2010 recruiting (2011 class) is partially to blame for this year

[8timechamps]

I know it's popular belief that OU isn't very good at recruiting, but the truth is we have done fine under Stoops. Some classes are better than others, but there's rarely been a "bad" recruiting class. If you weren't aware, the 2011 recruiting class was one of the "bad" ones. Not that we didn't land some quality talent, but there were many factors that lead to that class being almost nonexistent. Had that class panned out, those players would been R-Sophomores and juniors this year. Given that we were pretty damn young (especially on defense), it's pretty obvious that the 2011 class was partially responsible for this year's disappointment.

Every year, Stoops & staff brings in between 20-25 new recruits. Nobody expects every single one of those to become impact players, let alone super stars, but the 2011 class is woefully absent. Here's a look at that class along with current update on the players:

Player	Position	Rating	Status as of the 2014 season
Trey Metoyer	WR	5 star	Removed from team/disciplinary reasons
Kellen Jones	MLB	4 star	Transferred to Clemson
Nila Kasitati	TE moved to OL	3 star	Played in 11 of 12 games for OU
Bennett Okotcha	CB	3 star	Transferred to UTEP
Dan Tapko	DE	4 star	Left program
Jordan Phillips	DT	5 star	Played in 12 of 12 games for OU
Derrick Farniok	OL	3 star	Played in 12 of 12 games for OU
Archie Bradley	QB	3 star	Signed MLB contract/no show at OU
Dylan Dismuke	OL	3 star	Injured before arriving/retired
Frank Shannon	S moved to LB	4 star	Suspended for 2014
Nathan Hughes	DE	5 star	Left program
Max Stevenson	TE	4 star	Left program
Brandon Williams	RB	5 star	Transferred to Texas A&M
Danzel Williams	RB	3 star	Transferred to Central Arkansas
Jordan Wade	DT	4 star	Played in 5 of 12 games for OU
P.L. Lindley	OLB	3 star	Played in 9 of 12 games for OU
Kendall Thompson	QB	3 star	Transferred to Utah
Kameel Jackson	WR	3 star	Left program

As you can see, only 5 of the 19 players are still on the team, and only a couple (Phillips & Kasitati) are real contributors. Frank Shannon is kind of an exception, but he wasn't available for 2014. Any way you look at it, that's bad.

2011 was the last time Bob really cleaned house within the coaching ranks. So, some of the departures were because of the change in coaching (Kellen Moore, for example, followed Venables to Clemson). However, even the guys that left didn't amount to much in the college football world. Brandon Williams transferred to Texas A&M, and has seen action for the Aggies, but I wouldn't call him a game changer or super star.

The bottom line is that the evaluations for the 2011 class were pretty bad in most cases (can't really say that for Archie Bradley, as he never played football. Or Dylan Dismuke, because he was injured before he ever had a chance to play). I think it's fair to say the evaluations, for a large part of the class, were pretty bad.

When you only have 5 out of 19 guys from a class, it's going to catch up to you. And it did this year.

[Eielson]

Yeah, I was looking at this the other day, and was considering making a thread.

It's pretty impressive the amount of talent we had out there despite this, seeing as we should have gotten a lot of firepower from our oldest class. Jordan Phillips is the only real NFL guy on that list. Nila and Derrick might be key players for us next year on the O-line, as might Shannon at inside linebacker, but I don't think our win total would have changed at all had we completely removed this entire class. That's crazy.

[birddog]

Not kellen Moore the qb. *kellen Jones* to Clemson right? Anyway to see who else was after these guys without losing your job?

[8timechamps]

Yeah, I was looking at this the other day, and was considering making a thread.

It's pretty impressive the amount of talent we had out there despite this, seeing as we should have gotten a lot of firepower from our oldest class. Jordan Phillips is the only real NFL guy on that list. Nila and Derrick might be key players for us next year on the O-line, as might Shannon at inside linebacker, but I don't think our win total would have changed at all had we completely removed this entire class. That's crazy.

I know for a lot of folks this is just going to be an "excuse", but things like this can absolutely affect a season. There are a lot of players on that list that could have really helped this year (had they turned out the way they could have). Metoyer could have been huge this year, as could Okotcha. In the end, we were without almost an entire class. The recruiting evaluations that were going on in Shipps last year in Norman were almost nonexistent.

[8timechamps]

Not kellen Moore the qb. *kellen Jones* to Clemson right? Anyway to see who else was after these guys without losing your job?

You're right, Kellen Jones. I had it right in the first list, then confused him later. It was Kellen Jones.

I can see who else was after them, it'll take a bit, but I'l post what I find.

[ObiKaTony]

I know it's popular belief that OU isn't very good at recruiting, but the truth is we have done fine under Stoops. Some classes are better than others, but there's rarely been a "bad" recruiting class. If you weren't aware, the 2011 recruiting class was one of the "bad" ones. Not that we didn't land some quality talent, but there were many factors that lead to that class being almost nonexistent. Had that class panned out, those players would been R-Sophomores and juniors this year. Given that we were pretty damn young (especially on defense), it's pretty obvious that the 2011 class was partially responsible for this year's disappointment.

Every year, Stoops & staff brings in between 20-25 new recruits. Nobody expects every single one of those to become impact players, let alone super stars, but the 2011 class is woefully absent. Here's a look at that class along with current update on the players:

Player	Position	Rating	Status as of the 2014 season
Trey Metoyer	WR	5 star	Removed from team/disciplinary reasons
Kellen Jones	MLB	4 star	Transferred to Clemson
Nila Kasitati	TE moved to OL	3 star	Played in 11 of 12 games for OU
Bennett Okotcha	CB	3 star	Transferred to UTEP
Dan Tapko	DE	4 star	Left program
Jordan Phillips	DT	5 star	Played in 12 of 12 games for OU
Derrick Farniok	OL	3 star	Played in 12 of 12 games for OU
Archie Bradley	QB	3 star	Signed MLB contract/no show at OU
Dylan Dismuke	OL	3 star	Injured before arriving/retired
Frank Shannon	S moved to LB	4 star	Suspended for 2014
Nathan Hughes	DE	5 star	Left program
Max Stevenson	TE	4 star	Left program
Brandon Williams	RB	5 star	Transferred to Texas A&M
Danzel Williams	RB	3 star	Transferred to Central Arkansas
Jordan Wade	DT	4 star	Played in 5 of 12 games for OU
P.L. Lindley	OLB	3 star	Played in 9 of 12 games for OU
Kendall Thompson	QB	3 star	Transferred to Utah
Kameel Jackson	WR	3 star	Left program

As you can see, only 5 of the 19 players are still on the team, and only a couple (Phillips & Kasitati) are real contributors. Frank Shannon is kind of an exception, but he wasn't available for 2014. Any way you look at it, that's bad.

2011 was the last time Bob really cleaned house within the coaching ranks. So, some of the departures were because of the change in coaching (Kellen Moore, for example, followed Venables to Clemson). However, even the guys that left didn't amount to much in the college football world. Brandon Williams transferred to Texas A&M, and has seen action for the Aggies, but I wouldn't call him a game changer or super star.

The bottom line is that the evaluations for the 2011 class were pretty bad in most cases (can't really say that for Archie Bradley, as he never played football. Or Dylan Dismuke, because he was injured before he ever had a chance to play). I think it's fair to say the evaluations, for a large part of the class, were pretty bad.

When you only have 5 out of 19 guys from a class, it's going to catch up to you. And it did this year.

Great post...my question is where is all the talent now? Can we please get a linebacker with some God given talent. Gimme some Lehman, calmus, Marshall, and some Rufus ( would say Reynolds, but obviously injuries got em...) d lineman is just as bad...

[soonergirlNeugene]

This has been helpful. Might you have similar info on classes preceding 2011 so we can compare personnel losses?

[8timechamps]

Not kellen Moore the qb. *kellen Jones* to Clemson right? Anyway to see who else was after these guys without losing your job?

Here ya go:

Player	Still @ OU?	Offers (other than OU)
Trey Metoyer	No	Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
Kellen Jones	No	Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Boise State, Colorado, Houston, Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan, Missouri, Purdue, Stanford, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wyoming
Nila Kasitati	Yes	Baylor, Duke, Oklahoma State, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, Utah
Bennett Okotcha	No	Baylor, Georgia, Minnesota, Notre Dame, TCU, Texas, Wake Forest, Wisconsin
Dab Tapko	No	Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Wisconsin
Jordan Phillips	Yes	Auburn, Colorado State, Kansas, Kansas State, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, UCLA
Derick Farniok	Yes	Kansas, Minnesota, UCLA, Wisconsin
Archie Bradley	No	Houston, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Tulsa, UCLA
Dylan Dismuke	No	Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Tulsa
Frank Shannon	No	Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas A&M
Nathan Hughes	No	Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, California, Duke, Florida State, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Purdue, Stanford, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulane
Max Stevenson	No	Arizona, Baylor, California, Duke, Iowa State, LSU, Mississippi State, Minnesota, Missouri, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulane, Virginia
Brandon Williams	No	Baylor, Houston, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
Danzel Williams	No	Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, TCU, Tulsa
Jordan Wade	Yes	Baylor, Houston, Nebraska, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
P.L. Lindley	Yes	Baylor, Houston, Rice, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech
Kendall Thompson	No	Tulsa
Kameel Jackson	No	Kansas, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Tulsa

[dwarthog]

Here ya go:

Player	Still @ OU?	Offers (other than OU)
Trey Metoyer	No	Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
Kellen Jones	No	Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Boise State, Colorado, Houston, Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan, Missouri, Purdue, Stanford, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wyoming
Nila Kasitati	Yes	Baylor, Duke, Oklahoma State, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, Utah
Bennett Okotcha	No	Baylor, Georgia, Minnesota, Notre Dame, TCU, Texas, Wake Forest, Wisconsin
Dab Tapko	No	Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Wisconsin
Jordan Phillips	Yes	Auburn, Colorado State, Kansas, Kansas State, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, UCLA
Derick Farniok	Yes	Kansas, Minnesota, UCLA, Wisconsin
Archie Bradley	No	Houston, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Tulsa, UCLA
Dylan Dismuke	No	Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Tulsa
Frank Shannon	No	Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas A&M
Nathan Hughes	No	Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, California, Duke, Florida State, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Purdue, Stanford, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulane
Max Stevenson	No	Arizona, Baylor, California, Duke, Iowa State, LSU, Mississippi State, Minnesota, Missouri, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulane, Virginia
Brandon Williams	No	Baylor, Houston, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
Danzel Williams	No	Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, TCU, Tulsa
Jordan Wade	Yes	Baylor, Houston, Nebraska, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
P.L. Lindley	Yes	Baylor, Houston, Rice, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech
Kendall Thompson	No	Tulsa
Kameel Jackson	No	Kansas, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Tulsa

Wait a minute. I have it on good authority, this message board, we go head to head with North Texas State etc. I didn't see them in that list of schools.

I'm so confused..

[pappy]

We had 10 guys make all big 12 this year and 6 were on the 1st team. The talent is there...its the coaches who are lacking.

[rock on sooner]

Strikes me as odd that four of those players "left the program". Do we know
why?....even rumors?

[Since71ASooner4Life]

We had 10 guys make all big 12 this year and 6 were on the 1st team. The talent is there...its the coaches who are lacking.

Your point is pretty damning. With a 5-4 conference record that including two bad losses - one to a punk and one an *** stomping on our home field. Plus what should have been another loss to a punk wearing burnt orange. You would think such a team would have hardly anyone regarded as best at their position.

Thank God we don't play today - I cant take more humiliation this year

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

To rehash a point that I've made several times over the last decade - when you change coaches, you tend to throw away their first 1 or 2 recruiting classes. My guess is the process works like this:

Year 1. Oooo, look at all the athletes that I can get now that I have OU by my name. Only evaluate based on [Athleticism/Talent], maybe grab some guy you really wanted at a previous school.
Year 2 - Similar recruiting pattern
Year 2 Spring Football - Wow this guy just can't figure this out and is terrible, maybe I need to change my evaluation patterns
Year 3 - New recruiting pattern

[yermom]

How does this compare to someone like Alabama or Oregon?

[AzianSooner]

How does this compare to someone like Alabama or Oregon?

This is a good question - please also throw in Baylor and FSU as well.

How does this class compare to Florida? is this also one of the main reason that Florida falling?

[8timechamps]

Strikes me as odd that four of those players "left the program". Do we know
why?....even rumors?

Tapko was injured and "retired". Stevenson quit football altogether. Hughes hung around for a couple of years, but never did much. The coaches eventually moved him to the O-line, trying to find a spot for him, but it never really worked. He also gave up on football. Kameel Jackson actually quit football, then decided to play at a JUCO. He's actually looking to get back to D1 with Tennessee.

[8timechamps]

We had 10 guys make all big 12 this year and 6 were on the 1st team. The talent is there...its the coaches who are lacking.

Not sure what you're referring to, but only 3 Sooners made the AP All-conference first team:

Eric Striker
Samaje Perine
Daryl Williams

Second team included 4 Sooners

Tyrus Thompson
Sterling Shepard
Dom Alexander
Jordan Phillips

Second team doesn't mean much in the big picture, but first team guys are typically excellent players. We only had 3 this year. The second team guys are all very good, and I think Shepard would have been a lock for first team had he not gotten beat.

[8timechamps]

How does this compare to someone like Alabama or Oregon?

I'll do some research, but I can tell you it's not even going to compare. In fact, it doesn't even compare to any other OU class under Stoops. It is extremely rare that only 5 members of a class remain on a team.

[rock on sooner]

Not sure what you're referring to, but only 3 Sooners made the AP All-conference first team:

Eric Striker
Samaje Perine
Daryl Williams

Second team included 4 Sooners

Tyrus Thompson
Sterling Shepard
Dom Alexander
Jordan Phillips

Second team doesn't mean much in the big picture, but first team guys are typically excellent players. We only had 3 this year. The second team guys are all very good, and I think Shepard would have been a lock for first team had he not gotten beat.

I thought Sanchez made 1st team....I could be wrong, though...

[8timechamps]

I thought Sanchez made 1st team....I could be wrong, though...

You're correct, he did make the first team. They have it so jumbled, he kinda blended in:

FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE:
Center: B.J. Finney, Kansas St., 6-4, 303, Sr., Andale, Kan.
Offensive line: Le'Raven Clark, Texas Tech, 6-6, 313, Jr., Rockdale, Texas; u-Spencer Drango, Baylor, 6-6, 310, Jr., Cedar Park, Texas; Mark Glowinski, West Virginia, 6-5, 312, Sr., Wikes-Barre, Pa.; Daryl Williams, Oklahoma, 6-6, 329, Sr., Lake Dallas, Texas.
Tight end: E.J. Bibbs, Iowa St., 6-3, 264, Sr., Chicago.
Receivers: Corey Coleman, Baylor, 5-11, 190, So., Richardson, Texas; Tyler Lockett, Kansas St., 5-11, 175, Sr., Tulsa, Okla.; Kevin White, West Virginia, 6-3, 210, Sr., Plainfield, N.J.
Running back: u-Samaje Perine, Oklahoma, 5-11, 243, Fr., Pflugerville, Texas.
Quarterback: u-Trevone Boykin, TCU, 6-2, 205, Jr., Dallas.
All-purpose: Tyreek Hill, Oklahoma St., 5-10, 185, Jr., Pearson, Ga.
Kicker: Josh Lambert, West Virginia, 5-11, 215, So., Garland, Texas.
SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE:
Center: Joey Hunt, TCU, 6-3, 295, Jr., El Campo, Texas.
Offensive line: Tayo Fabuluje, 6-7, 360, Sr., Euless, Texas.; Quinton Spain, West Virginia, 6-4, 332, Sr., Petersburg, Va.; Tyrus Thompson, Oklahoma, 6-5, 336, Sr., Pasadena, Texas; Cody Whitehair, Kansas St., 6-4, 309, Jr., Abilene, Kan.
Tight end: Jimmay Mudine, Kansas, 6-2, 240, Sr., Denison, Texas.
Receivers: John Harris, Texas, 6-3, 223, Sr., Garland, Texas; Curry Sexton, 5-11, 183, Sr., Abilene, Kan.; Sterling Shepard,5-10, 194, Jr., Oklahoma City.
Running back: Shock Linwood, Baylor, 5-9, 200, So., Linden, Texas.
Quarterback: Bryce Petty, Baylor, 6-3, 230, Sr., Midlothian, Texas.
All-purpose: Tyler Lockett, Kansas St., 5-11, 175, Sr., Tulsa, Okla.
Kicker: Jaden Oberkrom, TCU, 6-3, 187, Jr., Arlington, Texas.
FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE
Defensive line: Andrew Billings, Baylor, 6-2, 300, So., Waco, Texas; Malcom Brown, Texas, 6-2, 320, Jr., Brenham, Texas; Shawn Oakman, Baylor, 6-0, 280, Jr., Landsdowne, Pa.; Emmanuel Ogbah, Oklahoma St., 6-4, 270, So., Houston.
Linebacker: u-Paul Dawson, TCU, 6-2, 230, Sr., Dallas; Ben Heeney, Kansas, 6-0, 230, Sr., Hutchinson, Kan.; Pete Robertson, Texas Tech, Jr., 6-3, 236, Longview, Texas; Eric Striker, Oklahoma, 6-0, 221, Jr., Seffner, Fla.
Defensive back: Sam Carter, TCU, 6-1, 215, Sr., New Orleans; Chris Hackett, TCU, 6-2, 195, Jr., Tyler, Texas; Zack Sanchez, Oklahoma, 5-11, 179, So., Fort Worth, Texas; Orion Stewart, Baylor, 6-2, 200, So., Waco, Texas.
Punter: Trevor Pardula, Kansas, 6-5, 212, Sr., San Jose, Calif.
SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE
Defensive line: Chucky Hunter, TCU, 6-1, 305, Sr., West Monroe, La.; Ryan Mueller, Kansas St., 6-2, 245, Sr., Leawood, Kan.; Jordan Phillips, Oklahoma, 6-6, 334, So., Towanda, Kan.; Cedric Reed, Texas, 6-5, 272, Sr., Cleveland, Texas.
Linebacker: Dominique Alexander, Oklahoma, 6-0, 227, So., Tulsa, Okla.; Bryce Hager, Baylor, 6-2, 235, Sr., Austin, Texas; Jordan Hicks, Texas, 6-1, 234, Sr.; Cincinnati; Jonathan Truman, Kansas St., 5-11, 219, Sr., Kechi, Kan.
Defensive back: Quandre Diggs, Texas, 5-10, 195, Sr., Angelton, Texas; Karl Joseph, West Virginia, 5-11, 196, Jr., Orlando, Fla.; JaCorey Shepherd, Kansas, 5-11, 195, Sr., Mesquite, Texas; Nigel Tribune, Iowa St., 5-11, 185, So., Jacksonville, Fla.
Punter: Spencer Roth, Baylor, 6-5, 220, Sr., Knoxville, Tenn.
___
Offensive player of the year — Trevone Boykin, TCU.
Defensive player of the year — Paul Dawson, TCU.
Offensive newcomer of the year — Samaje Perine, Oklahoma.
Defensive newcomer of the year — Taylor Young, Baylor.