Official 2014 LOI confirmation thread

Wasn't Jamarkus McFarland a 5* also?

That's why when it comes to recruiting I take the view of the zen master that Phillip Seymour Hoffman told the story about in Charlie Wilson's War - We'll see.

 

4-star on Rivals. Don't know about Scout?

 

McFarland started out as a 5* and then steadily fell down the ranks over the season. I've pointed it out before, but there is a lot of inertia at the top of the recruiting rankings heap. After the initial cut, it is really hard to get into it and really hard to leave it.

 

Whether 4 star or 5 star, our evaluation of interior D-lineman sucked for a few years. They had the stars, but either they had maxed out, or coasting, because they did very little while in Norman.

 

Tru dat!

 

Soonersports.com has bios on all of our signees and at the bottom of their profiles there are tweets that are about or by them.
Check out the bottom of Mixon's, it's vid of him juking two players in a tight one on two drill.

 

That video is from a Nike Elite camp early in the season (maybe even pre season). That was the first time I took time to watch him on film (there are several others like that out there). It was the first time I thought "this kid could be the real deal".

 

Wesley Horky (LS from Ravenwood, TN) has now been signed onto the 2014 class.

 

Horky was committed to Tennessee, and had been declared a "preferred walkon" until Jay Boulwarer started talking to him. Coach Boulware wanted Horky to come to Norman, see the campus and talk about his future with OU. So, he and his parents made the trip, and it paid off because Boulware extended an offer today at junior day. It didn't take long for Horky to think about it, and committed on the spot. So, we have our next deadicated LS for the next 3 to 4 years.

 

so 8time, he was committed to Tenn? or was a preferred walk-on at OU who got a scholly?

 

He was going to walk-on at Tennessee but he received a late offer from Oklahoma so he took a visit to Norman. He committed yesterday and he's on full scholarship.

 

Is it normal to use a full scholly on a long snapper? Is that really an actual recruited position? I guess I always figured that they found a guy from the walk on ranks to become a snapper.

 

This.

He was committed, but as a walk-on, there's no LOI or the like, so de-committing isn't a big deal.

 

It's just rare.

Texas and Alabama have signed (scholarship) long snappers every two to three years for a long time. We've been fortunate in that we've had either walk-ons or back-up O-linemen that could also long snap. Apparently, with Woods leaving, we didn't have that.

I tell my kid he needs to practice long snapping, because the high school kids that "specialize" in it almost always get offers from big time programs.

 

Long snappers are very important on punt coverage, so I can see using a schollie on one if he is athletic enough to also get down field and make a tackle. Winchester was great at that.

 

Winchester was an awesome player. Talk about an 'A' for effort.

 

Yep, Winchester was arguably the best long snapper Stoops has had. There's no rule that says they have to be the size of a center (of course you want someone that can block on occasion), and Winchester was always around the return man.

 

I am not sure who would be second best? Winchester doubled as a WR. If I recall correctly, he had impressive measurables.

 

I remember Russell Dennison being pretty good, but I can't remember if he was a long snapper. I know we tried him there at one point, but I don't know if he stayed there.

I remember seeing a video of Winchester getting into the fitness pod (the machine that measures body fat), and his numbers were crazy. The kid was just a solid athlete.