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

The future

The problem with great position coaches in college football is they eventually become coordinators and head coaches somewhere else. That’s something that may happen one day to the Sooners and Bedenbaugh.

Riley, like Stoops before him, encourages his guys to move up the coaching ladder. He told the Tulsa World:

"“When you’ve had the success we’ve had here, that’s going to be part of it. We’ve got a lot of guys on our staff that could be (head coaches) and will be in the future. I want them to be.”"

For now Oklahoma is trying to keep him as happy as possible. He received a $125,000 raise this past offseason to bump his base pay up to $750,000. He has the co-offensive coordinator title, though he isn’t likely to ever take playcalling duties as long as Riley is at Oklahoma.

Is that something he wants? He answered that question with a hard maybe when asked by the Tulsa World:

"“Could I call plays? I don’t think there’s any doubt I could. And if it happens sometime, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”"

If you are looking for an encouraging sign look no further than Bedenbaugh’s wife Maryde, a Tahlequah, Oklahoma native who very much enjoys living in her home state. Bedenbuagh said to the Tulsa World:

"“Once you get to an Oklahoma, it’s like, ‘What else you gonna do?’.  To me, I’m at the best place in the world. My wife’s from Oklahoma, and if I left here she’s probably not going with me.”"

So how long does Oklahoma football have with Bedenbaugh? The answer is up in the air, but it’s not at the front of Bedenbaugh’s mind right now. He’s focused on replacing four NFL-caliber starters and continuing Oklahoma football’s recent run of dominant offensive lines.

“You’re always thinking about that part of it,” Bedenbaugh told the Tulsa World.