Nothing too urgent, but a couple of nice nuggets in tonight's media session.
Lincoln Riley
- Why position battles at this time are a good thing?
"I think it's a sign of having more depth. You know, we had some that went on last year. Several guys that didn't play much early in the year won jobs and played a lot at the end. Tre Norwood, Marquise Brown, there's probably more, trying to think of a few more off the top of my head. But we had several guys that as we went on, played more and more. I think that's what you always want. If you're clear-cut, then your depth's probably not elite and so, and I think it just helps keep you sharp throughout the year. Human nature, if you think you've got a battle won and it's sewn up for the rest of the year, then a lot of people are gonna lose a little bit of motivation, lose a little bit of that edge to win the job in the first place. I think it's just depth and wanting there to be constant competition and constant pressure on these guys that you've gotta perform."
- I asked about team captains. No team captains named yet. Haven't even voted on 'em yet.
- Seibert made great strides last year, and OU has learned how to handle him doing all three duties a lot better. Blocked FG in Rose Bowl had nothing to do w/ Seibert, said Riley.
- Bolton started to turn the corner coming into spring. And Bolton has already graduated. Could have been a grad transfer but opted to stick around, meant a lot to Riley that Bolton stayed.
- I asked about Robert Barnes finally being healthy:
"He’s getting more comfortable playing back there. He has been kind of up and down as far as health his entire time here and even, not the two big ones, but some nagging injuries behind the scenes that has limited him or held him out at times. There really hasn’t been no consistency to his game or him getting improved. This camp has been the healthiest he’s ever been. That’s good for him, getting thrown right in the middle of a safety battle and they are duking it out. He’s doing some good things for us in special times as well. Even though he’s been here a year for us, he’s still so young in terms of number of reps that he’s actually taken here. He’s really closer in a lot of ways to a true freshman than a second-year guy. He’s improving. He still has a long ways to go and I believe he’ll do that."
- Continues to praise AD Miller, says he'll see significant snaps Saturday.
- Said how the mental health issue has changed so, so much but is very happy with how OU handles the situation with the players.
Lincoln Riley
- Why position battles at this time are a good thing?
"I think it's a sign of having more depth. You know, we had some that went on last year. Several guys that didn't play much early in the year won jobs and played a lot at the end. Tre Norwood, Marquise Brown, there's probably more, trying to think of a few more off the top of my head. But we had several guys that as we went on, played more and more. I think that's what you always want. If you're clear-cut, then your depth's probably not elite and so, and I think it just helps keep you sharp throughout the year. Human nature, if you think you've got a battle won and it's sewn up for the rest of the year, then a lot of people are gonna lose a little bit of motivation, lose a little bit of that edge to win the job in the first place. I think it's just depth and wanting there to be constant competition and constant pressure on these guys that you've gotta perform."
- I asked about team captains. No team captains named yet. Haven't even voted on 'em yet.
- Seibert made great strides last year, and OU has learned how to handle him doing all three duties a lot better. Blocked FG in Rose Bowl had nothing to do w/ Seibert, said Riley.
- Bolton started to turn the corner coming into spring. And Bolton has already graduated. Could have been a grad transfer but opted to stick around, meant a lot to Riley that Bolton stayed.
- I asked about Robert Barnes finally being healthy:
"He’s getting more comfortable playing back there. He has been kind of up and down as far as health his entire time here and even, not the two big ones, but some nagging injuries behind the scenes that has limited him or held him out at times. There really hasn’t been no consistency to his game or him getting improved. This camp has been the healthiest he’s ever been. That’s good for him, getting thrown right in the middle of a safety battle and they are duking it out. He’s doing some good things for us in special times as well. Even though he’s been here a year for us, he’s still so young in terms of number of reps that he’s actually taken here. He’s really closer in a lot of ways to a true freshman than a second-year guy. He’s improving. He still has a long ways to go and I believe he’ll do that."
- Continues to praise AD Miller, says he'll see significant snaps Saturday.
- Said how the mental health issue has changed so, so much but is very happy with how OU handles the situation with the players.
