New sense of urgency for defense following coaching change at OU
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley was asked Monday how long it will take for the Sooner defense to stabilize following a week of drastic change.
“I’m counting on about two weeks,” Riley said with a smile. “I don’t know how you define that term as far as this situation.”
The Sooners lacked stability on defense even before defensive coordinator Mike Stoops was fired last Monday. Oklahoma ranks 97th nationally in yards allowed per game. Texas trucked OU for
501 yards in a 48-point performance.
Ruffin McNeill will debut as OU’s interim defensive coordinator at 11 a.m. Saturday at TCU. He’ll call the defense from the press box. Bob Diaco will be on the sideline as OU’s new outside linebackers coach.
Riley said he wouldn’t have fired Stoops if there wasn’t hope for improvement.
“I think everybody’s got that sense of urgency,” Riley said. “Does a new voice help? Probably some. Is part of it just having not played to the level we want to play defensively? The challenge of putting in the work to get to that point? I think there’s some inner challenges happening, too, and there better be.”
Sophomore cornerback Tre Norwood spoke for the whole defense in shouldering the blame for what happened to Stoops.
“People can point fingers all they want to, but at the end of the day, you have to look at yourself and fix the mistakes you made,” Norwood said. “That’s where accountability does come into play. It’s solely more on us because we’re the ones that have to make the plays and are on the field.
“It’s a whole thing. Not just one person.”
Riley addresses tweet
The night following Stoops' dismissal as Oklahoma's defensive coordinator, freshman defensive back Brendan Radley-Hiles tweeted, "It's different when you love the coach you playin' for."
He tagged McNeill and wished him a happy birthday. The tweet was the only noticeable shot at Stoops from inside the program. It was deleted within an hour.
Riley was asked about it Monday.
"Last week was an emotional week," Riley said. "(Radley-Hiles) put something out there that as he sat there and thought about it, decided he didn’t want to do it and he took it down himself. If throughout that whole week all we get is one tweet like that then we probably did pretty decent."
Stoops acknowledged a disconnect between him and players in an interview with The Sports Animal after he was fired.
"The times have changed greatly in the last 10 years," Stoops told former OU defensive lineman Dusty Dvoracek. "Social media has changed the game in a lot of ways. I think kids are much different now than they were when you were playing and we were together that first time around. Things have changed a great deal."
Kickoff announced
Oklahoma will host Kansas State in an afternoon affair on Oct. 27. The Sooners and Wildcats will kick off at 2:30 p.m., the Big 12 announced Monday afternoon.
FOX will broadcast the game.
OU (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) will travel to TCU for an 11 a.m. kickoff Saturday. Kansas State (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) is off this weekend.