OU Football Recruiting: Sooners’ 2016 Class Geographically Diverse
By Chip Rouse
A breakdown of the newest OU football recruiting class underscores the national reach of the Sooner football brand.
The Oklahoma coaching staff reeled in 2016 recruiting class composed of 19 prospects that ranked as the 20th best nationally, according to Rivals.com. The Sooner class was ranked No. 20 by Scout.com and was 21st in the ESPN RecruitingNation class rankings.
The Sooners moved up several spots in each of the national team rankings after securing the commitment of five-star linebacker Caleb Kelly, from Fresno, Calif., late on Wednesday.
OU recruiting classes have been ranked in the mid-teens the past three years and they haven’t been as high as the top 10 since 2012 (Rivals), but the national diversity of this year’s class and the fact that the Sooners targeted student athletes who could fill specific future position needs (particularly at linebacker, wide receiver and offensive line) and not just the best talent available regardless of the position could make this recruiting haul one of Oklahoma’s best classes in recent times.
How the 2016 Sooner recruiting class ultimately nets out in terms of overall quality and its collective and individual contributions will be borne out over time. For the moment, however, what really stands out about this Oklahoma football recruiting class is its geographic reach as well as well as the variety of position needs filled and the academic character of the class as a whole.
In the past, prospects from Texas and Oklahoma have dominated the Sooners recruiting classes. In recent years, however, head coach Bob Stoops and his assistant coaches have broadened the recruiting net, reaching out successfully to both c0asts in areas that have traditionally been highly fertile recruiting territory for teams in other major conferences.
As an example of how Oklahoma football has become more of a national brand under Stoops, two members of the 2016 recruiting class come from California and Louisiana and the Sooners have signed letters of intent from prospects in Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C. That is in addition to the normal mix of signees from Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas.
The rich football recruiting ground of Texas produced the most members of OU’s 2016 class (3), foll0wed by Oklahoma, Kansas, California and Louisiana (with two each).
In addition to the physical talent level, “it’s really a strong class academically, as well” said Bob Stoops in introducing the new Sooner class to the press, “and to me, that matters along with size and speed and all of that. The academic success and the players’ academic backgrounds translate into better and more consistent play. It’s better leadership on your team.
“We want guys who are serious about their business,” the Oklahoma head coach said. “Guys who are serious about going to school and guys that play hard and physical.
“I love this class. We really are meeting our needs everywhere,” Stoops said. Hard to fault to fault the judgment of a man who has led the Sooners to nine conference championships in 17 seasons and in a very good position to win a national championship in five of those seasons (four times in the BCS era playing in the national championship game -winning it all in the 2000 season – and one of the four teams in the College Football Playoff this past season).
“We want guys who are serious about their business…Guys who are serious about going to school and that play hard and physical.” —Bob Stoops, OU head coach
Breaking down the Sooners’ new football recruiting class by position, there are five offensive linemen, four linebackers, three defensive backs, two defensive ends, two wide receivers, along with one quarterback, one running back and one commitment designated as an athlete.
The 2016 class is made up of 15 players coming out of high school and four junior-college transfers. And this does not include Kyler Murray, a former five-star prospect who played one season at Texas A&M, who transferred to Oklahoma but won’t be eligible to play until the 2017 season, and wide-receiver Geno Lewis, a Penn State transfer who is eligible to play immediately.
The Oklahoma 19-member class includes one five-star recruit (linebacker Caleb Kelly), eight four-stars and seven three-star recruits.