Redmond motivated to make up for lost time
NORMAN — Jalen Redmond didn’t want to do it anymore.
After opting out before last season, there came a time when the OU defensive lineman wanted to forget about his preseason decision and go back allin with the Sooners.
Watching the success that his roommate, Isaiah Thomas, had in Thomas’ breakout 2020 season made coming back that much more appealing.
“There was a point that I wanted to come back,” Redmond said. “But I knew I had to do what I had to do.”
Redmond didn’t want to give up a season of playing football, especially when two years earlier he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to play the sport again.
But the health problems that kept him out for all but three games his freshman season in 2018 were what led him to the decision to sit out in 2020.
“With COVID and everything that was going on — it’s a respiratory thing and with my past history with blood clots and those things, me and my family just thought it was the best idea to sit out,” Redmond said.
“It was, shoot, one of the hardest decisions I had to make, especially coming off the year before. It was a hard decision but I had to do what was right for my health and my body.”
“With my past history with blood clots and those things, me and my family just thought it was the best idea to sit out.”
Jalen Redmond On opting out of the 2020 season
Last season, Ronnie Perkins transformed the Sooners’ defense upon his return from a suspension.
This season, with Perkins off to the NFL, Redmond hopes to provide a similar boost to OU’s defensive front from the get-go.
And Redmond has proven that when he’s healthy, he can be a disruptive force.
In 2019, he had 1.5 sacks in the Big 12 Championship Game that season and had the defense’s only sack in the Peach Bowl loss to LSU. Redmond finished the season leading the Sooners with 6.5 sacks and was third in tackles for loss with 11.
“Not a lot of people might even know that,” linebacker DaShaun White said. “Getting him back out there, it feels right.
“Seeing him get back to it and get comfortable again, making plays, it feels right. It feels like he could have been a missing piece or whatever you wanna call it.”
Redmond couldn’t keep his mind off football even if he tried last season, especially with Thomas’ success as a versatile weapon who performed well both on the edge and in the middle of the defensive line.
“Me and him talked about football every day,” Redmond said. “It was hard but it was kind of hard to take it off your mind when your roommate (is) doing so good on the field.
“It wasn’t easy trying to keep it off my mind. I just really embraced it.”
Even if it made things harder in some ways, Redmond reveled in Thomas’ success.
“He’s been waiting for his time and it came,” Redmond said.
“I couldn’t be any happier for him. I wish I was out there playing next to him, honestly. … He had that in him this whole time.”
And now Redmond wants to emulate Thomas, becoming another versatile piece of OU’s defensive front.
“He puts in the work. He’s curious to learn more,” Thomas said. “He wants to play inside, edge, all that. It’s very exciting to have him back.”
Redmond paused a bit when asked about the ups and downs of his career.
“It’s been hard,” Redmond said. “I’ve got a good support system on my side. I know if I need to talk to anybody about anything, I’ve got people to go talk to. It was hard with everything popping up. I felt like I honestly couldn’t catch a break, but I fought through it.
“I think I did pretty good at handling it. I’m just ready to get back to work.”
Sooners defensive coordinator Alex Grinch wasn’t around when Redmond arrived as a highly touted prospect from Midwest City.
But Grinch sees Redmond as a highimpact player in his defense, and as a player with plenty of opportunity to come out of what has been a rough few years better for his experiences.
“Everybody’s story is different,” Grinch said.
“And he’s gonna have a heck of one at the end of this deal.”