Another verbal

[Salt City Sooner]

DB Tito Windham has committed to OU.

[Widescreen]

We out-recruited Louisiana Lafayette for him. Awesome.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Dude's rivals page: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Tito-Windham-149172;_ylt=AkrcHvNQBJuRVu_xXaB0E5FIPZB4

Scout: http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=6710612

[8timechamps]

Here's some info on this kid; Apparently he outplayed every DB at a Nike SPARQ event last weekend in New Orleans. Mike Stoops has been on top of this kid for almost a year, and he has had a Sooner offer for a while.

Here's some film: HUDL Film (http://www.hudl.com/athlete/611682/tito-windham)

First player in the Stoops era from Mississippi.

[Mjcpr]

Suck it, La Laf.

[Ruf/Nek7]

You guys laugh now but this kid will be a player. Watch and see

[picasso]

Good lord. Are we evaluating our recruits by who has offered them?

[King Crimson]

Good lord. Are we evaluating our recruits by who has offered them?

it's not the worst measure, really. early commit, who knows....? if Mikey has liked this guy for a while....hooray for us.

[8timechamps]

You guys laugh now but this kid will be a player. Watch and see

No kidding. This kid is going to open a lot of eyes when he gets to Norman. Two words: Electric Hammer.

[Ruf/Nek7]

No kidding. This kid is going to open a lot of eyes when he gets to Norman. Two words: Electric Hammer.

When looking at hid film from hudl, the first thing I noticed was the variois positions and ST he played. Then, I liked how smart he is at corner. He is a locl down corner who attacks the ball at the perfect time. I am excited about this kid but worry when sec teams get involved

[Collier11]

If we evaluated by who has offered a player, we wouldn't have had several of our key players during Stoops best years

[Seamus]

We out-recruited Louisiana Lafayette for him. Awesome.

Who'd we outrecruit for Josh Heupel?

[Salt City Sooner]

Who'd we outrecruit for Josh Heupel?
Utah State & New Mexico. Until signing day (when A&M offered him) we out-recruited absolutely nobody for Q.

[Collier11]

and mark clayton and on and on...

[yermom]

If we evaluated by who has offered a player, we wouldn't have had several of our key players during Stoops best years

we stole Bradford from Leach, if i remember right :D

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

we stole Bradford from Leach, if i remember right :DNot sure about that, but I believe I read sometime that Bradford always wanted to play for OU.

[Collier11]

Chuck Long sealed the deal on Bradford if I remember correctly

[IronHorseSooner]

First player in the Stoops era from Mississippi.

Isn't Lacoltan Bester from Mississippi? In fact, they call him "Scooba" because he is from Scooba, Miss.

[yermom]

Chuck Long sealed the deal on Bradford if I remember correctly

my understanding was that we got in on him after Leach showed interest

[yermom]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/andy_staples/04/19/prospect-rankings/index.html

[Collier11]

perhaps, but I know that Stoops gives Long credit for reeling him in

[8timechamps]

Isn't Lacoltan Bester from Mississippi? In fact, they call him "Scooba" because he is from Scooba, Miss.

Yep, he is. Good call.

I forgot about Bester.

[8timechamps]

When looking at hid film from hudl, the first thing I noticed was the variois positions and ST he played. Then, I liked how smart he is at corner. He is a locl down corner who attacks the ball at the perfect time. I am excited about this kid but worry when sec teams get involved

The one big thing I noticed on his HUDL was how instinctive he is on defense. You can teach ball skills, you can't teach speed and a nose for the ball...he has both of those.

[OU_Sooners75]

The one big thing I noticed on his HUDL was how instinctive he is on defense. You can teach ball skills, you can't teach speed and a nose for the ball...he has both of those.

You can "teach" speed persay. It is actually learning how to run and cut, and then training for it.

You can also teach "nose for the ball" Some may be better at it than others, while others may not have a skill for it at all. But you can definitely teach it.

[Salt City Sooner]

Florida State offered him today. IMO by signing day, we'd be fortunate to still have him because I'd be willing to bet that his offer list is quite impressive by that time.

[8timechamps]

You can "teach" speed persay. It is actually learning how to run and cut, and then training for it.

You can also teach "nose for the ball" Some may be better at it than others, while others may not have a skill for it at all. But you can definitely teach it.

I had the fortune to attend a coaching clinic in Nebraska about a decade ago, and got to hear Tom Osborn speak. He started his presentation with those exact words "You can't teach speed or instinct". He followed it up with an hour long discussion about how to use technique to maximize a players ability.

I've coached high school football (defensive line) for the past 12 years. I stand by my statement, you can't teach speed or instinct. Sure, you can teach technique that can help a player run more efficiently, and you can teach a player technique to position themselves better to make a play on the ball, but you can't teach a player to be a ball hawk.

I can tell within 5 minutes of watching a D-lineman if he is going to be good, or not. I can help his technique, but I cannot teach instinct. Some kids just play with wreck-less abandon, and some don't. It's kind of like the military, you can't teach courage. Some guys are just born with it.

[8timechamps]

Florida State offered him today. IMO by signing day, we'd be fortunate to still have him because I'd be willing to bet that his offer list is quite impressive by that time.

OU was the first of (soon to be many) big time programs to offer this kid. They have to get him on campus ASAP.

The good news is that this kids seems really sold on OU "giving him the first serious consideration". At this point, everyone else is going to be playing catch-up.

Other than the actual verbal commit, the best thing OU offers is the ability to play corner in a league that will showcase talent. That, and Mike Stoops.

[Sabanball]

A rare get for you guys out of the Deep South, especially Mississippi. Congrats on what looks to be a nice pickup. Most of his measurables seem to be very good.

[birddog]

A rare get for you guys out of the Deep South, especially Mississippi. Congrats on what looks to be a nice pickup. Most of his measurables seem to be very good.

yeah, although OU is so far inferior to SEC teams, we have a little history on our side. still shocked when players want to come to OU.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

I had the fortune to attend a coaching clinic in Nebraska about a decade ago, and got to hear Tom Osborn speak. He started his presentation with those exact words "You can't teach speed or instinct". He followed it up with an hour long discussion about how to use technique to maximize a players ability.

I've coached high school football (defensive line) for the past 12 years. I stand by my statement, you can't teach speed or instinct. Sure, you can teach technique that can help a player run more efficiently, and you can teach a player technique to position themselves better to make a play on the ball, but you can't teach a player to be a ball hawk.

I can tell within 5 minutes of watching a D-lineman if he is going to be good, or not. I can help his technique, but I cannot teach instinct. Some kids just play with wreck-less abandon, and some don't. It's kind of like the military, you can't teach courage. Some guys are just born with it.

I think you and 75 are circling around the same concept. Everyone has a maximum athletic threshold that can't be taught.

Some Examples of various physical limitations (which can be overcome by some type of anabolic agent (steroids/suma/etc)

Lean Body Mass - http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html
Maximum Muscle Size - http://www.weightrainer.net/bodypred.html
Body Fat % - http://usmc.pftcalculator.com/PftIndex

However, not everyone is near that maximum athletic potential. Because we are humans, most kids will vary between 33 and 66% of that potential (1 standard deviation). Athletes who are trained will skew that distribution and probably be from 45% to 78% of that potential with some outliers being farther/lower up the scale than that. As a coach, it is pure joy to watch these low end kids bust their butts and get to an elite level (say 90%) but this is rare. In other words, there is normally a very easy reason why they are at 45% and it is that they lack that motivation.

A good example of this is Mark Clayton who came to OU with his amazing 5.03 40 yard dash. 5 years later, he left OU with around a 4.4 and a 1st round NFL grade. What this means that he was on the low end coming out of high school and very near the high end when he left. He didn't get taught speed, he had it all along. What he got taught was how to shed the bad habits that were making him slow. He also paid a price for his gains in the form of injuries. There were things that he did at 5.0 speed that just do not work at 4.5 speed because of the increased torque on the joints. However, what more than paid dividends for him (and Wes Welker for that matter) was that they didn't have any of the bad habits that fast people get playing the game (like taking plays off, not blocking, jogging, etc).