Tag: Kevin Wilson

Who will be Oklahoma’s backup quarterback in 2024?

Oklahoma has options on the quarterback depth chart behind starter Jackson Arnold.

Backup quarterback is a position few fans or coaches ever want to think about. However, it’s an important role to have decided before going into any season.

The Oklahoma Sooners have zero doubt who their starting quarterback will be in Year 3 of the [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] era. [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] was tabbed long ago as the player who would be the face of the Sooners as they left the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] for the [autotag]SEC[/autotag].

The quarterback room as a whole has seen a major reshuffle around the former five-star prospect. Former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] is the head coach at Mississippi State. Former offensive analyst [autotag]Matt Wells[/autotag], who worked with the QBs, is the co-offensive coordinator at Kansas State. Former assistant quarterbacks coach [autotag]Matt Holocek[/autotag] followed Lebby to Starkville.

[autotag]Seth Littrell[/autotag] and [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] were promoted to co-offensive coordinators to replace Lebby, with Littrell coaching quarterbacks and likely serving as the primary play-caller. Finley will continue to coach tight ends. [autotag]Kevin Johns[/autotag], who was the OC and QBs coach at Duke for the last two seasons, was hired by Venables as an offensive analyst this offseason to replace Wells. Johns has worked under Littrell before and received his coaching start working for former Oklahoma OC and current Tulsa head coach [autotag]Kevin Wilson[/autotag]. [autotag]Jack Lowary[/autotag] and [autotag]Ty Hatcher[/autotag] were hired in December as offensive support staff, and both have worked with QBs.

[autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag], [autotag]Davis Beville[/autotag], [autotag]General Booty[/autotag] and [autotag]Jacob Switzer[/autotag] left the program via the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] this offseason, leaving Arnold as the only player in the QB room who was here a season ago.

Behind Arnold, Oklahoma has four other quarterbacks on the roster heading into the 2024 season. Veteran transfer [autotag]Casey Thompson[/autotag], true freshmen [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Brendan Zurbrugg[/autotag], and late transfer enrollee [autotag]Steele Wasel[/autotag] make up the rest of the quarterback unit.

Which of these players has the best chance to be called upon if something happens to Arnold? After all, we saw the situation play out last season when Arnold’s redshirt year was burned because he had to replace Gabriel in the second half of a must-win game against BYU.

Casey Thompson has the experience you look for in a college football backup quarterback. The seventh-year “senior” has made stops at Texas, Nebraska and Florida Atlantic over the past few years. He’s Oklahoma royalty, having seen his father [autotag]Charles Thompson[/autotag] and his older brother [autotag]Kendal Thompson[/autotag] play for the Sooners before him. He joined the program as a walk-on transfer this offseason, and has been recovering from injury, meaning he was unable to participate in spring football.

Michael Hawkins Jr., another Oklahoma legacy, provides the young and uber-talented backup option. The true freshman hails from Frisco Emerson High School in Texas, and he could be the future of the position if he develops over the next two seasons behind Arnold. He’s a dual-threat quarterback, flashing his talent in the [autotag]2024 spring game[/autotag].

Brendan Zurbrugg was the second quarterback the Sooners took in the [autotag]2024 recruiting class[/autotag], and his road to playing time is longer than his fellow true freshman’s. Zurbrugg is from Alliance, Ohio, and will be a depth player this season. He was taken by Oklahoma this year for a reason. He’ll have a chance to show what he has in practice.

Steele Wasel is the newest member of the group, transferring in from Akron in early June. He’ll be the fifth quarterback on the roster this season, and the in-state product will provide depth and a practice arm as a walk-on, getting the opportunity to practice against [autotag]Power Four[/autotag] players in Norman.

Thompson and Hawkins Jr. are the front-runners to serve as Arnold’s backup, but they’re on opposite ends of the experience spectrum. It may depend on the nature or severity of an Arnold injury to see which of them plays. Zurbrugg and Wasel are farther back in the competition, but college football has a way of making the unexpected the reality sometimes.

For instance, if Arnold is injured for part of a game and Littrell needs someone to finish the job, he might go with the steady hand of Thompson to help the Sooners win a close game, especially if it comes in a tough environment. If Arnold’s absence stretches multiple games, the talent and upside of Hawkins Jr. might be the way to go, considering the microscopic margin of error in the SEC. If either of those backups go down, Zurbrugg or Wasel could see an expanded role.

The competition will likely extend throughout fall camp, but Venables, Littrell and Finley need to have an answer at backup QB.

They’ll need to prepare either the experienced Thompson or the young Hawkins Jr. to hold the weight of Sooner Nation on their shoulders if the worst-case scenario happens. While they’re at it, it doesn’t hurt to get Zurbrugg or even Wasel ready to go just in case chaos reigns in 2024.

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Former Ohio State QB coach Corey Dennis changes teams again for the third time

Since getting let go from Ohio State, Dennis has now taken three different jobs …

It has been a whirlwind offseason for former Ohio State quarterback’s coach [autotag]Corey Dennis[/autotag].

After staring his career in Columbus in 2015, he rose from intern to graduate assistant, then as a quality control coach, and finally in 2020, was named the quarterbacks coach at Ohio State.

Dennis was let go earlier this year and quickly found a job as an offensive analyst with Utah. Shortly after that, he moved to Ole Miss, where he was set to be take over the same role.

Well, that wasn’t the last move for Dennis this offseason as he reunited with [autotag]Kevin Wilson[/autotag] at Tulsa to be their quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.

It was very odd to see a second and third move for Dennis, but it looks like he has found a home with Wilson.

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No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners vs Tulsa Golden Hurricane: How to Watch, key players, weather forecast for gameday

The Sooners take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and here is how you can watch the game, the key players to watch and the weather forecast.

Fresh off an up-and-down game last week against the SMU Mustangs, the Oklahoma Sooners are set to take on another [autotag]American Athletic Conference[/autotag] member, the [autotag]Tulsa Golden Hurricane[/autotag].

Tulsa, led by former Oklahoma offensive coordinator [autotag]Kevin Wilson[/autotag] brings an offense that hopes to give the Sooners defense fits this week. Tulsa has the No. 56 ranked offense in the nation.

While most people remember Wilson for his impressive passing attack led by [autotag]Sam Bradford[/autotag] when he was in Norman, his Tulsa team is different this year. While they don’t excel in the passing game, they do in the running game, ranking No. 26th in the country.

But if you are wondering how you can watch the game, what key players to look for, or what the weather will be like, we’ve got you covered.

Behind the scenes look at Oklahoma’s week 3 matchup with the ‘Voice of the Hurricane’

Tulsa has a whole new coaching staff and Bruce Howard lets us know what we can expect from the Golden Hurricane.

The Oklahoma Sooners are set to take on in-state opponent, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane this weekend. Tulsa is coming off a blowout loss to the [autotag]Washington Huskies[/autotag] and the Sooners are coming off a hard-fought win over the [autotag]SMU Mustangs[/autotag].

Tulsa also comes in with a whole new coaching staff as former Oklahoma offensive coordinator, [autotag]Kevin Wilson[/autotag], has taken over the reins. Bruce Howard has been the voice of Tulsa football since 1993 and he joined me on my podcast, Eat. Sleep. Bedlam. to preview the upcoming game against the Sooners.

Howard said Sooner fans can expect a lot of the same concepts they remember from Wilson’s time at Oklahoma.

“He really wants his team to be physical and aggressive,” Howard said. “That starts with the offensive line. They did a pretty good job of running against Washington last week, the No. 8 team in the nation. They did a decent job there. I think part of that has to do with who is taking the snaps.”

The quarterback position is an interesting one. [autotag]Cardell Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Braylon Braxton[/autotag] bring dual-threat abilities. Braxton was injured early in the first game of the year, and Williams was injured last week. It’s unclear if either will play this week, but it looks like Braxton has a chance at being back.

But Oklahoma’s run defense will have to be on their “A” game as Tulsa brings in the nation’s 26th-ranked rushing attack. Oklahoma counters that with the 28th-ranked rush defense.

Tulsa runs a 4-2-5 defense that really struggled a week ago but that’s to be expected against a very good Washington offense led by Heisman contender Michael Penix Jr. But Howard believes Tulsa could take a similar approach as SMU to their matchup with Oklahoma this weekend.

“If you’re Tulsa, you hope that’s the way they’re able to do it,” Howard said. “That they’re able to kind of control things. Last week against Washington that was the big concern. The Huskies do like to go deep, they like to strike deep, and they like to strike quickly. They didn’t get that against Tulsa. But they did nickel and dime them to death. A lot of intermediate passes that were successful against Tulsa because Tulsa was very cognizant of getting beat over the top.”

That has been one of the main criticisms of Jeff Lebby and the Oklahoma offense is too often they are so reliant on the deep shots, that they struggle when a team takes that away.

The Mustangs were able to do that a week ago, admittedly with a better defense than the Golden Hurricane bring. The Sooners better have a better gameplan to take their shots this week or it will be another low-scoring affair.

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The Power of Youth: 3 Sooners to watch on defense vs. Tulsa

There’s a youth movement happening on defense and these three defenders will be Sooners to keep an eye on come Saturday.

Saturday’s matchup against Tulsa marks Oklahoma’s last nonconference game before they embark on their final Big 12 season. The matchup means a lot for the state of Oklahoma with the Sooners playing as the road team this week.

The Sooners enter the game with a lot of momentum on defense after shutting down what was a top-20 offense in the nation last season.

After what happened in 2022 for OU, this season’s efforts have felt particularly inspired. Oklahoma is looking to improve on last year and reshape the narrative about how the Sooners get down defensively.

After two games, the Sooners hold the nation’s sixth-best scoring defense, holding teams to just 5.5 points per game. They are eighth in third-down defense, with opponents converting just 22 percent of third-down attempts. It’s early, but through two games, it’s something to be proud of.

Tulsa may not be as talented as SMU, but their head coach is an offensive mind that Brent Venables knows all too well. The two coached under Bob Stoops for nearly a decade.

Oklahoma should be able to win this game fairly stress-free, but building their confidence and depth are also high on the list of priorities.

We believe these three players are names to watch come Saturday.

Up Next: 3 Sooners to watch on Defense

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Know the foe: Tulsa Golden Hurricane to know for Oklahoma’s first road trip of the season

Oklahoma is taking on nearby Tulsa this week and here are three Golden Hurricane to know ahead of Saturday’s contest.

Oklahoma enters its third game of the 2023 season 2-0 ahead of their final nonconference game. Oklahoma makes the trip to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane led by former Sooners offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson.

Wilson was the offensive coordinator for the Sooners from 2002-2010. There is a healthy bit of respect between Brent Venables and Kevin Wilson. Both worked under Bob Stoops as coordinators for many years. Kevin Wilson left his post as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator last offseason to take over the Tulsa program.

His program is in the process of renovation, but Wilson has done an excellent job getting them ready to go. The team is 1-1 after a win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the opener. They then took a trip out west to Washington, resulting in a 43-10 loss.

On Saturday, Tulsa will be fired up to play the state’s most prominent football program, the Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma should win this game, but that doesn’t mean they should take their opponents lightly.

To get ready for Oklahoma vs. Tulsa, here are three Golden Hurricane to know ahead of Saturday’s contest.

Up Next: 3 players to know

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2023 Season Preview: Sooners wrap up nonconference play with a trip to Tulsa

Like the SMU Mustangs, Tulsa isn’t returning much of their production from a season ago.

In our next opponent preview, we look at the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Like the SMU Mustangs, Tulsa isn’t returning much of their production this season. They rank 126th in returning production, according to ESPN (ESPN+).

Tulsa finished 5-7 last year and returns 41 percent of their offense which ranks 122nd, and returns 38 percent of their defense, which ranks 126th.

They lose their top quarterback Davis Brin but return Braylon Braxton, who played in nine games last year. He completed 56.4 percent of his passes for 1,133 yards, 10 touchdowns, and two interceptions.

The Golden Hurricane have to replace their top two running backs. No longer with the program are Deneric Prince and Steven Anderson, who combined for over 1,000 combined yards.

They did add Oklahoma State Cowboys transfer Braylin Presley, who was a really good high school running back before being moved to receiver at Oklahoma State. He’s now back playing running back and should be competing for a starting spot. The big loss for Tulsa is their top two wide receivers from a year ago.

Keylon Stokes and J.C. Santana combined for over 2,000 yards last season and will be big losses for their offense.

Defensively they lose six of their top eight tacklers from a year ago, only returning Kendarin Ray and Tyree Carlisle in the secondary.

However, they added USC Trojans transfer Julien Simon and Oklahoma State transfers Kanion Williams and Demarco Jones.

All should compete for starting spots, but the three have combined for less than 50 tackles. Tulsa also had five other transfers who should factor into the two deep.

Tulsa does bring in a new coaching staff, with the head coach being someone very familiar to Sooner fans. New head coach Kevin Wilson was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma from 2002-2010.

He’s been the OC for the Ohio State Buckeyes since 2017, so you can expect the offense to be completely different and incredibly explosive. The Tulsa offense could provide some fireworks.

That being said, this is another game Oklahoma should not struggle with because even though it’s on the road, this will be a game with the majority of the crowd wearing crimson and cream.

Score Prediction: 45-10 Oklahoma

Predicted Record: 3-0

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Oklahoma Sooners hire former UNT head coach and OU alum Seth Littrell as offensive analyst

Oklahoma Sooners bring back former player and UNT head coach Seth Littrell as an offensive analyst.

The Oklahoma Sooners added to their coaching staff with the addition of former North Texas head coach and Sooners alum, Seth Littrell.

Littrell joins the Sooners staff after seven seasons with the Mean Green. Prior to that he spent time with Arizona, Indiana, and North Carolina as an offensive coordinator.

“Great opportunity for us to get better on staff with former Oklahoma Sooner,” Brent Venables said when he met with the media to open media day. “A a guy that’s been around the country and he’s been a head football coach and did a fantastic job while he was at North Texas. And one of my favorite players that I didn’t coach per se, but one of my favorite players, a guy I love having in the locker room.”

Littrell played for the Sooners from 1997 to 2000 and was a member of Oklahoma’s national championship team.

As co-offensive coordinator with Arizona, Littrell helped the Wildcats average 28.2 points per game in 2010 and 30.2 points per game in 2011. As the OC under former Sooners assistant [autotag]Kevin Wilson[/autotag], Littrell helped the Hoosiers average 30.8 points per game in 2012 and 38.4 points per game in 2013.

Then with the Tar Heels in 2014, Littrell’s offense scored 33.2 points per game followed by 40.7 points per game in 2015. In his time at North Texas, the Mean Green averaged fewer than 30 points per game just twice in seven seasons. One of which was his first year at the helm in 2016.

With Littrell’s experience coordinating offenses, he’ll be a huge asset to Jeff Lebby and the Oklahoma Sooners’ offense.

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Kevin Wilson talks about decision to leave Ohio State

Always a professional, Kevin Wilson has nothing but good things to say about his time in Columbus. #GoBucks

Fox college football analyst RJ Young caught up with former Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson earlier Monday on his “Number One College Football Show.” Young asked Wilson a variety of questions, including why he decided to leave Ohio State to become the head coach at Tulsa.

Young specifically asked the former offensive coordinator “Why would you leave one of the best assistant coaching jobs in the world at Ohio State to run the smallest (Football Bowl Subdivision) program in the country.” Wilson had nothing but good things to say about Buckeyes and his time in Columbus.

“I had a great job, Wilson said. “Having been a head coach prior at Indiana, I tried to be a great assistant coach at Ohio State. I tried to do the job that was asked and to be a good teammate and tried to be someone who brought something to the table.”

Basically, Wilson answered the question about why he decided to move on by saying the opportunity to be a head coach doesn’t come along that often. After weighing the pros and cons and considering his age, Wilson decided to take one more stab at being the man in charge. You can listen to the full segment below from Young’s Twitter feed.

Wilson was quick to share that even though Tulsa is small, it has a history of success. The past few seasons haven’t been the best for the Golden Hurricane, but Wilson is banking on his experience and connections from his time in the Big Ten to help turn the tide.

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Kirk Herbstreit: Ryan Day could ‘stop calling plays next year’

The conversation has happened #GoBucks

Ohio State’s [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] is one of the few head coaches who still calls his team’s offensive plays. That could be coming to an end as the Buckeye boss enters his sixth season at the helm.

According to former [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] quarterback and current ESPN analyst [autotag]Kirk Herbstreit[/autotag], Day told him during one of their production meetings that he was thinking of relinquishing play calling next year in an effort “to be more of a manager as a head coach.” Herbstreit went on to explain the rationale by saying “when you’re prepping a game plan, it’s a lot more that goes into it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday to be ready to call those plays on Saturday.”

Keep in mind that Herbstreit said Day “is thinking about relinquishing” calling plays. The decision has not been made. With offensive coordinator [autotag]Kevin Wilson[/autotag] now the head coach at [autotag]Tulsa[/autotag], there is an open role in Columbus.

The first name that the former Buckeye quarterback mentioned was [autotag]Brian Hartline[/autotag], which makes plenty of sense. He could still coach the wide receivers while calling plays on Saturdays. Since we have yet to hear what the exact plans are from Day himself, at this moment it’s just conjecture.

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