Carlson: OU football recruiting approach is genius amid COVID changes. Here's what Lincoln Riley did.
by JENNI CARLSON
Published: Sun, January 31, 2021 6:00 AM
OU coach Lincoln Riley and his staff are navigating through recruiting with an eye on how NCAA rules will impact rosters in the future. It's why they signed only 16 recruits in December, then went after impact transfers after the season. [Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman]
Lincoln Riley is a known offensive savant.
A pundit of playcalling. A guru on grass.
But it’s looking more and more like his genius extends to scholarship calculations.
A little over a month ago, the OU coach and his staff inked 16 players on Signing Day. It was a smaller number than has become the norm during the early period, but at the time, Riley said the Sooners went low for two reasons.
First, they didn’t want recruiting restrictions during the pandemic to be an excuse to sign players who weren’t good fits. Because they couldn’t do in-person visits, they only took guys who they felt certain were matches after conversations with the recruits and with those who knew the recruits best.
But second, they knew there would be opportunities to add to the recruiting class.
“We’re gonna have chances to sign more guys in February,” Riley said back in December. “We’re gonna have chances with the transfer portal and immediate eligibility and all that comes with all that.
“We’re going to have our opportunity to go through the process … and fill the roster in the correct way.”
When the late Signing Day arrives Wednesday, the Sooners aren’t expected to sign any additional high school or junior college players, but they will be adding at least five transfers. All of the transfers already on board play a position the Sooners found themselves lacking in depth or talent or both after the season.
These additions are smart in three ways.
1. They fill immediate needs.
2. They balance future rosters.
3. They provide flexibility with the rule changes that have been born out of the pandemic.
The results are brilliant by Riley and his staff — and a team that could be a legit national title contender next season.
Before we get to that, a little background.
Last year, the NCAA decided to change several rules to give players and teams some flexibility amid the pandemic. For starters, the 2020 season was essentially deemed a bonus year for eligibility. It won’t count against any player’s total. So, instead of having five years to play four seasons, anyone who played last season will have six years to play five.
Additionally, players could opt out last season if they had COVID concerns but return to their team next season.
With all of those concessions for players, the NCAA had to give teams some relief in return. It decided football teams could have as many as 110 scholarship players on their roster in 2021, a huge increase from the standard 85.
But here’s the trick — the roster cap will return to normal in 2022.
That means if a team signs 25 players, the maximum number in any one year, it could find itself with a problem down the road. What if all of those players stick around? And if several upperclassmen decide to take advantage of that freebie year of eligibility? And if you don’t have quite as many players leave early for the NFL as you expected?
It could leave a team with too many scholarship players.
So, being strategic with these next few signing classes is critical.
Safe to say, Riley and the Sooners are off to a great start. They not only got a class of high school recruits that ranks in the top 15 but also a group of transfers that is stocked with difference makers.
“The thing we didn’t want to do is get out ahead of ourselves,” Riley said back during Signing Day in December, “and I don’t feel like we did. “
The Sooners had no guarantees back then of what they would end up with by Signing Day in February, but they knew they’d be able to look at the junior-college ranks or dig into the transfer portal with a better grasp on what they needed.
They rolled the dice a bit.
But they got a huge payout.
The biggest jackpot came from Tennessee, of course. In Wanya Morris, Eric Gray and Key Lawrence, OU got three transfers who were four- or five-star recruits coming out of high school and were significant contributors in Knoxville. All three may start for the Sooners, especially Morris on the offensive line and Lawrence in the secondary, but even if Gray, a running back, comes off the bench, all will be in heavy rotation.
Add another potential starter in Robert Congel, who started on the offensive line last season at Arizona, and that’s a significant group of transfers.
(Big Kat Bryant, a defensive end with arguably the greatest name in college football, is also said to be considering OU after announcing his transfer from Auburn.)
Like a general manager changing the future of the team in the free-agent market, Riley lured some big fish to OU. They make a good team even better. They turn a Big 12 favorite into a national title contender.
Riley and his staff have always held their own in the transfer portal, most notably with quarterbacks — and they did add much-needed depth at that position with Penn State transfer Micah Bowens — but this haul was crucial. The Sooners needed impact players who could replenish the roster in key spots and help the Sooners win now, but they also wanted to do it with guys who might not be counting against the scholarship total in another five years.
Otherwise, the whole thing could get thrown out of whack.
It might anyway.
“It definitely could,” Riley said. “The scholarship situation … it’s going to get messy, so you gotta be thinking ahead, and we’ve certainly tried to do that.”
Riley sure looks to have navigated the early going with aplomb.
Turns out, the offensive savant knows way more than Xs and Os.
J
by JENNI CARLSON
Published: Sun, January 31, 2021 6:00 AM
OU coach Lincoln Riley and his staff are navigating through recruiting with an eye on how NCAA rules will impact rosters in the future. It's why they signed only 16 recruits in December, then went after impact transfers after the season. [Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman]
Lincoln Riley is a known offensive savant.
A pundit of playcalling. A guru on grass.
But it’s looking more and more like his genius extends to scholarship calculations.
A little over a month ago, the OU coach and his staff inked 16 players on Signing Day. It was a smaller number than has become the norm during the early period, but at the time, Riley said the Sooners went low for two reasons.
First, they didn’t want recruiting restrictions during the pandemic to be an excuse to sign players who weren’t good fits. Because they couldn’t do in-person visits, they only took guys who they felt certain were matches after conversations with the recruits and with those who knew the recruits best.
But second, they knew there would be opportunities to add to the recruiting class.
“We’re gonna have chances to sign more guys in February,” Riley said back in December. “We’re gonna have chances with the transfer portal and immediate eligibility and all that comes with all that.
“We’re going to have our opportunity to go through the process … and fill the roster in the correct way.”
When the late Signing Day arrives Wednesday, the Sooners aren’t expected to sign any additional high school or junior college players, but they will be adding at least five transfers. All of the transfers already on board play a position the Sooners found themselves lacking in depth or talent or both after the season.
These additions are smart in three ways.
1. They fill immediate needs.
2. They balance future rosters.
3. They provide flexibility with the rule changes that have been born out of the pandemic.
The results are brilliant by Riley and his staff — and a team that could be a legit national title contender next season.
Before we get to that, a little background.
Last year, the NCAA decided to change several rules to give players and teams some flexibility amid the pandemic. For starters, the 2020 season was essentially deemed a bonus year for eligibility. It won’t count against any player’s total. So, instead of having five years to play four seasons, anyone who played last season will have six years to play five.
Additionally, players could opt out last season if they had COVID concerns but return to their team next season.
With all of those concessions for players, the NCAA had to give teams some relief in return. It decided football teams could have as many as 110 scholarship players on their roster in 2021, a huge increase from the standard 85.
But here’s the trick — the roster cap will return to normal in 2022.
That means if a team signs 25 players, the maximum number in any one year, it could find itself with a problem down the road. What if all of those players stick around? And if several upperclassmen decide to take advantage of that freebie year of eligibility? And if you don’t have quite as many players leave early for the NFL as you expected?
It could leave a team with too many scholarship players.
So, being strategic with these next few signing classes is critical.
Safe to say, Riley and the Sooners are off to a great start. They not only got a class of high school recruits that ranks in the top 15 but also a group of transfers that is stocked with difference makers.
“The thing we didn’t want to do is get out ahead of ourselves,” Riley said back during Signing Day in December, “and I don’t feel like we did. “
The Sooners had no guarantees back then of what they would end up with by Signing Day in February, but they knew they’d be able to look at the junior-college ranks or dig into the transfer portal with a better grasp on what they needed.
They rolled the dice a bit.
But they got a huge payout.
The biggest jackpot came from Tennessee, of course. In Wanya Morris, Eric Gray and Key Lawrence, OU got three transfers who were four- or five-star recruits coming out of high school and were significant contributors in Knoxville. All three may start for the Sooners, especially Morris on the offensive line and Lawrence in the secondary, but even if Gray, a running back, comes off the bench, all will be in heavy rotation.
Add another potential starter in Robert Congel, who started on the offensive line last season at Arizona, and that’s a significant group of transfers.
(Big Kat Bryant, a defensive end with arguably the greatest name in college football, is also said to be considering OU after announcing his transfer from Auburn.)
Like a general manager changing the future of the team in the free-agent market, Riley lured some big fish to OU. They make a good team even better. They turn a Big 12 favorite into a national title contender.
Riley and his staff have always held their own in the transfer portal, most notably with quarterbacks — and they did add much-needed depth at that position with Penn State transfer Micah Bowens — but this haul was crucial. The Sooners needed impact players who could replenish the roster in key spots and help the Sooners win now, but they also wanted to do it with guys who might not be counting against the scholarship total in another five years.
Otherwise, the whole thing could get thrown out of whack.
It might anyway.
“It definitely could,” Riley said. “The scholarship situation … it’s going to get messy, so you gotta be thinking ahead, and we’ve certainly tried to do that.”
Riley sure looks to have navigated the early going with aplomb.
Turns out, the offensive savant knows way more than Xs and Os.
J
