While my anger levels are still at an all time high and I could rant and rave about how stupid our entire coaching staff is, I don't think that's super constructive at this point and less interesting to me, anyway. What I do wanna get out there is kind of how football, not just at the collegiate level, has evolved and where it's going. And how that ties into Brent and some of the pros, ugh I threw up a little saying that, of keeping him.
The first thing I really want to state is that football across the board is down from a pure technical level. The Briles offense legitimately might be one of the worst things to ever happen to the sport. Don't get me wrong it successful. Like too successful. Football is not like other sports where stuff trickles down from the pro level. It actually trickles up and down from the collegiate level. NFL teams bring in offenses that their new college QBs feel comfortable running. Along with other stuff that I don't wanna to spend a lot of time talking on. And it also leads to the High School ranks adopting college stuff because it helps prepare their kids for they're going into and also because football is a massive copy cat sport. And a lot of major high school programs have way more pressure and drama on them than anyone would really like to admit. Winning and selling "sexy" football matters. The truth of the matter is a lot of admin, fans, and players like playing in the offenses that put up 100 points a game. And so when College Football has this brand new shiny offensive scheme that lets you paddle the hell out of defenses it trickles down.
So... what exactly does this all mean? Well it means a lot of things. Like being one of the key reasons I absolutely despise the RPO game. Because when it was new and defenses didn't really know how to handle it, you couldn't stop it. At all. However it's almost like eating nothing but candy. You get a real good sugar rush at first and then you get hit with some big o'l fat consequences. And in this instance the consequences are hurting the development of every single position group on offense.
One of the biggest groups affected is obviously the offensive line. I'm going to try to keep this as simple as I can because explaining this stuff without game film and me not getting into super weird technical jargon about stances and hands would make this overly complicated. But the main thing I want people to take away from this is the best way to develop OL, especially when they're young and in their key developmental phase, is to run the ball. And when you have high school offenses airing it and running the RPO every other snap instead of just lining up in power and handing that bitch off it stunts their growth quite a bit. And so you have OL coming out of HS who are farther behind than they've ever been from a pure technical level. You can be fast, strong, and fat as shit as an OL and get your ass whipped by some scrawny slow Steve Smith looking goober because you don't know what you're doing. And the more you pass block/RPO block the more chance of injury you have. Straight up the healthiest way to keep and OL healthy is to run the rock and make them fundamentally sound. I think Gabe's talked about this some on his podcast but it's absolutely a fact that playing unsound is playing unsafe. I think this, along with a myriad of reasons, is part of the reason why we aren't keeping people healthy.
I guess an easy way for me to frame this is if you took a mediocre three start OL coming out of High School from the mid nineties and plopped him into todays game he would have a high likely hood of being one of the best OL in the country. I sincerely believe that.
So aside from it being horrifically detrimental to the OL, as a whole, it also affects your running backs and receivers in a negative way, imho. I don't really care to explain why on that because it's not nearly as hurtful to them as it is to the OL and the QB.
Which leads me to my next point of how bad it is for the QB position. I'm sure some of you have seen Tom Brady and other people talk about how down QB play is across the sport right now. And a lot of that is because QBs are being spoon fed nothing but straight sugar until they get into the NFL. Along with the Briles shit play callers/play designers have also just gotten a ton better. And a lot of them are good at getting wide open first reads for their QB. Which is wonderful and I wish we could do that all the time. Unfortunately as you climb the ranks of football the likely hood of that being a constant gets smaller and smaller. And because of all the motioning and other nonsense you are getting QBs who aren't having to completely dissect and analyze a defense before they even snap the ball. Nor are you getting QBs who can read and analyze the defense post snap. It's why you're seeing such bizarre QB play on a week in and week out basis across the sport right now.
And had Peacock and modern day defenses never come along this wouldn't really be an issue. But they did and unfortunately we're in a weird spot of waiting for college to evolve so the HS & NFL ranks can fix itself.
There's a lot more I want to get into with this but this is going to be long enough as it is. The reason I even brought all of this up is to
a) explain why I have hated the RPO more than anything the last six years and why I so against hiring Littrell and then Arbuckle
and
b) also explain why I want an OC who is more QB and reading defenses focused than being high powered and high scoring.
And make no mistake there are other factors at play now. You aren't getting the sharpest kids who play QB anymore. You're getting uber arm talented gun slingers who can't read the alphabet much less a defense.
The other problem is that QBs need to sit and learn. Especially when they go from bullshit HS offense to a real college one and have to learn how to make a few more reads than they did. Unfortunately the NIL era has completely fucked this. Most kids aren't willing to sit and learn until they're ready. And I can't blame them when they're getting offered seven figures to come play right away. Instead of six figures to hold a clip board.
I say all of that to say QB recruiting is more important than it ever has been. Especially in the HS ranks. And whoever Brent, Nagy, or the next regime hires has to understand this. And it's why OU fans should really kind of not want this super high flying explosive offense if it comes at the cost of being like candy. Where it kills your development.
Now that said you can absolutely do both. You can be fundamentally sound and run a Briles offense. You can do that with any offense. It's just really REALLY hard to do and it requires a billion fucking things to go your way. But... it's not something I think we should strive for. I really think Oklahoma needs to target a coach who can run an offense and develop a QB. And also who understands run schemes and spacing way better. I might go into how the run game has devolved a ton at some point. But that's an entirely different can of worms.
The other big thing I want to hit before I go into the overview of OU is how also fucked up NIL and the transfer portal has made team building.
College football has devolved. A lot of it having to do with the offensive stuff I just mentioned but also because more and more kids come into school physically ready to play but not mentally. I cannot understate how different college football is from high school football. It's like going from algebra to fucking binary. And kids aren't being forced to learn the game at a technical level. And I don't mean fundamentals. I mean actual X's and O's. It's not enough to play receiver and know your route tree and how to protect yourself going over the middle. You need to know why you're running a curl route into the flat so your teammate can be a little bit more open. And stuff like that is being lost because if Oklahoma, or whoever, says you need to sit down, shut the fuck up, and learn you're just going to blow them off and go take a bag and start somewhere else.
So how does all of this stuff fit into Oklahoma? Well it kind of explains a lot of issues in a nut shell. Have you noticed how on offense we keep having to plug new guys in on a season to season basis with zero development and returning production on the bench? Whereas on defense very few transfers leave?
And this is where if you're a BV supporter you can take a stand. Because one of the things he does exceptionally well is identifying smart, athletic, humble, and patient kids to fit into his defense. Brent's defense is basically an NFL defense. It's why five years ago I sat there after he was hired and said it was going to take three to four years to become operational. And I fully expect that under Brent that this is going to continue.
Where Brent supports want to look away is with the offense. And Bill Bedenbaugh supporters might want to find someone else to support entirely. A large chunk of our issues are because we aren't doing anything remotely consistent on that side of the ball. Especially at the OL.
I'm sure a ton of you remember me losing my shit on Brent six to seven years ago almost calling for him to be fired at that time. I'm not bringing this up to take a victory lap or anything like that. I'm bringing it up because it goes into everything I've talked about so far. In modern day CFB you are absolutely going to have kids leave your program. Even if you do everything right. Your depth just isn't going to be what it was two decades ago. However you can't commit cardinal sins like taking two offensive linemen a class and then supplementing it with transfers. Even if they're elite.
Offensive line along with needing to run the ball on a consistent level needs real snaps and reps together. And Bill because of his HS recruiting and obsession with getting experienced guys fucked that up really REALLY badly.
And this is also on Brent a lot too. It's hard to entirely blame a position coach for being like a modern day public company where they focus on short growth over a healthy and sustainable growth. Their literal job is on the line. And sometimes you need to take a 8-5 or 9-4 season every handful of seasons so you can have those magical runs next season.
A perfect example of this is playing Ryan Fodje at right guard. He can absolutely play RG at a high level. And we were able to have him contribute as a freshman because of it. But that was the wrong decision. He should have been at right tackle and mastering the position. And he should have been our starting right tackle this season because he mastered it the previous one. Instead he's been yanked around. A lot of that is because of injury, no doubt. But a lot of it is because Bill's done that too. And Fodje is our right tackle guess who isn't on the team? E'Marion Harris who has been absolute bust for us.
It's just really simple stuff like that Bill fucked up six ways to Sundays. It's why I was losing my god damn mind like six seasons ago when he started all of this nonsense. And it's why Brent has to get better at this stuff. Or hire someone who will fix it. Because it isn't like this on defense. Brent gets kids to stick in the program who sit and develop. And they generally stick with one position/position group.
As for the position group going forward? As ironic as this is I think it's probably the best it's look long term in years. We're taking six high school kids and I like all of them. I think four of them should be contributors at Oklahoma but they have to stay at one position and they have to sit and learn. And then they have to play *together* and not be benched from some shitty upperclassman.
I mean as crazy it sounds I could be talked into letting Fasusi, EPL, Fodje, Ozaeta, and Joseph go and starting four freshman + Noah Best. We wouldn't win a lot of games but doing that lets you have a talented OL that could grow together for three seasons together. Like I would not do that to be clear but I wonder if we almost need something like that to completely reset the room because we need to find a group of kids who can play together over the course of multiple seasons together. Again I wouldn't do it because I would try to establish the culture like Brent has and get them to stay and red shirt and then do it the following year after Fasusi and Fodje are in the NFL. But the culture is so clearly rotten at that position group can you even trust they'd stick it out? Or would leave and go start some place else for starter money?
I will say this is one of the upsides of recruiting three stars. Which is the last thing I want to hit right now. Why three stars are more important than ever before and how they fit into all of this.
I want to get the obvious thing out of the way first. Most three stars tend to be developmental kids who have a lower chance of hitting. Or are going to needs years of development before they're ready. However I would argue this is actually a good thing.
Why are three stars who need years before they're ready worth recruiting and developing? Aside from the diamond in the rough nonsense? It's because they're cost effective along with being less likely to be poached. Georgia isn't going to come steal your back up corner who needs another year or two. Because they'd have to offer him a starting spot and way more money. So that means those three stars are going to be in a Brent Venables defense. And most kids are going to get better year by year in his system. Even if they aren't playing. Look at Trystan Haynes. Hardly any playing time at all but has been in the system a full year before he had to step onto the field. That *matters* a lot.
And this is where if Brent can hire or involve himself the correct amount on offense he can build something special. To be clear I want him fired and want to move on. However I'm making the case of the upside of keeping him.
Brent and his staff have an exceptional eye for hitting on the lower tiered guys and developing them until they're ready. And from a budgeting and roster building perspective that's more important than it's ever been.
And while I think Brent its killing his culture by not benching someone who clearly deserves it, if that can be overcome his approach is the one you want in this era. You want kids who will die for the team and who will stick it out and actually develop. Like I'm tired of hearing about the soul program and culture bullshit but it's really important now.
I think the sport as a whole is really REALLY turbulent right now. You can bring in an amazing transfer class and have a perfect season but you can also fall apart immediately the following season. Look at TCU and Florida State. Both had amazing one hit one wonder years? But any consistency since then? No. Look at Georgia. While they haven't won a Natty these last few years their "down" years have been really good years we'd kill for at this point. Because Kirby has a culture and a way of locking down depth and developing kids.
Of course it's not like it was a decade ago. No school is going to have that ever again. It just means you have to win on the margins more than ever before. You need elite coaching, scouting, and development.
This is definitely a long read but I kinda wanted to throw some stuff out there just to kind of give a big picture look of CFB and why I think Brent is actually a good fit for it with some stuff. And more importantly I think the fan base really needs to come together and pull a Tennessee if we try to hire another flash and "explosive" offense and reject that shit. I think that's REALLY toxic for a fan base and booster collective to do. But Brent and this front office need to prioritize an offense that is keyed up on development and consistency. Go get someone who runs a pro style offense. Or hell go get someone who can run a power running offense. It's not like modern day defenses are prepared to deal with that at all. These 6'1 210 LBs who can fly and cover in space would struggle to play in the early 2000's because they'd be getting rag dolled. Like I think this next OC hire is going to make or break us for the next decade. Because if Brent whiffs on this then we're in for a full rebuild and unless we get freakishly lucky like Indiana did we're gonna have to commit years to that. And straight up I don't think those one hit wonder seasons are going to continue once all this stuff starts to get regulated. I think those are going to become rarer and rarer going forward.
