The Oklahoma football spring practice schedule begins on Monday, March 11.
And the annual spring game is April 20.
But it's never too early to talk Oklahoma football especially upon the beginning of the first football season in 130 years in the Southeastern Conference.
You've heard of the SEC?
Big-boy football.
It means more.
National Champions play here.
That all may be true.
But in my 60+ years of watching football, I have another moniker for the SEC:
Line of Scrimmage Means More.
That's where the beginning and end is when it comes to SEC football.
It's a line of scrimmage game.
The behemoths that Oklahoma and nearly every other non-SEC school have been missing, live in the SEC.
All the 5-star defensive linemen?
Yea, they are here.
Mostly at Georgia and Alabama.
But a few will trickle down to LSU And Texas A&M.
Auburn will grab a few, too.
And now that Nick Saban has retired and the NIL and transfer portal have taken over college football, Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss and that Drinkwater-guy (or whatever his name is at Missouri) will get their share, as well.
For a complete recap of how the 32 five-star freshmen from the 2023 recruiting class graded last season, click here:
Not surprisingly, Alabama and Georgia head the list at defensive line players but Oklahoma has three players on this list, as well! (Adepoju Adebawore, Jackson Arnold and Peyton Bowen.)
So, what does that leave Brent Venables?
Well, we get our share, too.
David Stone, a 5-star, is the highest-rated defensive linemen the Sooners have signed in years.
Stone announced earlier this week during spring practice media interviews that he is already up to 275-280 pounds, weighs more than he ever has and is faster than he was at IMG Academy in Florida.
And that's just six weeks of Jerry Schmidt’s off-season weight and conditioning program. Can you imagine where Schmitty will have Stone by August?
It's freaky to even think about.
Tommie Harris and Gerald McCoy freaky!
And he has brought along his teammate from IMG Academy in Florida in Jayden Jackson, and fellow d-linemen Wyatt Gilmore, Danny Okoye and Nigel Smith II with him to Norman.
They bill themselves as "The Oklahoma Power Line" and expect to see all of them on the field early.
Speaking of Okoye and Schmitty?
Okoye announced earlier this week that Stone isn't the only bigger, faster stronger Sooner in the 2024 high school class.
Okoye, the #1 ranked recruit in Oklahoma by ESPN and the #6 weak side defensive end by Rivals, is a 4-star edge from NOAH Homeschool and is already up 22 pounds since he arrived in Norman in January.
He announced that he is now 255 pounds of "romp, gomp, stomp and muscle" (that's what my dad used to call me when I weighed 48 lbs. and tried wrestling in kindergarten!) with a 4.56 40-yard dash to boot!
And Jayden Jackson announced he’s up to 297 lbs. from 279 lbs. when he arrived in a Norman in January.
Give Jerry Schmidt a big, fat raise!
So, the defensive line seems to be doing just fine.
Adepoju Adebawore.
Add in returnees Da'Jon Terry, Gracen Halton, R. Mason Thomas, Ethan Downs, Adepoju Adebawore (a 5-star sophomore), Trace Ford, Ashton Sanders, Phil Paea (if he can get a medical redshirt) and others and you have a very solid d-line rotation.
Look for Messrs. Stone, Jackson, Okoye, Smith and Gilmore to add more snaps, too.
Venables just announced this week that 22 of the 2024 incoming high school class plus 8 portal guys are already on campus and ready for spring practice after a six-week off-season strength and conditioning program with Jerry Schmidt.
And look for Venables and company to reach back out to the portal to replace Notre Dame transfer Jacob Lacey who just announced his medical retirement.
But that's not what we are here to discuss. Is it?
Nope.
We are here to talk offense but what did I say earlier?
The SEC is a line of scrimmage game, nowhere more important than on defense, so you have to address the big boys upfront on defense first.
Because without the big boys upfront on defense, you can't win in the SEC.
Now, back to Seth Littrell.
Okie From Muskogee
By now we all are familiar with the Seth Littrell story.
Oklahoma legacy (his dad was fullback in 1974-75 on back-to-back national champions at OU,) he was a fullback in 2000 on another Oklahoma national championship team and he is an Okie from Muskogee.
A pinch between the cheek and gum guy.
Tough as nails.
Loves to run the football.
Can light up the scoreboard, too.
Littrell was already on Venables staff as an "Offensive Analyst" when Jeff Lebby up and left for Mississippi State.
So, it was a natural for Venables to tap Littrell as his Offensive Coordinator.
But Venables had a problem on his hands.
Joe Jon Finley, another Oklahoma legacy at Tight Ends Coach, was a highly sought after coordinator who can recruit Texas and seemingly everywhere else in the country.
So, Venables named Finley Co-Offensive Coordinator.
But make no mistake.
Littrell is the primary play-caller and quarterback whisperer to sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold.
Which brings us back to our original point of this article:
An Open Letter to Seth Littrell.
So, as Dak Prescott says, "Here We Go..."
Tight Ends
The Oklahoma tight end game vanished in 2023.
Austin Stogner was brought in via the transfer portal from South Carolina but his homecoming in Norman was flat.
Stogner seemed to have lost a step from the last time we saw him in 2021 with Caleb Williams tossing the rock.
Stogner caught 17 passes for 196 yards and one touchdown in 2023. A far cry from the 26 receptions for 422 yards and 3 touchdowns in 2020 when he was 3rd in team receptions.
And, it seemed everyone else was either hurt or not ready for prime time.
So, Jeff Lebby did what he had to do and basically ignored the tight end.
Oh, for the days of Brayden Willis, Jeremiah Hall and Dimitri Flowers.
Staples for Lincoln Riley and Bob Stoops offenses.
Albeit, Hall and Flowers were H-backs. Willis is the only true tight end the Sooners have had in a few years, and he just played in his first Super Bowl with San Francisco against another former Sooner Tight End: Blake Bell who just won his 3rd Super Bowl ring in Kansas City.
But never fear.
Littrell has a full closet of tight ends available for his debut as signal caller in Norman.
The Sooners signed another 5-star in Davon Mitchell from Los Alamitos, California.
Mitchell chose Oklahoma in July of 2023 over Alabama and Miami. He was an original class of 2025 player who reclassified to enter college early with the class of 2024.
Mitchell has the size (he's listed at 6'5" and 245 lbs.) and speed but he is a true freshman.
So, Oklahoma turned to the transfer portal and grabbed Jake Roberts, a Norman native from Baylor. Taylor is a 6'5" 248 lb. tight end who played for Littrell at North Texas. He brings experience and size to the tight end room and is most likely the day one starter.
Behind Roberts, Littrell will have a pair of untested sophomores in Kaden Helms and Kade McIntire. Both were heralded freshmen upon arrival in Norman but injuries have kept both on the shelf.
And, Oklahoma signed Bauer Sharp who lists at 6'5" and 245 lbs. from Southeastern Louisiana. But he is a converted quarterback coming to Oklahoma from bayou country with a banjo on his knee so I wouldn't expect much in year one.
So, there you have it.
Five dudes who will be expected to compete and play in year one of the Seth Littrell offense.
Based on past history, expect a couple of these dudes to be Jackson Arnold's best friend in the new Oklahoma offense.
Which both he and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh will need the security blanket they provide as Arnold figures out how to play against SEC defenses and Bedenbaugh reassembles an Oklahoma offensive line who lost 9 players this off-season. More later on this.
Huddle
I would like to see Oklahoma huddle more in 2024.
No breakthrough creativity here.
But these Air Raid offenses hardly ever huddle. They spread out the field and everyone looks to the sideline or quarterback for the next play.
Guess what?
The defense sees that, too.
So, take this into a huddle and call the plays occasionally.
This does two things.
It disguises the formation keeping the defense off balance and in the same personnel.
Secondly, it slows the game down.
Something the Sooners will need to do from time to time against some of these SEC defenses.
Just look back to the national championship game and Washington's first possession after halftime.
Three incomplete passes and out.
Little time off the clock.
And, voila' just like that Michigan took over and scored and changed the games momentum and eventual outcome.
Anyone remember 28-3 in the Super Bowl a few years ago?
Any Falcons fans out there who wish they could've run the ball more in the fourth quarter to play keep away from Tom Brady?
Sure there are.
I’m not saying never run the spread offense or up-tempo. It has its' advantages in squeezing in 20-30 more plays a game and gassing a defense.
That will be the primary offense.
Just slow things down and eat some clock...when you need to!
Because just as fast as the spread can consume plays they just as fast can go three and out in less than :30-seconds gassing your own defense.
This doesn’t even need to be a full huddle 10-yards from the field.
Just employ what some of these teams call a "Sugar Huddle” close to the line of scrimmage.
Or take a page from Andy Reid's playbook in Kansas City and do the merry-go-round huddle for all I care.
We're just trying to confuse the defense with our formations and eat some valuable time of possession.
Play Action
I realize Jackson Arnold like most quarterbacks these days grew up in an RPO spread offense.
The popular 7-on-7 camps these kids attend all feature a solid RPO game.
But these offenses have been around awhile and have become predictable.
Defenses have begun to figure them out and neutralize their effectiveness buy disguising their coverages.
Arizona did a good job against Arnold in the Alamo Bowl.
Turnovers helped.
But they disguised defenses and forced some of those turnovers, too.
I’d like to see Littrell incorporate more play action.
He can design multiple formations both in the shotgun and spread to keep the defenses guessing.
Jackson Arnold has a big gun arm. He just needs to disguise it sometimes and play action can keep the defense guessing just long enough to open up some of those tight SEC windows.
A recent statistic revealed that in the 2023 season, NFL teams who went under center and ran the ball with play-action on goal line situations scored at a 72% clip!
That was far better than from the spread.
Play action is an art.
Quarterbacks in the NFL of the 1970's where I grew up were masters of the art. Guys like Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Earl Morrall, and Bob Griese.
And in the 80’s a guy like Joe Montana perfected the craft for Bill Walsh’s west coast offense.
Montana perfected play action and a quick, short passing game right into the hall of fame.
Of course, it helped to have a running back like Roger Craig and a receiver named Jerry Rice, too.
Jackson Arnold will have a deep and talented receiver corps led by speedsters Andrel Anthony, Brenen Thompson, Purdue transfer Deion Burks and incoming freshman Zion Kearney from Missouri City, Texas to keep defenses honest.
Add in a solid group of running backs in Gavin Sawchuk, Jovantae Barnes, Taylor Tatum, Kalib Hicks and transfer Sam Franklin from UT-Martin, and the pieces are there for an effective play action game plan.
So, let's go retro here, Seth.
Don't just do what everyone else is doing.
Let's mix things up and go old school under center with play action...especially on the goal line!
Pre-Snap Motion
This isn’t novel but some of the best offenses in both the NFL and college have incorporated this concept into their offenses.
The use of pre-snap motion has been on the rise throughout the NFL over the past decade, going from a usage rate of just 37.5% of plays in 2014 to 54.6% so far this season, according to Sportradar.
In the NFL, some of the most proficient and innovative offenses are using it an even higher rate.
Mike McDaniel's Miami Dolphins are running motion on a league-high 86.3% of plays, followed by 78.4% for Mike Shanahan's San Francisco 49ers, 71.6% for Andy Reid's defending-champion Kansas City Chiefs and 70.1% for Sean McVay's Los Angeles Rams.
McDaniels, McVay and Shanahan are three amigos when it comes to cutting edge offensive concepts. All three were on Shanahan’s dads' staff in Washington when they were all young pups.
Reid of course is the elder statesman in the group having cut his teeth in Green Bay with Mike Holmgren and guys like Brett Favre.
McDaniels uses pre-snap motion the most of any NFL offense to get Tyreek Hill horizontal and away from man-to-man coverage and exploit his vertical speed.
Shanahan has Deebo Samuel and McVay has Cooper Cupp. And Andy Reid just plugs and plays whoever is on the roster and lets Patrick Mahomes do the rest.
You didn’t use to see this much pre-snap motion in the NFL. It was more a staple of the Canadian Football League where the rules are more relaxed and even allow vertical motion.
Something the NFL does not.
Which leaves it to masterminds like Shanahan, McVay, McDaniels and Reid to exploit the system.
In college, Washington used pre-snap motion the best at a 65% clip leading them to the CFP national championship game last year. The Huskies also called pass plays at a 66% clip in 2023.
Michael Pennix was a freak completing 65% of his passes for 4,903 yards and 36 touchdowns on his way to a Heisman Trophy finalist season.
And pre-snap motion didn't necessarily mean fast-paced, either.
Washington ranked in the bottom half of the FBS last year in seconds-per-snap average in a play every 27.2 seconds which was 87th of 130 FBS teams.
For the record, Jim Harbaugh’s national champion Michigan Wolverines were ranked dead last in the country at 30.9 seconds per play.
I'm telling ya, there is something in those numbers for the Sooners and Seth Littrell boys and girls.
So, if Kalen DeBoer can figure this out in Seattle, let’s see Seth Littrell incorporate more pre-snap motion in 2024.
After all, DeBoer’s Huskies beat Texas and Steve Sarkisian each of the last two seasons with a heavy dose of pre-snap motion.
This isn’t to say Jeff Lebby didn’t use pre-snap motion.
He did.
Remember Drake Stoops making you dizzy running back and forth across the formation?
And it worked, Oklahoma’s offense was ranked #6 in passing yards at 324 yards per game and #3 in total offense with 507 yards per game in 2023.
But Jeff Lebby didn’t have the speed Seth Littrell will have this year.
A healthy Andrel Anthony, Brenen Thompson and incoming Purdue transfer Deion Burks will keep SEC defenses honest.
So, Seth Littrell has his work cut out for him but has the playmakers to make this system work.
Let’s see him use it to his advantage.
This should be a no-brainer for someone with Littrell's background.
And he did have a balanced offense at North Texas, Indiana, North Carolina and Arizona on his previous stops as offensive coordinator.
But not everyone can maintain the discipline as a play caller to stick to the run game.
Especially when its working and these pass-happy offensive coordinators want to spread things out and toss the rock all over the field to pad their stat line.
Even when the on the field results say otherwise.
Just look back to the 2003 BCS National Championship game in New Orleans.
Oklahoma was trailing Nick Saban's LSU team 21-14 late in the game.
I watched the entire drive unfold from my end zone mezzanine seats in the Super Dome.
Kejuan Jones left.
Kejuan Jones right.
Kejuan Jones up the middle.
Speaking of Kejuan Jones, he’s in Norman this weekend with his son on a recruiting trip
It was a Bob Stoops master class in running the ball down your opponent's throats.
LSU’s vaunted defensive line was gassed and had their hands on their knees.
Just ask former Tiger and ESPN commentator "Swagu" himself Marcus Spears, who had returned an interception for a touchdown earlier to put LSU up 21-7.
Except for one thing.
Offensive Coordinator Chuck Long called four straight incomplete passes in the red zone and the Tigers won 21-14 giving Nick Saban his first Natty.
Later, when Long was asked why he abandoned the run game in the red zone, he said this:
"I was trying to mix things up."
Incredible.
But that's what he said.
Note to Seth Littrell: When the run game is working and the opponent is gassed, don't mix things up. Stick to the run game and cram it down their throats.
And it’s' not like we don't have returning star power at running back. Gavin Sawchuk already will debut as the back with the fourth highest returning rushing total in the SEC.
And incoming freshman Taylor Tatum is the #1 running back in the country:
So, the pieces are there.
The only thing missing is the most important piece of the puzzle: the offensive line.
Which Brent Venables noted earlier this week at his spring practice press conference.
The running game and passing game are in Bill Bedenbaugh’s hands.
Nearly the entire offensive line is gone.
Starters Andrew Raym, Walter Rouse and Tyler Guyton are NFL bound.
Cade Mettauer and Caleb Shaffer are out of eligibility.
Cayden Green and Savion Byrd hit the transfer portal along with a few others.
That leaves Bedenbaugh with returnees headlined by Jacob Sexton, Troy Everett and Joshua Bates and a handful of portal transfers and incoming freshmen.
Not an ideal situation to be in headed into year one of SEC football where everything just matters more!
But Bedenbaugh signed four offensive linemen in the transfer portal. And the portal guys have 80 career college starts between them at Michigan State, USC, Washington and North Texas.
Add in Sexton and Everett's 13 starts, and you have 93 returning game starts which is a good foundation to have.
And the incoming freshmen are a talented bunch yet inexperienced.
If there is a Cayden Green in this year's class look no further than to Eddie Pierre-Louis, a 6'3" and 335 lbs. freshmen from Tampa Catholic High School to make a breakthrough early.
We’ve already covered the o-line guys in detail in the last post about why Brent Venables is smiling.
We won’t rehash here.
And another one…Cody Ford is a Bill Bedenbaugh protege’ and just signed an extension in Cincinnati. Bedenbaugh regularly sends players to the NFL including Creed Humphrey in Kansas City.
But suffice it to say that if Seth Littrell has any chance at having the Sooners in the SEC Championship game next December, his hopes and dreams begin and end with his old friend Bill Bedenbaugh.
They were on Mike Leach’s staff in Lubbock together when both were young pups and it was Littrell who introduced Bedenbaugh to his soon to be wife and Littrell was best man at the wedding.
Littrell and Bedenbaugh were later re-united on Mike Stoops staff at Arizona, where they served as co-offensive coordinators.
And just as recently as last spring, it was Bedenbaugh who opened up his home to Littrell when he arrived in Norman as an offensive assistant to Brent Venables. Littrell stayed with the Bedenbaugh's during the spring and summer before moving out just before preseason camp began.
"He's like my brother," Bedenbaugh said. "He's family."
Both are throwback, no-nonsense guys.
Football guys.
Pinch between the cheek and gum guys.
Just like Brent Venables likes ‘em!
So, good luck men.
The SEC awaits with its just means more line of scrimmage mantra.
Nothing but Joe Castiglione’s vision, Brent Venables reputation and the future of the Oklahoma offense lies in your hands.
It's the least two brothers could expect!
Oklahoma begins the 130th football season in school history with spring practice on Monday.
Boomer!
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