Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables’ comments on the Sooners’ 2022 signing class

Oklahoma head football coach Brent Venables met with the media and commented on what the Sooners are adding in their 2022 signing class.

Nick Evers, quarterback; Jayden Gibson, wide receiver

Nick Evers joins Oklahoma after passing for nearly 5,000 yards and 44 touchdowns over his junior and senior seasons. The 6-foot-3, 187 pound signal-caller also rushed for 18 touchdowns the past two seasons.

Evers is a consensus four-star recruit and chose OU over offers from Florida, Auburn and others.

Jayden Gibson is ranked as the nation’s No. 7 wide receiver nationally and the No. 8 player in the state of Florida by Rivals. The 6-foot-5, 189 pound wide receiver racked up over 1,600 receiving yards and caught 22 touchdowns during his junior and senior seasons.

“Things happen quickly, really fast as we know in this profession. Certainly in the recruiting world things can flip in a minute and I thought Jeff Lebby and the offensive coaches did a wonderful job of already having previous relationships. There was a level of comfort and trust through those relationships with Jayden [Gibson] and Nick both. The familiarity and closeness of the University of Oklahoma to where Flower Mound is located also boded well for us, but there’s a deep friendship between Jayden and Nick. They were able to really help each other through that process,” Venables said.

Venables explained why Evers made since as the Sooners’ quarterback signee in this class.

“Obviously leaned on him from, alright, who is the guy and why is he the guy? It was important to me making sure that we find the right kind of guy that again had maybe some maturity to him, had a really good support system to him that’s going to help him navigate his journey, had some level-headedness knowing that what you are as a freshman is going to look a lot different than what you’re going to look like in three or four years.

“Just like when he was a freshman in high school and he’s 13 or 14 years old. It looked a lot different than he was when he left at 18. There’s a natural maturation that’s going to take place. Whether it be knowledge, maturity, decision-making, physicality, skill, all those things are developed. So, finding the right guy that fit there, too. Not just a talented player that can come in and help us be a quality player at that position. I think looking for the totality, being the total package and, man, did he find one,” Venables said.

Of course, Venables and the OU staff are impressed with Evers’ physical tools as well.

“He has tremendous discipline. He’s a natural leader. He’s connected from coast to coast. Kids love him. Easy to follow. Just a great athlete who’s just scratching the surface. He’s got length, he’s got speed, he’s got arm talent. Very accurate player and everything’s still sitting in front of him,” Venables said.

Up next: A defensive lineman

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