Roof wrapping up nomadic career with dad
Linebacker T.D. Roof transferred to OU from Appalachian State in the offseason.
NORMAN — T.D. Roof knows how to adjust to new places.
He’s been doing it his entire life. “I think I’ve lived in like nine different states,” the 23-year-old Roof said.
The nomadic son of a nomadic college coach, Roof ’s latest stop — the final of his collegiate career — is at OU, where the linebacker is once again adjusting to a new team, even if his defensive coordinator and position coach is extremely familiar.
“It’s just kinda routine a little bit,” Roof said. “You’ve got to go in there, it’s going to be awkward for a couple days but hey, that’s just what it is. You’re new.
“Everybody here … has just been so welcoming.”
Roof ’s father, Ted, is the Sooners’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
“It’s special. But when we’re out there, he’s jersey No. 18, and I’m Coach Roof,” Ted Roof said. “He’s always my son, but when he’s on the field and I’m coaching him, he’s always No. 18. I’m going to coach him hard or harder than I coach anybody else. At the same time, he enjoys that, so do most of our players.”
Ted Roof has a reputation for bouncing around a lot — in his 35-year coaching career he’s on his 15th different school and 17th job, with two separate stints at both Georgia Tech and Duke.
T.D. Roof hasn’t quite moved around that much but he’s been plenty active himself after beginning his collegiate career at Georgia Tech, his father’s alma mater, in 2017.
After Ted moved onto North Carolina State following T.D.’s freshman season, T.D. transferred instead to Indiana. In 2019, when Ted moved over to Appalachian State as the defensive coordinator, his son joined him.
Ted’s stint there lasted just one season but T.D.’s lasted three.
After T.D. graduated from Appalachian State last season, he began to explore his future, not initially knowing that he wanted to continue his playing
career. Once he decided to play and go elsewhere as a graduate transfer, it seemed like an obvious move that he’d wind up at OU, but T.D. said it wasn’t that simple.But when Brent Venables called and aske d the special teams standout, T.D. couldn’t turn down the chance to reunite with his dad.
“When Oklahoma calls you up and says, ‘Hey, do you want to come play football for Oklahoma,’ you don’t say no,” Roof said.
Roof played in 13 of 14 games at Appalachian State last season, making seven starts at outside linebacker. He’s played in 45 collegiate games during his first three stops with plenty of experience both at linebacker and on special teams.
He’ll get a chance to earn playing time on defense for the Sooners at either the strongside or weakside linebacker spots, but regardless of his role on his dad’s group, T.D. figures to be a special teams stalwart with the Sooners.
“I think you can measure your football team’s effort on that and I think that also, obviously, I’m not like a 6-4, 250pound guy,” T.D. said. “If I want to have any shot at the next level, that’s where I’ve got to make my hay.”
He was 12 years old when he watched from the stands as Cam Newton’s 49yard touchdown run against LSU proved to be Newton’s Heisman moment.
“Just seeing that in person was unreal,” T.D. said. “It’s just something special.”
But outside of that moment, what’s stuck with T.D. about that season was what he saw those players go through off the field. He said watching the work Josh Bynes put in at Auburn helped show T.D. what it took to play at the highest level.
“Just to see him grind, it was just unbelievable,” Roof said.
Now, he’s hoping to be a part of a similar achievement at OU.
“It was just an awesome experience,” Roof said. “No words can describe how that would make you feel to go undefeated and obviously win a national championship and know that you put in the work and the grind and that your hard work paid off.”