HARD TO REPLACE
Oklahoma is looking for more than one player to replace kicker Austin Seibert, now with the Cleveland Browns
NORMAN — Austin Seibert did it all: field goals, punts and kickoffs. Now he's kicking field goals for the Cleveland Browns, and Oklahoma special teams coordinator Jay Boulware is looking for Seibert's replacement. Replacements, that is. “It's easier to manage without Austin doing everything,” Boulware said. “You guys know my woes with that.”
Boulware said handling two aspects of the kicking game is manageable — just not all three as Seibert did.
Seibert left OU as the all- time NCAA scoring leader among kickers. He set the Big 12 career scoring record with 499 points.
Redshirt freshman Gabe Brkic and sophomore Calum Sutherland are competing for the place kicking and kickoff jobs. Kohl's, a professional kicking camp, ranked Brkic as the No. 7 kicker in the 2018 class. He kicked an extra point in OU's season-opening win against Florida Atlantic last year. Sutherland is a walk-on.
Reeves Mundschau, a sophomore from New Braunfels, Texas, is expected to be OU's punter.
“I think those guys are doing a good job to this point in camp,” Boulware said. “We're looking very good at kickoffs. We're able to do some good things there. Our punting has been really well in full team activities.”
Boulware didn't offer a timeline on finalizing the depth chart.
“It's coach Riley's decision at the end of the day,” he said. “I'm just going to work and get those guys going the best that we possibly can.
Freshman trio
The names Jadon Haselwood, Theo Wease and Trejan Bridges have been linked together since the spring. Their shared label — rated as five-star receivers by one outlet or another — is well-known. But outside of a few meaningless minutes in the spring game, no available evidence suggests one has separated himself from the next.
Oklahoma outside receivers coach Dennis Simmons didn't give any hints, but he did say all three freshmen are ready to contribute.
“Talent wise, yeah,” Simmons said.
And this might be his most talented group yet. The trio of freshmen are joining a corps of pass catchers that already includes CeeDee Lamb, Grant Calcaterra and Lee Morris.
Charleston Rambo, Nick Basquine, A. D. Miller, Mykel Jones, Drake Stoops and Jaquayln Crawford are also competing for catches.
Haselwood, Wease and Bridges are more like excessive riches than desperate needs. They were ranked first, third and 11th among receivers in the 2019 class, according to the 247Sports composite.
“All of those guys have had their moments where they've done things where you are like, `Wow, this is why they got all of the ink that they did when they were in high school,'” Simmons said. “It's just a matter of getting them to do it on a consistent basis.”
Quotable
Lincoln Riley on Erik Swenson's recruitment. Swenson was originally committed to Michigan. Now he's competing for a starting spot on OU's offensive line.
“I mean, Michigan dropped him,” Riley said. “I'm glad they did. He wasn't good enough to play in Michigan's offense, but I guess he's good enough to play in Oklahoma's, you know?”