Tag: Teddy Lehman

Former players react to the return of Strength and Conditioning Coach Jerry Schmidt

How did former players react to the news that the Sooners were bringing back strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt?

The Oklahoma Sooners are beginning to fill out their staff. Last night it was reported that they had a “done deal” with Jeff Lebby to be the next offensive coordinator for OU. The bigger news on the night, however, appeared to be the return of former strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt.

As Brent Venables begins to fill out his staff, it appears he’s turning to guys that helped make the Bob Stoops era of Sooners football so successful. Schmidt, affectionately referred to as Smitty, was with the Sooners from 1999-2017.

Players who worked with the former Sooners coach went to Twitter to share their “fond” memories of the brutal workouts Schmidt put them through. We’ve collated some of the best reactions for you to enjoy.

Position U: Where Oklahoma ranks on ESPN’s All-Time Positional Rankings

Where do the Oklahoma Sooners fall in the battle to claim superiority at the positional level? ESPN released their “Position U” Rankings.

One of the bigger topics of debate around college football is which school has had the best positional success. LSU, Texas, and Ohio State all claim to be “DBU” or defensive back university. How a team recruits and develops players at that position can have a lasting effect in the recruiting battles. Schools love to point to the players they helped develop into NFL-caliber talents.

That’s why the Oklahoma Sooners will put as many Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts highlights into a video package because of their recent college success and their current status in the NFL. Schools will highlight team success, but often when it comes to landing four and five-star recruits it can come down to how much success players at their position had in college and at the next level.

Before we get to 2021 in earnest, let’s take a look back at ESPN’s “Position U” rankings.

How did ESPN come to their rankings?

It’s a combination of college success, draft stock and NFL success. Our formula awards points for all-conference and All-America selections, rewarding the best college performers. It awards points on a sliding scale based on where a player is drafted, rewarding impressive NFL evaluations. Then, using data from Pro Football Reference, we add more points for production through the first five years of the player’s NFL career — beyond that, credit belongs to the NFL trainers and coaches — so that the draft busts and the late bloomers all get credit, too. – David M. Hale

Oklahoma Sooners on Bleacher Report’s All-Big 12 Team of the 21st century

The Sooners have provided some of the best talent in the history of the Big 12. Which of them make this 21st-century All-Big 12 team?

Since the turn of the century, the Oklahoma Sooners have had some of the best players in college football on both sides of the ball. Quarterbacks Jason White, Sam Bradford, Landry Jones, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts have been some of the best at the position in the last 20 years.

The star-studded Sooners have found success between the lines and at awards ceremonies. In the Big 12, no team has come close to their sustained level of excellence over the last 20 years. Though it’s been 21 years since their last national championship, their dominance of the Big 12 can’t be understated.

They’ve been as talented as anyone in the country, even if that hasn’t always translated to national championship success.

It’s no surprise then that when Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller put together the All-Big 12 Team of the 21st century, Sooners of the past were quite prevalent on the team.

Here were the guidelines he put in place to define the 21st century.

The 21st century began on January 1, 2001. That means the 2000 season does not count. Only seasons in which the program was part of the Big 12 counted. That means players from Nebraska and Colorado from 2001-10, Missouri and Texas A&M from 2001-11 and West Virginia and TCU from 2012-Present were eligible for consideration, but not for the years outside of those ranges. – Miller

Let’s take a look at the Sooners that made Bleacher Report’s All-Big 12 team of the 21st century. Unfortunately, not every spot could be filled with a player from Oklahoma. However, several Sooners could make an argument for inclusion on this list.

Rookie C Creed Humphrey details transition into Chiefs’ locker room

Creed Humphrey gave insight into his transition into the #Chiefs’ locker room on @OK_Breakdown podcast.

The transition to an NFL locker room can be tough on a rookie, but Chiefs rookie center Creed Humphrey has some good things going for him since his arrival in Kansas City.

Humphrey recently joined former Oklahoma Sooners and NFLers, Gabe Ikard and Teddy Lehman, on their podcast, “The Oklahoma Breakdown.” The three discussed a number of topics, but one thing they kept coming back to was Humphrey’s transition to an NFL locker room.

The rookie detailed his experience in Kansas City and what differed from his college days in Norman, Oklahoma.

“It’s definitely different than a college locker room,” Humphrey told Ikard and Lehman. “People have pictures of their wife and kids up in the locker, things like that. So, it’s definitely different. There’s not too much hanging around outside of the facilities with each other, they’re going back to their families and stuff. That was definitely a little weird for me at the beginning, but I’m used to it now, I understand it. It was definitely different, though, than a college environment.” 

Something that has helped Humphrey stay grounded as a rookie is the familiar faces in the locker room. One player, in particular, seemed to ease his transition, and that player is new to the locker room as well.

“Yeah, he’s been a huge help for me in this transition so far,” Humphrey said of Orlando Brown Jr. “Me and him are really close, we were at OU too. It’s been really great having me around, he’s kind of just showing me the ropes, taking me under his wing up there so far. It’s been good.”

In addition to Brown Jr., there are also a few more former Sooners players that have helped out.

“We also have Blake Bell up there and James Winchester and some other guys I know from OU,” Humphrey said. “It’s been good to see some familiar faces for sure.” 

One thing about an NFL locker room that is different from the NCAA is that you’re now surrounded by the best of the best. There are players that are going to have freakish skill sets compared to what you’re used to seeing at the college level. Humphrey explained that at least one of those guys exists in the Chiefs’ locker room and seeing him up close is different than watching him on TV.

“We have a pretty fast receiver on our team, so you could kind of say that he’s a freak, Tyreek Hill,” Humphrey said. “Seeing him in person, just this ball of muscle that can run like lightning, it’s pretty insane. I’d definitely say he’s one of the freaks for sure.

One thing similar to college is that there are a number of players who’d be described as “characters” in the locker room. In the past for the Chiefs, it has been guys like Dustin Colquitt or Anthony Sherman. According to Humphrey, there is a new player stepping up and taking that role for Kansas City on the offensive line.

“Characters in the locker room, you know, Orlando (Brown Jr.) is one of them,” Humphrey said. “Orlando is hilarious, he’s always fun to be around, he’s always entertaining. So, it’s always good to have a guy like Orlando around, who can crack a joke and make everybody laugh all the time and things like that.” 

Be sure to check out “The Oklahoma Breakdown” with Gabe Ikard and Teddy Lehman to hear the rest of the interview with Humphrey.

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