give you that respect, for sure.”
***
Pat Fields
Safety depth there now?
I think we have a lot of depth, a lot of guys that have made huge jumps even from spring football alone like Key Lawrence, Justin Broiles. Our freshmen like Jordan Mukes, Bryson Washington, Damond Harmon. We have a lot of depth in the room and a lot of depth on the entire team. That will just help with rotations, guys won’t have to be playing as many snaps. We look at some of our most productive players last year, especially on the d-line like Isaiah Thomas and Nik Bonitto and a lot of their production came from just being fresh and not having to play the entire game. I think it will help not only our room, but the entire defense as a whole.
Broiles?
I think Justin has always been a guy – because like he’s always been a year above me so like he had me in a little brother/mentorship position. I think the thing with him is he’s always been a guy who has worked extremely hard, whether that is in the weight room, on the field, the film room. I think this year he just trusts himself a lot more and is a lot more confident in his ability. He’s always been a guy that has brought energy to the team, to the field. I think his confidence is at a whole different level. That’s why you see the big leap in his play and what he’s able to do.
Silver lining to miss spring?
It allowed me to go without the game for a while. You have this perspective of appreciation more and gratitude for the game. Gratitude for the little things like practicing, being out there with your guys. Appreciation of the hard things like whenever you’re tired in practice, the ability to push through. It’s weird that I appreciate the hardest things, most difficult things in football but I think that has just helped me this year in terms of being able to attack every single day in practice. Being able to appreciate every single moment. Like we just got done with this Tuesday and Wednesday, so that’s one less Tuesday-Wednesday I have in my career at the University of Oklahoma. Just that appreciation for every single day. Since I’m appreciating each day, working on my game a lot more and things like that.
Two-time captain?
I just appreciate it a lot. I took a lot of pride being that I’m here from Oklahoma. I’m trying to set the standard for the next guys coming through, coming from Tulsa or Oklahoma City to the University of Oklahoma. I’m looking at Gentry, I look at Jayden Rowe, I look at Micah Tease, Chris McClellan. All of those younger guys. I want (to be there) like Steve (Parker) was for me when Steve was a team captain. I should one-up Steve and the next person in line should one-up me and keep that trend going.
Bowman and McCutchin?
To start with Billy, he’s a mature guy. From day one, he’s come in … and I think with a lot of mature guys, you may see they are impressionable sometimes and I think that can be a bad way. They may just want to do everything. They may want to be out everywhere. Billy came in extremely focused. He’s extremely responsible. He was a guy who was coming in on his own initiative. Not us leading him, but coming into get extra work in, watch extra film, things like that. I think that speaks a lot to who he is. He didn’t need the leadership of anyone. He did it on his own. I think that shows everything you need to know about him.
With Latrell, you see a lot of the same thing. He’s a lot more social and a funny guy. He’s bringing energy to the team. If it’s a bad day, he’s going to be the one with a smile on his face and happy. He has a lot of the same traits as Billy with work ethic and things like that. Latrell will stay after practice and work on his technique or do extra reps. You see that pro mentality at a very young age.
***
D.J. Graham
Consistency?
It keeps you grounded and it humbles you. For me, I definitely think I need to be more consistent. I feel like, they say all the time consistent players play better than a person that is up and down. I think when our young DBs all become like this, like the corner room is gonna take off. Not only corner, but the DB room. I think once that happens, we're gonna take off and everything's gonna go so much smoother. That's when you're gonna see not just one young DB playing but you're gonna see a whole rotation of us because we're all interchangeable and you know you're gonna get the same consistency out of one guy as you are from this guy.
Toughest WR?
Mike Woods. I think he's an NFL caliber receiver. He's big, he's physical. He can surprisingly run. I didn't think he was that fast, but you've gotta get on your horse because he'll get out of dodge quick. He runs good routes. Not too much shake. His releases are effective and it's straight to the point, not too much dancing. Like I said before, he's gonna have a great season, I feel like. He's a formidable opponent I would say.
Formula 1?
I've been into cars my entire life. But we would turn on F1, my dad would turn it on if there was nothing else to watch as a little kid. It was cars and the fastest cars, so I'd watch it. It wasn't until my sophomore year, I think 2018, I started really getting into F1. I figured out that Lewis Hamilton, my favorite racer, the only Black racer to ever race, I just naturally gravitated toward him. The Netflix series Drive to Survive came out and that's one of the best Netflix series I've ever seen. It really shows you how cutthroat that business is, in Formula One. It's crazy. Like I said, I figured out Lewis Hamilton, he's doing this, he's doing that. Not only what he's doing on the track, but what he's doing off the track. It's like Muhammad Ali stuff. The cars, like, they're the best, the tip-top, the best in the world. Ever since then, I don't know, I just started gravitating toward it more and more and more. It's one of my favorite things.
***
Nik Bonitto
Tyrese at RT?
Tyrese has been looking really good. Sometimes last year he played tackle so he kind of had a gist for it a little bit. You can see he’s taken a lot of steps. He’s making it hard on me and other people at my position. He always had those quick feet. Now he has that power and strength as well where in the run game he can really knock you off if you’re not bringing your stuff. I feel like Tyrese has really taken a lot of steps at tackle.
Whirlwind year from nobody to dat dude?
I’ve seen the hype and I get why, just because of my numbers last year. But just me personally going back and looking at a lot of the games last year, I have so much room to improve in a lot of areas in my game. Just having that in the back of my mind and knowing I still have to get better at a lot of things, it pushed me this offseason and throughout fall camp to work on the things I need to get better at and continue to try to be a better player than last year. That humbles me and keeps me grounded to get that much better.
