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One month later: Relax about the Sooners’ 2023 recruiting class

There was never a reason to worry about the Sooners’ 2023 recruiting class. Here’s where Oklahoma stands heading into August.

Thirty-one days ago an article was published on this website. It carried a very simple message: “Relax. The Sooners will be just fine for the 2023 recruiting cycle.”

When that article was published, the Sooners were 35th in 247Sports’ 2023 rankings. Today, they are seventh and have been as high as sixth.

Simply put, recruiting races aren’t finished in early July — not by a long shot. There’s so much talent in high school football that was and still is uncommitted going into this month. Since landing Samuel Omosigho, Brent Venables’ staff has been on an absolute tear.

The Sooners had nine commits coming into July. Heading into August, they have 18 with many more on the way after this weekend’s Party at the Palace.

What a way to finish the month of July off with the Party in the Palace! This event was a HUGE success and led to 5 new 🔒’s! This 2023 class for the #Sooners could end up being the best recruiting class in the last decade! #CHO23N #Boomer pic.twitter.com/yVYbebLBrJ

— Two Plane Sports (@TwoPlaneSports) July 31, 2022

The Sooners had 22 commits in the 2022 recruiting cycle. If all five “locks” commit. That’s 23 for 2023. This would not only be good for the highest ranked recruiting class in school history, but perhaps the best in the nation.

Just took the class calculator on @247Sports for a spin after adding the three 🔒 and MOTHER OF GOD

— Travis J Davidson (@TravisSkol) July 30, 2022

It would seem some were incorrect with their assessment of the status of OU’s recruiting.

The Sooners have pretty much solidified back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes with a very good chance to land in the top five for 2023.

Venables wanted to build a foundation? He’s done just that.

Oklahoma has a recruiting footprint across the nation with a noticable affinity for defensive linemen.

Here are the players committed to the Sooners in the 2023 class:

Jackson Arnold, 5-star QB
Adepoju Adebawore, 4-star Edge
Jaquaize Pettaway, 4-star WR
Cayden Green, 4-star OT
Derrick LeBlanc, 4-star DL
Samuel Omosigho, 4-star LB
Lewis Carter, 4-star LB
Jasiah Wagoner, 4-star CB
Daylan Smothers, 4-star RB
Kalib Hicks, 4-star RB
Keyon Brown, 3-star WR
Phil Picciotti, 3-star LB
Joshua Bates, 3-star IOL
Heath Ozeata, 3-star OT
Logan Howland, 3-star OT
Erik McCarty, 3-star ATH
Kaleb Spencer, 3-star LB
Kade McIntyre, 3-star ATH

Seems like a lot of kids want to play for OU.

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Sooners RB coach DeMarco Murray’s recruiting efforts noticed by ESPN

Retaining DeMarco Murray was a very good move by Brent Venables. The recruits Murray is getting are among the best in the country.

Since joining the Oklahoma Sooners coaching staff under Lincoln Riley in 2020, running backs coach [autotag]DeMarco Murray[/autotag] has been an invaluable asset on both the recruiting trail and on Saturdays.

The former NFL All-Pro was, of course, one of the coaches Brent Venables decided to hang on to when he came from Clemson.

It wasn’t all that long ago Oklahoma was known for its running backs instead of its quarterbacks. Jeff Lebby’s offense, which favors establishing the run, is yet another reason for young running backs to choose Oklahoma.

For the 2023 recruiting class, Murray has obtained commitments from No. 12 RB Daylon Smothers and No. 26 RB Kalib Hicks.

ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren has noticed Murray’s efforts to restock the Sooners’ running back room and believes the Sooners are among the best in the country recruiting running backs.

Brent Venables and the new staff came in with a tough task of replacing quite a few players who transferred out with the coaching change. Quarterbacks Caleb Williams and [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag] both impacted the passing and run game, combining for nine rushing touchdowns. Leading rusher [autotag]Kennedy Brooks[/autotag] is off to the NFL, but the staff is returning [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag] and adding in [autotag]Bentavious Thompson[/autotag] as well as quarterback [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag].

The coaches signed ESPN 300 running backs [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag] and [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] in 2022, and now have commitments from ESPN 300 back [autotag]Daylan Smothers[/autotag] and three-star [autotag]Kalib Hicks[/autotag]. – VanHaaren, ESPN

Murray seems to have a type. All four RB commits from the last two seasons are 5-foot-11 or 6 feet. All four are around the same weight. Murray weighed 220 pounds during his NFL days.

After landing Derrick LeBlanc, the Sooners have the No. 6 recruiting class in the nation for 2023.

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Oklahoma Sooners ranked No. 13 in Athlon Sports’ 1-131 NCAA Football rankings

The Oklahoma Sooners are ranked at No. 13 in Athlon Sports’ 2022 Rankings

Athlon Sports recently ranked every single FBS team from the lowly UMass Minutemen to the dominant Alabama Crimson Tide. We are in peak “preview magazine” season, and Athlon Sports has put together quite the list for us to go through.

As they put it, these rankings are what they think things will look like at the end of the season, so yes, according to Athlon, Alabama is due for yet another national championship.

Yay.

The Sooners check in at No. 13. While Steven Lassan is very fair in his evaluation of Oklahoma, 13 does seem a bit low.

The Sooners did lose a lot of important pieces in the offseason, which is the focus of the beginning of Lassan’s blurb.

The Sooners’ offseason could simply be described in one word: Change. Brent Venables takes over as head coach after Lincoln Riley left for USC, and the program also experienced its share of roster turnover with just nine returning starters in place for ’22. Losing Caleb Williams (USC) and Spencer Rattler (South Carolina) was a setback for the quarterback room, but Venables and new play-caller Jeff Lebby solved their concerns under center by bringing in UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel. The Hawaii native played under Lebby in Orlando in ’19 and should find a seamless fit again in Norman. Leading rusher Kennedy Brooks and three of the top four receivers from last season have departed. – Lassan, Athlon Sports

A common theme in many of these season preview articles is asking if Brent Venables is truly head coach material. Not so here. Lassan praises Venables’ defensive mind and expects massive improvement from OU’s defense.

There are a few things that OU fans aren’t going to like.

Firstly, they aren’t the highest Big 12 team; Baylor is. Also, USC is in the top ten. While the Trojans should see a jump from the abysmal 4-8 record they had in 2021, No. 9 in the country ahead of Oregon (No. 10) makes no sense.

Lassan thinks that the Big 12 is lacking a clear favorite. As of now, that is true. However, we will know more after the Sooners’ week three matchup at Nebraska. After last year’s frustrating game against the Cornhuskers, Brent Venables will have an opportunity to show that the Sooners are in the right hands.

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Oklahoma Sooners No. 2 in Big 12 media preseason poll

The Big 12 Football Media Preseason Poll has the Sooners at No. 2, behind the defending Big 12 Champion Baylor Bears.

For the first time in six years, the Oklahoma Sooners are not the preseason favorite in the Big 12. Instead, for the very first time in program history, the Baylor Bears are on top of the Big 12 Football Media Preseason Poll.

After winning the conference last season, Baylor is viewed as the favorite by the voters, claiming 17 first-place votes. Oklahoma is right behind them at No. 2 getting 12 first-place votes.

Texas received two first-place votes and in a surprise, Iowa State earned one first-place vote.

Considering the turnover that occurred seemingly everywhere in Norman, second place in the preseason poll isn’t bad.

Depending on how Venables does in his first year, this is looking to be a much less top-heavy Big 12 than we’ve seen in the last half-decade. Baylor is a proven commodity, but they are also dealing with a lot of turnover on both sides of the ball.

If Brent Venables and his coaching staff’s new mentality has truly been installed into the fabric of this program, the Sooners will do well in the Big 12 this season.

Can they win the Big 12 and make the playoff? Another way of asking that question is: Can the Sooners win the Big 12 while losing no more than one game? If Jeff Lebby gets the best out of Dillon Gabriel, that feels like a real possibility.

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On3 analyst predicts Oklahoma’s return to College Football Playoff

On3’s JD Pickell realesed his early College Football Playoff predictions with the Sooners in the number three ranking

The good folks at On3 have one of my favorite people in sports media: JD Pickell. His knowledge on the intracacies of football and ability to talk about the finer points of offenses and defenses are just excellent.

Pickell has a great video on Jeff Lebby’s offense that every Sooners fan should watch and another good one on Brent Venables’ defense.

On Pickell’s show, “The Hard Count” he gave his early prediction for who will make the College Football Playoff and the first two teams out. His top six has a diverse group of teams across four of the five power conferences with the Pac-12 as the only conference without a representative.

On3's @jdpickell shares his Way-Too-Early College Football Playoff Predictions🏆

WATCH: https://t.co/FhdC1mExAp pic.twitter.com/DHkVB99VgG

— On3 (@On3sports) July 1, 2022

So Pickell has Alabama at No. 1, Ohio State at No. 2, Oklahoma at No. 3, Clemson at No. 4, Georgia at No. 5 and Baylor at No. 6.

I like this list. Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud are both going to be Heisman contenders. Both Ohio State and Alabama have stacked rosters, and of course, Nick Saban and Ryan Day are two of the best head coaches in the country.

I’ll get to the Sooners in a minute.

Clemson had a rough season by their standards last year. With issues at the QB position, the Tigers started 4-3, but would finish 2021 strong with six straight wins and a Cheez-It Bowl victory over Iowa State.

Considering this is a year removed from losing one of the best QBs college football has ever seen, I think we can give our friends in South Carolina a bit of slack.

Dabo Swinney isn’t a very popular man outside of Clemson, but the man is still one of the nation’s best head coaches. Even after losing Brent Venables, Clemson is going to be just fine. Clemson had the 5th and 10th ranked recruiting classes in 2021 and 2022, just throwing that out there.

Now the Sooners.

Essentially what Pickell is predicting here is OU winning the Big 12 Championship over Baylor with one loss or fewer. That’s what OU has needed in the past to get into the CFP.

As much as I would love to see the Sooners go undefeated, there always seems to be one loss that comes out of nowhere on the schedule. We’ll see what happens there.

As for Georgia and Baylor, I’m intrigued to see how this plays out.

Georgia still boasts and obscene amount of talent on both sides of the ball, but Stetson Bennett going blow for blow with Bryce Young in the SEC Championship doesn’t seem very likely to go the Bulldogs’ way.

I’m not sure what to think of Baylor. The Bears are dealing with a lot of turnover on both sides of the ball, but I do like their head coach, Dave Aranda. I think the Bears will have another good season, but I don’t think they make it back to the Big 12 Championship to defend their title.

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According to Jon Wilner, who broke the realignment news, Lincoln Riley didn’t know about Big Ten move

According to Jon Wilner, who broke the news of the recent realignment, Lincoln Riley didn’t know about USC and UCLA moving to the Big Ten

It seems that we can’t go more than a day without writing about Lincoln Riley’s expoits in Southern California. After the news broke that USC and UCLA would be leaving for the Big Ten in 2024, a very fair question was brought up: Did Lincoln Riley know about USC moving to the Big Ten?

Our friends at Trojans Wire asked the question:

A similarly huge question is this: When USC made the push to hire Lincoln Riley last November, did it pitch Riley on a possible move to the Big Ten? Was it all part of a larger plan? – Matt Wadleigh, Trojans Wire

No reports came out about what Riley did or didn’t know about the move, but Trojans Wire did get a response to their article from a familiar face.

I know the answer: Absolutely not. https://t.co/txkgtqc0cA

— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) July 1, 2022

The very same man who broke the USC-UCLA move is saying Riley didn’t know about the move.

Mr. Wilner is on fire.

So this is pretty big if Wilner is correct. If Riley didn’t know about moving out of the Pac-12, is he going to want to play in the Big Ten? Ohio State and Michigan on the road aren’t that much easier to play than Alabama and Georgia.

Much like OU head coach Brent Venables, Riley will get a year or two playing in a weaker conference before moving to a much tougher one. That is of course if Riley sticks around long enough to make it to the Big Ten. If word gets out that Riley is unhappy with this, I don’t see Riley making a move.

The way this sport is going, any job worth having for a coach like Riley is going to be in the Big Ten or the SEC. Does he want that? I’m not convinced.

How long before NFL teams start calling?

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Relax about the Oklahoma Sooners 2023 recruiting class

Recruiting classes aren’t made in June. Have no fear, Sooners fans. There’s a lot of time left.

I’ve seen a lot of chatter about how Oklahoma’s wheels are falling off because they currently sit 35th in 247 Sports’ 2023 Recruiting Rankings while the Longhorns are 3rd.

Let’s get this out of the way: these rankings mean absolutely nothing in June. As we saw last year after Lincoln Riley left, recruiting classes can change very quickly. After that, the 2022 class looked unsalvageable. Brent Venables and co. brought it back to eighth in the country.

The Sooners are in very good hands. Take a breath.

After Samuel Omosigho’s commitment, OU has nine commits for the 2023 cycle. That number will go up. Does anyone really think that Purdue and Boston College are going to have a better recruiting class than OU at the end of the 2023 cycle? They won’t. Just be patient.

Florida and Oregon are both below the Sooners at the moment. As are Ole Miss, Michigan and Texas A&M. The very same A&M that had the number one recruiting class for 2022. These rankings mean absolutely nothing right now.

I can’t find the tweet (they probably deleted it) but remember a few years ago when Fox Sports Knoxville tweeted about how the Sooners had a bad recruitment ranking?

How did that end up?

July is going to be a huge month for Oklahoma Football. It seems like everytime I open Twitter the Sooners are in the top three for a big-name high school recruit. The players will come. Let the coaches do their jobs and recruit the players.

I will revisit this in a month. Mark my words: the Sooners will be much higher than 35th by the end of July.

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Conference realignment at it again: USC and UCLA planning to move to Big 10

Per reports, USC and UCLA are planning to move to the Big Ten as early as 2024

As they say, conference realignment never sleeps. USC and UCLA are planning to move to the Big Ten as early as 2024. Things seemed to be looking up for the Pac-12, but if this move is indeed going to happen, this is going to be a huge loss.

All of a sudden, Oregon is looking very lonely as the only truly nationally recognized brand remaining in the Pac-12. There are a few outcomes that could play out in response to a UCLA-USC move, but Oregon following suit and leaving the conference for, say, the Big 12 could be a possibility.

Jon Wilner broke the news of the move first.

Source: USC and UCLA are planning to leave for the Big Ten as early as 2024. Move *has not been finalized* at the highest levels of power.

— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) June 30, 2022

Funnily enough, the Big Ten media rights are owned by Fox and ESPN owns the SEC media rights. Funny how this played out, isn’t it?

The Big 10 will end up stretching from sea to shining sea from Rutgers and Maryland all the way to USC and UCLA.

For football, that may not seem like an issue, nor should it be. NFL teams go across the country all the time. However, for sports such as baseball, basketball, and softball, this could end up being an issue with how many games they play in a season. Or maybe it won’t, surely they’ve thought of this.

A popular theory among Sooners fans is that Lincoln Riley left OU because he was scared of the SEC. The Big 10 isn’t the SEC, but it’s much more competitive than the Big 12 and Pac-12. We will see soon enough if Riley can handle not being the biggest fish in the pond.

Can we change the Big 10’s name now?

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