In January this year, the Oklahoma football program lost out on top 2021 quarterback prospect Brock Vandagriff. Lincoln Riley and his staff are back out on the trail, however, and have a shot at landing another highly touted 22021 prospect at that position.
The commitment decision for No. 1 dual-threat quarterback prospect Caleb Williams could come down between Oklahoma and LSU.
At least one national recruiting analyst, Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports, believes the nod will go to Oklahoma, but that is largely based on the departure of LSU passing game coordinator Joe Brady.
Brady, who was an assistant coach with the New Orleans Saints before he was hired by LSU coach Ed Ogeron last season, is returning to the NFL as offensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers. He is one largely credited with the amazing emergence this past season of LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who was the runaway winner of the 2019 Heisman Trophy and led his team to the national championship.
In Brady’s place, LSU has hired former NFL head coach and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, another assistant with NFL experience. Linehan was head coach of the St. Louis Rams from 2006-08 and has served as offensive coordinator of four other NFL teams.
LSU was in the front-running position after a visit by Williams to LSU in the fall. But that was when Brady was still on the staff. When Brady announced he was leaving LSU for the NFL, that’s when things opened up in terms of the re-recruitment of top quarterback prospect Williams.
Oklahoma has been heavy on Williams’ trail after the Brady departure, but so too has Dabo Swinney of Clemson.
With Burrow headed to the NFL, the quarterback situation is a little more unsettled at LSU than at either OU or Clemson.
Five-star 2019 quarterback prospect Spencer Rattler is expected to take over the starting quarterback role at Oklahoma next season, and the Sooners were looking at Vandagriff as the future after Rattler.
The Sooners also have redshirt junior Tanner Mordecai and four-star Chandler Morris, a member of the 2020 class in the quarterback room next season.
Vandagriff, a Georgia native, originally committed to the Sooners in June 2019. He decommitted in January, reportedly because he was having second thoughts about the distance between his home in Bogart, Georgia, and Norman, Oklahoma. On Jan. 21, he verbally committed to Georgia.
Williams is rated by Rivals as the No. 3 prospect nationally in the 2021 class and No. 1 at his position. The 6-foot, 1-inch, 200-pounder hails from the Washington, D.C. area.
The dynamics of Williams’ recruitment may have shifted back in LSU’s favor with the hiring of another former NFL coach to work with the quarterbacks. Time will tell if that is indeed the case.
When it comes time for Williams to declare his allegiance, you can be sure that Oklahoma will have given it everything it had to persuade him to become a Sooner. It may also come down to a choice between Coach Orgeron and Coach Riley.