Who honestly thinks that we have a shot at the National Championship in 2012?

[LawtonBoy74]

Even if LJ comes back I think we are going to struggle immensely at WR, O-line will be better, D-line will worse but they have a chance at being better according to the coaching staff, linebackers might get a boost, secondary will be terrible, running backs and tight ends will be good. Coaching staff will still be too agressive!! We are not that junk yard dogs we use to be... the coaching staff needs to be more conservative like we were when we had Paul Thompson!!

Thoughts please

[AlboSooner]

lol wut? No NC for us for at least another decade.

[SOONER44EVER]

If we had the best player in the nation at every position Bob would find a way to lose. That's what he does.

[AlboSooner]

If we had the best player in the nation at every position Bob would find a way to lose. That's what he does.

True.

[oumartin]

Not with this staff

[dennis580]

I do, and I also think Whaley will have a huge season next year, and be the key to our NC run.

[Sooner in Tampa]

Not me

[toast]

not a good time to ask that question, everyone is still hemorrhaging from tonight. I will guess the responses would not be favorable to say the least.

[SOONER44EVER]

I do, and I also think Whaley will have a huge season next year, and be the key to our NC run.

Drinking much?

[Zin]

I always do, even through the 90s I thought so. So I am prone to delusions, but look at it this way, just about everything imaginable went wrong this season. Maybe everything will go right next season?

[Okie35]

Not in this conference.

[soonerboy_odanorth]

Sure we have a shot. But it doesn't look like a great shot right now.

Our offensive line is not nearly as good as we hoped it would be coming into this season.
We need to upgrade the DTs.
We have to find some DBs.

And for a prediction, we'll be breaking in a new QB.

Landry has bigger life things to accomplish. And no, I'm not talking about the NFL. He has experienced a lot of big life this last year. I wonder if football is all that important to him anymore.

[SOONER44EVER]

Can he get John Blake's players? You know.............the 2 and 3 star recruits who play with attitude and never give up.

[MyT Oklahoma]

Not with this staff

Yep.

[AlboSooner]

Can he get John Blake's players? You know.............the 2 and 3 star recruits who play with attitude and never give up.

Stoops has yet to prove Blake wrong.

[LawtonBoy74]

Those players played so passionate football, and great defense... I liked our defense in 2009, and I thought we were on the right track after that year... but it seems like we have fell off with the defense somewhere....and yes, that was a BV defense just saying

[Kadosh]

We will not get #8 as long as Stoops is HC at OU. He is a great recruiter, but an average coach. He should be kept in the office to call potential players and OU should get a much better coach that can get the player charged up to not lay down and die as soon as they are down. It's a sad realization, but come to terms with it now to save yourself heart ache every year.

[sooner2be3]

Stoops has yet to prove Blake wrong.

And that is why he will stay and continue to do things his way and spite the changes that need to be made.

[agoo758]

Meh. We'll go 10-2 and win another big 12 championship. We might have a shot to win the Fiesta bowl if we are fortunate enough to meet some 8-4 Big East Team.

[cantwait48]

no, we would have to significantly upgrade in talent overall to even get there, we would have to massively upgrade talent on defense to win it.

[Neath a Western Sky]

Regime change, please. Stoops has no answers to our problems. Doesn't mean he's not a good guy, hasn't had a great run. And change probably won't happen any time soon. I'm just saying I wish it would, sometimes good things run their course, and that we won't see #8 under him.

[sooner2be3]

We could win a title with Colvin, Nelson, Wort, Hurst, and Walker. Everyone else needs an updrade

[picasso]

We will not get #8 as long as Stoops is HC at OU. He is a great recruiter, but an average coach. He should be kept in the office to call potential players and OU should get a much better coach that can get the player charged up to not lay down and die as soon as they are down. It's a sad realization, but come to terms with it now to save yourself heart ache every year.
Incredibly stupid post.

[soonerboy_odanorth]

Regime change, please. Stoops has no answers to our problems. Doesn't mean he's not a good guy, hasn't had a great run. And change probably won't happen any time soon. I'm just saying I wish it would, sometimes good things run their course, and that we won't see #8 under him.

With that logic, Tom Osborne should have moved on around 1987. I'm sure he regrets hanging on for so long since the game clearly had passed him by, particularly by the Florida schools.

[Eielson]

Of course we do, this is OU.

[FaninAma]

The flag football defensive schemes have to change. Otherwise OU will continue to lose 2 to 4 games a year.

[agoo758]

While the "Fire Bob Stoops" posts are way too knee-jerk, I will say that Castiglione can't rule out a change in the next five years if Stoops refuses to makes some changes to his staff.

[MamaMia]

No way.I predict that we will have too many injuries to key players and lose our usual two games or so to whomever for whatever reasons.

[agoo758]

With that logic, Tom Osborne should have moved on around 1987. I'm sure he regrets hanging on for so long since the game clearly had passed him by, particularly by the Florida schools.

Osborne made some drastic changes in 1993 including a brand new defensive scheme as well as establishing an accountability group (I think it was called the team work committee or something, I can't remember) after losing six straight bowl games.

Is Stoops capable of doing the same? I have yet to see it. I hope I am wrong.

[landrun]

A better title to this thread would be, "Will the real cool aide drinking homers please stand up" :)

And count me as a fan who has lost all hope of winning #8 without some changes in the defensive coaching staff.

[btb916]

I thought we had a very good chance at winning it all this time last season. How wrong I was.

So...whatever I think and feel right now is pretty irrelevant. At some point the team will step on the field, and we'll see if they're any good or not (by OU standards). Maybe we'll get a good surprise. Maybe we'll be disappointed. It's WAY too early to say one way or the other.

[Kadosh]

Incredibly stupid post.
And you're just incredibly asinine.

[HAMTTX]

With a defense we could.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Osborne made some drastic changes in 1993 including a brand new defensive scheme as well as establishing an accountability group (I think it was called the team work committee or something, I can't remember) after losing six straight bowl games.

Is Stoops capable of doing the same? I have yet to see it. I hope I am wrong.

I think you missed the most important part of what Osborne did -> He changed the athletes that he was recruiting. He started mixing in some fast athletes with his well schooled farm boys and the results were amazing. Humorously enough, this is how we recruited in 1999, 2000 and 1/2 a class of 2001. After that we started recruiting only fast athletes and we've been toast with discipline ever since.

[yermom]

Those players played so passionate football, and great defense... I liked our defense in 2009, and I thought we were on the right track after that year... but it seems like we have fell off with the defense somewhere....and yes, that was a BV defense just saying

healthy DEs and at least one DT that requires a double team every play would be nice ;)

that 2009 defense started with Gerald McCoy

[NOVSooner]

In all honesty, after watching the team perform after being dealt a loss (ala tx tech) when character is supposed to be shown, i think we def. have a lack of leadership, and i'm talking about the players. Our "big 3" this year were T. Lewis, Landry and Broyles. Broyles led the WR Corp and they looked up to him. T. Lewis can psyche them up emotionally but when it gets tough it's as if he loses it mentally and takes plays off, and Landry, he's a good QB, but not a leader imo. I like him, but you see guys rallying more around blake bell than jones to me. so i say all that to say this, look at the teams who have gone on to win it all after their so called "leaders" had left: Tee Martin wins NC, peyton didn't. LSU had one a few years back, etc. I think as a whole we have a chance to be better simply b/c this team would lean on each other rather than looking to a few labeled leaders. And i say this with the hopes we get whatever attitude problem we have out of the way. but jefferson is our best on D, Millard is our best on O, the coaches have to find ways to use them more. that's one thing i put on heupel is not using millard more. so, we'll see i suppose.

[pphilfran]

Offense

They should be solid on the O line...not too sure about depth but I think we should be ok...
Running backs should be solid with everyone back...I bet we see a hell of a lot more of Millard...
They need on receiver to step up...Who is .in the slot? Do we anyone coming in this class that is a fit? I don't follow recruiting...how about Williams? Finch? Just thinking out of the box...
Landry will be fine at qb...he is better than 90% of the qb's out there...

Overall I think the offense should be ok...just need to find a new Ryan... :)

Defense

Uhhh

We should be ok at d end...we need a tackle to step up and require a double team...if we don't get one we are in trouble...again...
At linebacker we can't be much worse....
I think we will be ok in the secondary...

I think the keys to the fine defense are a double tuff tackle and improved linebacker corp...

They will be fine punting and field goals...

The schedule could be worse...they should handle the Domers at home (they lose their entire secondary and half their o and d lines)...texas ain't nuttin...Pokes will be down...I think we open at TCU and that ain't good...I like Patterson...

If they get their heads on straight and avoid injuries they could make a run...

[WileyCoyote]

I thought we had a very good chance at winning it all this time last season. How wrong I was.

So...whatever I think and feel right now is pretty irrelevant. At some point the team will step on the field, and we'll see if they're any good or not (by OU standards). Maybe we'll get a good surprise. Maybe we'll be disappointed. It's WAY too early to say one way or the other.

^^^ double dog ditto. I need an off season to rest up, heal my spirit and think about this. I want to see what changes, recruits, schedules etc. come into play. It's time for a trip to Florida for some fishing, golf, boat drinks and other serious pursuits.

[swardboy]

I get some mild satisfaction that 9-3 to us is like 5-7 to Tejas.

[marfacowboy]

I think I would eliminate those words from camp next year and just focus on winning each game and the conference. I'd tell them they're going to have to prove they deserve to be in the discussion and to date, have proven nothing.
The team needs some new blood, a fresh and different outlook. A different work ethic. Kids that aren't willing to give 100% every down need to be shown the door. Coaches that can't produce the desired results need to be shown the door, as well.

[soonerlaw]

One great thing about OU is that the talent will always be there, so I think we will always be in the hunt, but we just need to translate that talent onto the field. I agree with a lot of posters on this board, and believe we need a shakeup somewhere. I think promoting from within is great, but with the talent we had this year, we should not have lost to Baylor or Tech, and it should have come down to last night, and we should have won in a similar game to 2010.

[soonercoop1]

OU will never win a MNC with the current coaching staff...

[FriscoTXsooner]

I said this in another post but I think it deserves to be repeated, the worse thing that could have happened to OU this year was allowing ESPN to come in and do that series, it went straight to their heads, and gave then a lofty opinion of themselves, without earning it. We had talent, but we mismanaged it period! I agree that we need to take a day or two to brush off the disappointment, but at the end of the day, there needs to be some changes in the coaching staff. Our defense is very questionable, not schemed the right way every game. When you look at teams like Alabama, you don't see a let down against teams they should beat, with us, it seems like we always have one or two let downs each season, and that has been our weakness for the past 5 years. I think we lost the intensity when Mike Stoops left, and BV took over control of the defense. It's one thing to be intense on the field, but that intensity should match an ability to get a defense in position to be successful, and so far our defense has lost consistency.

Say what you want, I love the Sooners and it pains me to see them lose the way they lost last night, a total lack of effort and preparation, you can rest on Sooner Magic, if you've made deposits in it, but if you aren't capable of giving 100% each Saturday, then you best settle for being average, and that's what we are right now, middle of the road average, and until we can get that swagger back, that's where we'll remain. There needs to be a shake-up, and some coachs need to leave, and I'm willing to wager that BV will be interviewing for a Head Coach vacancy this year. along with Martinez and a couple of other coaches.

[yermom]

The questions about this team to me haven't changed. Why do we lose so many players? And why isn't someone else ready? What happened to special teams in the last decade?

Is our roster just that clogged with kickers? Is Smitty's secret technique for conditioning to pre-tweak knee ligaments or something?

[SoonerMarkVA]

When I was weighing the pros and cons of conference realignment, one of the pros for me to the SEC was it would force OU to suffer the consequences of failing to refine and prepare the team for top-level competition. It's been too easy to offer conference championships as evidence of success, to soften the blow of our string of high-profile bowl, and title, failures. A few seasons of 8-4, with no berths in the championship game, would not allow any such complacency to set in. The brass and the donors would be less compliant than they no doubt are now when we finish with 1 to 2 losses, yet still win the conference.

Metal forges metal, and we have been seriously lacking in the competition--and punishment for failure--departments in the XII. This is the first year we've really taken our lumps from a competitor who may go on to even greater glory (2005 doesn't count because we were so relatively hapless already, and it was right back to conference championships for us afterward). Unfortunately, I don't think we can count on the XII to provide that rigorous struggle every year. Maybe with the Old Man at KSU, and if Gundy really gets something lasting going, and (Heaven forbid) ut ever lives up to its potential, we could have that, at least for a while. If, however, we were in the SEC, we would clearly have to fix our defense, or we would never compete. We would also have to re-tool our offense to be able to grind it out against strong and "UN-bend and still don't break" defenses we would face regularly. We would either re-capture our place with the elite or suffer with irrelevance. I don't see that happening with the XII, or frankly with the Pac-642 if that move were to ever take place.

I guess back to the original question, until something forces us to fill in the gaps, I don't see us with more than a longshot (relative to other teams' chances) of getting another NC. We are dangerously close to becoming ut, where our only hope of a title rests on getting that 1-in-a-million player who carries us on his shoulders.

[StoopTroup]

Stoops has yet to prove Blake wrong.

Where is John Blake Coaching now?


Blake made accusations that quarterback Troy Aikman was homosexual and a racist.

That's the guy I want to rail on about. WTF is wrong with you?

[cherokeebrewer]

One great thing about OU is that the talent will always be there, so I think we will always be in the hunt, but we just need to translate that talent onto the field. I agree with a lot of posters on this board, and believe we need a shakeup somewhere. I think promoting from within is great, but with the talent we had this year, we should not have lost to Baylor or Tech, and it should have come down to last night, and we should have won in a similar game to 2010.
I'm really starting to hate that word...

[delhalew]

Until there is complete turnaround in this teams attitude, this team will fall short of it's goals.

[StoopTroup]

The questions about this team to me haven't changed. Why do we lose so many players? And why isn't someone else ready? What happened to special teams in the last decade?

Is our roster just that clogged with kickers? Is Smitty's secret technique for conditioning to pre-tweak knee ligaments or something?

As far as these injuries are concerned....

This year the whole Concussion thing seemed to really affect our play. I'm not one to take a general approach when it comes to injuries but in the case of Concussions it seemed to really become a standard "Sit out 1 week" deal if a guy got a Concussion. Now did other Teams have this kind of reaction to Concussions this year or was it something that Bob's Staff did or something the players decided was best for them? I think it was the Team Doctor that did it.

These Knee Injuries. The two I can think of that really hurt us were Dominque and Ryan. How you can blame Dom's injury on anything other than a freak play at k-State....I have no idea. It was hard to watch. I still have the game on my DVR. You just feel for the guy even though he was gifted the next day with a Scholarship. Ryan? Such a different thing. He's a Senior. He's leaving and we just played him. He was this incredible guy that seemed to just have everything in order every game. When you called on him....he was there to save the Day. Same as Demarco Was his Senior year. Once Ryan was hurt, we all knew it was over for him at OU. What a run he had at OU. It's kind of like AD's situation. He got hurt. Did it stop AD from becoming a great NFL Player? No. It didn't stop Bradford either. Ryan will be in the NFL next year catching passes. We get to use his Scholly to try and find another Ryan Broyles hopefully.

Hopefully Dom is back and even stronger than he was this year. Maybe his injury just becomes a Godsend. Maybe we have him until his Senior year is over and we never have another year Rushing like we have this year. If Brandon Williams is able to get better due to the exposure he's getting now and Dom and him and Finch are back healthy and strong...we can see a different back field than we saw last night. Last night Finch looked worn out and Williams looked like he wasn't ready.

Jimmy Steven's will be gone. Do we need to go looking for Kickers or will a kid that doesn't need a Scholarship walk on at OU just because it was his Dream to play at OU? It happens. It happened in the Backfield this year so who's to say it couldn't happen in the Kicking Department? Does Tress Way comeback or try to find a NFL Roster? The guy has been a shining star for us most the time. He's had some tough moments like the Winchester snap in the ISU Game but he still reacted and ran back and got on the ball to help avoid a easy TD by ISU's STs. Last night he really took a beating with those shots he got from us being 4th and +10 yards. The Cowboys came after him every time they could still keep us at 4th and 1 as they felt it was worth the risk. I'm glad he didn't get hurt but with all this talk that guys are leaving because of injury.....does a guy like him stay? Is he NFL Caliber? I think he is. Is the Special Teams problem Injury, Coaching or attitudes about possible injury?

Hell if I know. I sure hope Bob and the Coaching Staff can figure it out.

[SoonerorLater]

Championship? Don't talk about championships! You kiddin me? Championship? I just hope we can win a game, another game.