Oklahoma football: Defensive keys for fall camp
Lighter, faster defensive linemen
The Sooners coaching staff has talked ad nasium about getting faster up front with guys like Dillon Fa’amatau, Kenneth Mann and particularly Neville Gallimore all shedding weight to gain some speed going into this season.
Add in younger guys like Ronnie Perkins and Troy James plus new arrivals Joseph Wete, LeRon Stokes, Marcus Stripling, Marcus Hicks, David Ugwoegbu and Kori Roberson and you start to see what the Sooners are aiming to look like up front starting this year and in the years to come.
"“When I was at the University of Missouri in the SEC, were were ‘too small to compete in the SEC’. Then we ended up having two SEC defensive players of the year (that were) undersized defensive linemen…. So you take the core of that scheme out to Washington State and you have the (conference) defensive player of the year who was an undersized defensive lineman…. So there’s a track record there of that kind of success, but certainly what we’re trying to accomplish is ‘big speed’.”"
Speaking of ‘big speed’ one of the guys he identified as possessing it was Jalen Redmond.
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Redmond flashed his high upside last year while battling health issues many believe were related to blood clots. He looks to be back and ready to go compete for playing time at the rush end spot.
High expectations
Grinch’s presser seemed to center around high expectations and the standard that he wants to set in year one at Oklahoma. He went out of his way to state that the Sooners are the “one percent” when it comes to college football and that the expecation is to be elite from the gate in this defense.
He said there will be no grading on a curve just because he may not have his own recruits, the players may not be comfortable with the scheme or any other reason that could come out in the future.
In other words, he expects to be ‘elite’ this season.
That’s great news for Sooner fans, but everyone will have to wait another month to find out if this year’s squad can meet those expectations.