Oklahoma football: Neville Gallimore at point of attack in OU’s defense
By Chip Rouse
One of the iconic quotes in Oklahoma football history dates back to the Bud Wilkinson era in the early 1950s and is attributed to then OU president Dr. George L. Cross.
Defending a university budget request for more than an hour before the appropriations committee of the Oklahoma state legislature, Dr. Cross was stopped by one of the committee members and asked: “That’s all well and good, but what kind of football team are we going to have this year?”
Dr. Cross, a bit perturbed by the question because he thought his entire presentation might have been wasted, immediately responded in 13 memorable words that would be heard and repeated throughout the country for decades to come:
"“We want to build a university our football team can be proud of.”"
That epochal quote could just as easily apply today, in paraphrased form, in describing the challenge facing coordinator Alex Grinch and the Oklahoma defense. They want to build a defense that the Sooners’ high-octane, nation-best offense can be proud of.
One of the players Grinch is counting on to lead the way in a reworked OU defense is redshirt senior nose tackle Neville Gallimore.
The 6-foot, 2-inch, 301-pound Gallimore will anchor the Sooners’ first line of defense, the guys upfront in the trenches tasked with stopping the run and getting pressure on the quarterback.
As his name suggests, the new OU defensive coordinator wants the Sooners to play more aggressively and attack the ball on defense, the result of which he hopes will lead to more takeaways and, in turn, more possessions for the offense. That all begins with the play of the big fellas upfront.
Gallimore, a native of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Canada, and former top-100 prospect out of high school, made 13 starts and played in 13 of 14 games for OU last season. He posted a career-high 50 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles. He also was credited with two quarterback hurries.
If he can stay healthy, Gallimore should improve on those numbers in the coming season, especially given the new mindset and defensive system Grinch is putting in place at Oklahoma.
If strength, physicality and quickness are key elements in the style of defense Grinch likes to play, Gallimore is an ideal fit.
The senior nose tackle has trimmed down to 301 pounds from 330 and reportedly bench presses 500 pounds and squats 800. His most impressive number, however, is his 40-yard time. He has run a 4.76 40. to put that into perspective, the fastest 40 time by a 300-pounder at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine was former Alabama defensive end Quinnen Williams, the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft (by the New York Giants). Williams’ time was 4.83, which is till pretty amazing.
Every year around this time, national sportswriter Bruce Feldman puts together a fun list he calls the biggest Freaks in college football. The premise, he says, is to single out the “guys who generate buzz inside their programs by displaying the type of rare physical abilities that wow even those folks who are used to observing gifted athletes every day.”
His 2019 College Football Freaks list, published by the digital sports website The Athletic, ranks OU’s Gallimore No. 2 out of 50. He actually moved up a spot from No. 3 in 2018. No. 1 on Feldman’s list of college Freaks coming into the 2019 season is offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs of Iowa.
A word of caution for Big 12 offensive coordinators and the other teams on Oklahoma’s 2019 schedule: Beware of the Freak.
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