Sixth sense: Okafor chases dreams with third coach
AUSTIN — Denzel Okafor was on the field in Lawrence, Kan., on Nov. 19, 2016 when Texas lost to Kansas and effectively ended the coaching tenure of Charlie Strong.
He was in the Texas locker room that next week too, hearing from the new coach, Tom Herman, about how things would change, how he’d turn this lost bunch into the winners this storied program deserved. And Okafor was still a Longhorn over four years later when he met the program’s latest prospective white knight, Steve Sarkisian.
The sixth-year lineman has absorbed a lot over the years. The crushing defeat to Kansas and subsequent firing of Strong. The 2018 Sugar Bowl triumph over No. 5 Georgia and ensuing slow-burn breakup with Herman. The “Eyes of Texas” controversy and the hateful rhetoric conjoined to it. The fretful 2020 pandemic season, which precipitated another “fresh start” for a blue blood that will soon join the infinitely more challenging SEC.
But for all the bumps and bruises, Okafor’s doing just fine. He’s outlasted two head coaches and three position coaches. He’s locked up a starting role at left guard after starting nine on the right side last season.
And he’s still got some pretty lofty team and personal goals left to fulfill.
“Our goal is really just to be the best we can be every day,” Okafor said Tuesday. “Me personally, I think I need to step up more as a leader, which I feel I’ve done. I’m still trying to aim for perfection. And all these years I’ve never made an All-American team, not even honorable mention. So I feel like that’s something I can definitely do. I just have to keep being consistent in my craft.”
Entering his sixth season, Okafor is basically a 6-4, 322-pound Pinterest board plastered with various schemes, techniques, fundamentals and assorted tips gleaned over the years from a quartet of offensive line coaches.
There was Matt Mattox in 2016 and Derek Warehime in 2017. Then Herb Hand from 2018-20. Now it’s Kyle Flood, fresh off winning a national title at Alabama while training a pair of consensus first-team All-Americans in left tackle Alex Leatherwood and center Landon Dickerson.
“You learn a lot, really,” Okafor explained. “I came in with coach Mattox and even though I didn’t play as much, I learned a lot of techniques from him. Then with coach Warehime, tough guy, we also learned a lot of techniques from him. And coach Hand was more of like hand placement and feet, and I’ve learned a lot from him.
“Now with a coach Flood coming from the NFL (Atlanta Falcons, 2017-18) and Alabama, you know, I get a little vision of how the NFL is. Now it’s just transferring it to the college (game) and getting ready for the next level. So, I’ve learned a lot from all these coaches and it’s makes me really happy just to know how much stuff I have in my tool belt if I need it.”
Okafor got lost for a couple years. He’d appeared in 22 games as a freshman and sophomore, even making four starts in 2017. But he took a redshirt in 2018 after appearing in one game and made only one start in 2019.
His break finally arrived in 2020.
Hand shifted Okafor, who was an All-American as a guard in high school at Lewisville, back inside, to the right of center Derek Kerstetter. And the Longhorns’ offense thrived, ranking second in school history in points per game (42.7) and fourth in yards per play (6.66).
“Coach Hand moved me to guard and says, ‘Let’s see how you like this,’ ” Okafor recalled. “And last time I played guard was my All-American game in high school, so I just adjusted to it and I love it. Scouts tell me that that’s possibly what I’ll play at the next level. I’m really enjoying the fundamentals of guard. I’m definitely more comfortable.”
Texas tailback Bijan Robinson was entering his freshman season at Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe Catholic at the same time Okafor began his college career. Under normal circumstances, they never would have overlapped on the Forty Acres.
But the NCAA granted all athletes an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, allowing those two to take another run at a Big 12 title together. And Robinson, who averaged a school record 8.2 yards per carry in part thanks to Okafor and his fellow lineman, is grateful.
“He’s such a mature guy,” Robinson said. “So having his presence there and knowing what he is capable of doing by himself, but (also) how he helps the offensive line around him, understand, pressures, understand defenses, understand the whole field. It takes it takes a big leader to understand all that stuff, but he shows it on the field. And how aggressively he wants to be an example to everybody else, you know, it’s awesome to have him on the offensive line.”