Heim realizes ‘lifelong dream’ to sign with Sooners
BETHANY — Taylor Heim was just relieved to finally put the pen to paper.
On Friday, the 6-foot-5 athlete from Bethany who ran a 4.47 40-time at Southern Nazarene University's camp in June, was able to end his recruiting journey at last.
Heim, dressed in his dark gray and red Oklahoma shirt and a black Sooners ball cap over his shoulder-length hair, wore a big smile.
“It's been a lifelong dream,” Heim said.
Just one week after receiving the Oklahoma offer, Heim committed to the Sooners. On Wednesday, he signed his national letter of intent in his home with his family because of winter storms. On Friday, he was able to hold his official signing ceremony in the Bethany gymnasium in front of his classmates.
“I'm just excited to move on with my future,” Heim said. “Start working out and doing it big.”
To Heim's credit, it has been a hectic last couple of months.
Heim was named to The Oklahoman's 2022 Little All-City first team as a defensive back after helping lead the Bronchos to a 9-2 record and a state playoff appearance. During his time with the Bronchos, Heim played multiple positions suiting up as a quarterback, wide receiver, safety and others to help his team.
From there he was hot on the recruiting market. The week before Christmas he went to Ohio to begin his official visits. Throughout January he saw Air Force, Louisiana Tech, Tulsa and others. He was scheduled to visit North Texas for what he believed was his last stop but then things changed when Sooners coach Brent Venables sent him a direct message on social media.
“He told us the story,” Tommy Heim said of Venables' offer. “Evidently, it's not necessarily routine while they're shopping for 2024's and 2025's to go back and look at 2023's senior films. But Brent said that one got shoved in front of him. Of course, they had talked about Taylor since April on and off but his junior films just weren't what his senior films were.”
A big difference in his film was Heim began to play more on the defensive side of the ball. And with his size and athleticism, there was no doubt he was a valuable asset.
“He had never really played a lot of defense,” Bethany coach Jon Arthur said. “But he certainly was in the plans there. We would have played him a lot the year before but we had to play him at quarterback the whole time because our other guy got hurt. He was going to play a lot this year for sure, no matter what.”
Heim logged 60 tackles, eight pass breakups and six interceptions on defense. On offense, he completed 64 of 85 passes for 838 yards and 11 touchdowns. He rushed for 608 yards and six touchdowns and caught four more scores as a receiver. Heim was selected to the Oklahoma Coaches Association's 2023 All-State Game.
Even with the hype Heim recently received because of his defensive play, he told The Oklahoman at his signing ceremony that the position he was going to play was still “up in the air.” He wasn't even able to confirm if it was going to be on the offensive or defensive side of the ball.
“He's a guy that you can put wherever you need him,” Arthur said. “That's just the kind of player he is. I think that says a lot about him, that he's a guy that will go wherever you need him and be a team guy... And I think that makes him valuable for sure.”
Along with what he's accomplished on the football field, Heim is a Class 4A long jump state champion and a 4 x 100 state champion on Bethany's track team.
“That's the unique thing about him,” Arthur said of Heim's speed. “That even OU has picked up on and kind of got them interested. He's got that size and the length and the height. He's also got the speed to go with it. Sometimes with that much height and length, you don't move that well and he certainly moves well.”
Heim, the Co-Player of the Year for District 4A-2, could play linebacker, tight end or receiver at OU. He is the 11th-ranked overall prospect from the state of Oklahoma in 2023, per 247Sports.
“I really loved the place and the coaches,” Heim said of OU. “I felt like this is my home, so, I made the decision.”