Oklahoma football: Why Bill Bedenbaugh is the best o-line coach in the country

This past draft was historic for Oklahoma football in many ways, but lost among the headlines of back-to-back No. 1 overall quarterbacks was the fact the Sooners put four offensive linemen into the NFL, tying a record set back in 1988.

Cody Ford went in the second round (No. 38 overall) to the Bills, Bobby Evans went in the third round (No. 97 overall) to the Rams, both Dru Samia (No. 114 overall) and Ben Powers (No. 123 overall) went in the fourth. This all comes after the Sooners offensive line won the Joe Moore Award for 2018, recognizing the nation’s best collective o-line unit.

While the draft and award both speak to the tremendous collection of individual talent assembled this past season, more than that it highlights offensive line coach Bill Bedenbuagh’s tremendous acumen for developing high-quality athletes on the front line.

Since Bedenbaugh’s arrival in 2013 Oklahoma football has averaged no less than 217 yards per game on the ground each season and have produced eight NFL draft picks on the offensive line including this past year’s historic haul.

Bedenbuagh has been a talented recruiter, but his real skill comes once he gets guys onto campus. Two years ago he turned Orlando Brown from the No. 37 tackle in the 2014 class into the best left tackle in college football. He made Cody Ford an NFL prospect at four different potential positions. He had the foresight to move Bobby Evans over to left tackle to take the place of Brown this past season and he was patient enough with Dru Samia, moving him to a few different positions before finding his natural home at right guard.

Bedenbuagh has a knack for seeing the big picture and moving every piece into the proper place to serve it.

“He’s a football guru,” center Erick Wren said to the Tulsa World before the 2018 Rose Bowl. “He knows every position, everything about football.”