OU, Oregon in a ‘bit of upheaval’
SAN ANTONIO — When the Oklahoma and Oregon staffs gathered for a group dinner this week, Sooners interim coach Bob Stoops looked around the room and tallied seven or eight schools those assistants would call home next season.
Some from the Oklahoma ranks will be following former coach Lincoln Riley to USC, while a few Oregon assistants will join former leader Mario Cristobal in his new role at Miami. Others were destined for places like Akron, Texas Tech, SMU and Nevada, with the transitions to Brent Venables at Oklahoma and Dan Lanning in Oregon causing widespread turnover.
Many of the players are in similar situations, gauging their teammates’ next moves to see who is destined for the NFL or the transfer portal, and who might be coming back for an extra year of eligibility.
As No. 16 Oklahoma and No. 14 Oregon meet in the Valero Alamo Bowl at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Alamodome, both programs seek to cap their season on a high note despite an abundance of player absences and patchwork coaching staffs.
“You have conversations with these guys all the time and expect them to be here for your entire college career,” Oklahoma sophomore Marvin Mims said. “Being a younger guy, your head starts going everywhere. ‘What am I going to do?’ You see older guys leaving. You see other people doing this. This game Wednesday night, I’m excited for the guys that we still have here.”
At points this season, Oregon vs. Oklahoma seemed to be a potential College Football Playoff matchup, with the Ducks peaking at No. 3 while the Sooners reached as high as No. 8.
But both programs lost two of their final three games, then watched their head coaches jump ship for other jobs. Oregon installed passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon as its interim coach, while Oklahoma offered Stoops, a College Football Hall of Famer, the opportunity to come out of retirement and guide the program in its Alamo Bowl debut.
Drumming up a gameweek message for the first time since he left the post after 18 seasons in June 2017, Stoops reminded the players that they represent each other as well as the history of the Sooners each time they take the field.
“Even though they’ve been through, just as Oregon has, a little bit of upheaval in the last few weeks, the bottom line is we’re getting ready to play,” Stoops said. “And if we’re going to play, we need to play the right way.”
Oklahoma’s opt-outs include four defensive stalwarts, with linemen Perrion Winfrey and Isaiah Thomas as well as linebackers Brian Asamoah and Nik Bonitto focused on the NFL.
Oregon is projected to miss a larger chunk of players, including potential No. 1 overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux at defensive end, as well as the team’s top two corners and top four receivers.
McClendon joked that he’s “not too upset” about some of the Sooners’ absences, quipping that he wished standout freshman quarterback Caleb Williams would’ve joined them. For the available Ducks, McClendon emphasized the value of closing on a positive note.
“I was having this conversation with my 9-year-old daughter about why it’s important to finish what you start, and not do it halfheartedly,” McClendon said. “You want to go in there and do it to the best of your ability and make sure everybody around you is doing it to the best of their ability. You owe it to each other.”