Oklahoma football: Three keys to a successful spring
Alex Grinch’s progress
Despite returning 10 starters from last year’s defense, the Sooners are basically starting from scratch on that side of the ball. There’s a new defensive coordinator in Alex Grinch and new position coaches in Roy Manning (cornerbacks) and Brian Odom (linebackers).
The new regime is emphasizing an “effort based” defense going forward with an emphasis on running to the football, gang tackling and creating turnovers. Any Sooner fan that watched last year’s team knows that those three things didn’t happen on a regular basis under Mike Stoops or Ruffin McNeil.
The question is, how fast can Grinch change the culture on that side of the ball? Can he revive the psyches of players like Parnell Motley, Kenneth Murray and Caleb Kelly, who all came to Oklahoma showing great promise, but haven’t been able to turn it into consistent results yet.
The Sooners’ struggles on defense aren’t related to talent. It’s been fundamental things like tackling, looking for the ball when defending a pass and lining up in the correct alignment.
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Grinch’s job will be to fix all of that while still getting his own defensive system installed. It’s a big ask, but the Sooners clearly think he’s the right guy for the job considering they made him the highest-paid assistant on the staff in the offseason. If he can get this defense to even an above-average level, they could make the jump from college football’s second tier to the top where only Alabama and Clemson have dwelled over the past few seasons.