Big meeting puts OU offensive line on same page
OU football
DAVID UBBEN
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13
Published: August 27, 2009
NORMAN — On a late night in early July, they gathered. Seniors Brian Simmons and Trent Williams sent out the call: meet at Williams’ house.
The offensive line had business to conduct.
In the spring, coach
Bob Stoops delivered the first thump, referring to his offensive line as the team’s "weak link.” He struck again in May, sending sophomore
Alex Williams back to the bayou for good at the start of the summer, saying he wasn’t "doing what he needed to do.”
Finally, in July, the offensive line took its hand off the snooze button, ready to put a real start to the season.
"Honestly, we were just going through the motions,” said freshman center
Ben Habern.
Stoops made it clear after the spring that if changes weren’t made, nothing would stop him from handing another lineman a ticket home.
So Simmons and Williams, the only experienced leftovers from one of the best offensive lines in college football, took the first step in making sure Stoops wouldn’t need to inspire their young unit anymore. That was their job.
"I was like, ‘OK, we’re going to have some leadership this year, big time,’ ” said sophomore
Stephen Good. "Taking responsibility for us, that meant a lot to me.”
Inside, members of the line articulated just how much they cared about each other. Together, they made sure the past six forgettable months would never be repeated.
"I didn’t know some guys cared as much about it as I did,” Simmons said. "After that meeting, I did.”
Paired with Stoops’ motivational moves, the hour-long meeting inspired the line to go out of its way to make amends for their coach’s time spent wondering how he’d keep his Heisman-winning quarterback on his feet and not on his back.
Voluntary workouts became appetizers for "involuntary” extra work after the rest of the team left. Everyone did footwork drills. Everyone came to campus and did extra lifting.
"Guys took (Stoops’ message) personally,” Good said. "And we ran with it.”
Quite literally.
But the offensive linemen know they can’t change the mind of anyone who doesn’t share their summer on the practice field with them. As preseason camp arrived, so did the media fallout from their less-than-stellar spring.
Sure,
Sam Bradford and
Jermaine Gresham are back. But how is Bradford going to have time to throw to Gresham? What good are a pair of 1,000-yard running backs if no one can open holes?
The offensive line says the only opinion it’s worrying about is the one guy who seems to be all out of criticism for the still-gelling piece of the
Sooners.
"We can’t take care of the press or whatever, but when the head man calls us out, that’s when the sense of urgency gets going,” Williams said. "His comments mean the most to us.”
No one will know what impact the turbulent summer had on the offensive line until its four new starters are officially christened against BYU on Sept. 5 in
Arlington, Texas. The one thing they do know is the talking heads on TV and writers pecking at computer keyboards won’t have anything to do with it.
"I’m not mad at them for saying that,” Simmons said. "But do I agree with them? No.”
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his ticket home and bring in a descent Co-O. Don't pass the buck to
the offensive line guys. It's your Crony thats the weak link. Look at
the stats. since he took over, and they will be worse this year. Thats
why Stoops can't win Bowls and NC's. Urben Myer, Pete Carroll, Mack
Brown, Nick Sabin, to name a few are leaving Buffalo Bob in the dust.
Oklahoma is starting to be the team everybody wants to draw in Bowls
because they are an easy mark for a big name.
This group of lineman were just as highly ranked coming out of high school/juco as the ones before, and are goign through the same workouts and coaching that built the last group into NFL caliber lineman. They may be a tad green, but it appears they have the right mindset.
If the offensive line is getting worked over by arguably the best D-LINE in the nation day in and out, I would agree that they are in the belly of the beast right now. As the season wears on, the competition that they see on saturdays can't be any greater than the all-everything front seven that they face daily.
Congrats to the coaching staff for going ONES on ONES. Simply put, to be the best, you have to beat the best. So, D-LINE, keeping working the O-LINE like a rented mule and I believe we all can then book hotel suites in Pasadena.
O-LINE, I am researching hotel packages now. Let me know when I can book the package.
Signed,
EXBOOMERSOONER1997
BOOMER SOONER!
Boomer Sooner!