“When mediocrity becomes the accepted norm, excellence dies a painful death.”
I couldn’t think of a more fitting quote to describe the state of OU football. Brent has made multiple references to “defending the standard” of Oklahoma football the past 3 years. This is a proud program that’s considered a historical blue-blood in the sport. It’s also a beacon for the state of Oklahoma, even beyond the university. It’s something that Oklahomans take pride in. When I first moved to OK in the late 2010s, I asked a lifelong resident and fan why Oklahoma never pursued a professional football team to pair with the OKC thunder in basketball. His response? “The Sooners are our professional football team”.
I’m seeing a lot of folks on this board rushing to label anyone with concerns as “bedwetters” and “doomers”. Are there a handful of posters who are seemingly never happy with this program no matter what? Absolutely, and it is annoying and frustrating.
That being said, I think it’s more than fair to question the direction of this program right now. BV is 22-17 in three years at OU. BV has two signature wins, a handful of embarrassing losses, and a slew of head-scratching losses where OU has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. OU is 5-9 in one score games during BVs tenure. 4-8 versus ranked opponents. The recruiting class dropped to 17th in 2025 and their transfer class is ranked in the 20s (I believe lower according to other sites).
From an organizational standpoint, it just seems like things are in constant flux. Constant disorganization and reactive scrambling. I’ve surprisingly lost count at how many times I’ve read “surprise out of the Switzer Center” the past three years. Some examples of disorganization below:
Hiring of Roof and Littrell
JA over DG
The entire spectacle of Cale Gundy
Cayden Green leaving in the middle of spring practice
The “struggle” between the coaching staff and medical team
The parting ways of Thad Turnipseed
The late reaction to, and implementation of, NIL
Multiple botched HS recruitments in the 11th hour
The perceived lack of investment in this year’s portal class
And now the departure of Zac Alley after one year
I’m sure I’m omitting plenty from the list above. And that’s simply all “off the field” issues not even pertaining to what happens on Saturdays.
After a decade of mediocrity, Tom Herman went 32-18 at Texas in 4 years. Guess what, that wasn’t good enough. They made a gamble to escape mediocrity in the pursuit of excellence. It’s worked out well for them.
The longer this fanbase placates and endorses mediocrity, the further away from excellence it will drift. I genuinely think we are headed down that path. I hope like heck I am wrong, but those are my final thoughts right now heading into 2025.
I couldn’t think of a more fitting quote to describe the state of OU football. Brent has made multiple references to “defending the standard” of Oklahoma football the past 3 years. This is a proud program that’s considered a historical blue-blood in the sport. It’s also a beacon for the state of Oklahoma, even beyond the university. It’s something that Oklahomans take pride in. When I first moved to OK in the late 2010s, I asked a lifelong resident and fan why Oklahoma never pursued a professional football team to pair with the OKC thunder in basketball. His response? “The Sooners are our professional football team”.
I’m seeing a lot of folks on this board rushing to label anyone with concerns as “bedwetters” and “doomers”. Are there a handful of posters who are seemingly never happy with this program no matter what? Absolutely, and it is annoying and frustrating.
That being said, I think it’s more than fair to question the direction of this program right now. BV is 22-17 in three years at OU. BV has two signature wins, a handful of embarrassing losses, and a slew of head-scratching losses where OU has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. OU is 5-9 in one score games during BVs tenure. 4-8 versus ranked opponents. The recruiting class dropped to 17th in 2025 and their transfer class is ranked in the 20s (I believe lower according to other sites).
From an organizational standpoint, it just seems like things are in constant flux. Constant disorganization and reactive scrambling. I’ve surprisingly lost count at how many times I’ve read “surprise out of the Switzer Center” the past three years. Some examples of disorganization below:
Hiring of Roof and Littrell
JA over DG
The entire spectacle of Cale Gundy
Cayden Green leaving in the middle of spring practice
The “struggle” between the coaching staff and medical team
The parting ways of Thad Turnipseed
The late reaction to, and implementation of, NIL
Multiple botched HS recruitments in the 11th hour
The perceived lack of investment in this year’s portal class
And now the departure of Zac Alley after one year
I’m sure I’m omitting plenty from the list above. And that’s simply all “off the field” issues not even pertaining to what happens on Saturdays.
After a decade of mediocrity, Tom Herman went 32-18 at Texas in 4 years. Guess what, that wasn’t good enough. They made a gamble to escape mediocrity in the pursuit of excellence. It’s worked out well for them.
The longer this fanbase placates and endorses mediocrity, the further away from excellence it will drift. I genuinely think we are headed down that path. I hope like heck I am wrong, but those are my final thoughts right now heading into 2025.
