You can almost feel the frustration coming out of Norman right now.
After winning back to back Big 12 titles, the members of the Oklahoma football coaching staff probably felt like the last couple of seasons would open up the doors in recruiting within the Lone Star State among the top players, which hasn't consistently happened for much of the last decade. When you consider that arch-rival Texas has been floundering below .500 for three straight seasons, a guy like OU co-defensive coordinator Kerry Cooks had to think consecutive top-five finishes would create more than enough street cred to deal with anything coming out of Austin.
Right?
Right?
Well, as history has displayed over the course of the last two decades, not so much, actually. What the last few weeks have revealed is something that we've seen throughout the Bob Stoops era at Oklahoma, which is the reality that there's nothing Stoops and Co. can do in recruiting against Texas when Texas is remotely headed in the right direction.
Cooks might be relatively new to the rivalry, but Texas taking Oklahoma's recruiting cornbread, whether they like it or not, is something we've seen before. Maybe Cooks should have asked one of the Stoops brothers about it before getting smacked around by Michelle Herman this week.
It was just a little more than 16 years ago when one of the more infamous stories involving the Texas/OU rivalry in recruiting took place in the aftermath of former Texas running back Selvin Young's commitment. After smacking Texas around in consecutive years in the Cotton Bowl, the OU staff was certain that those wins combined with a national title would be enough to combat Texas on the recruiting trails, but every time a decision seemed to come in that year, the Sooners kept losing to the Longhorns.
It didn't matter if it was linebacker Garnet Smith or offensive lineman Justin Blalock or defensive lineman Neale Tweedie. All you could find that year were OU losses in the living rooms of the elite prospects in the state of Texas.
Young was the straw that broke the camel's back. With Cedric Benson making waves as a true freshman starter in 2001, the feeling in the OU football facility was that there was no way Young would pick Texas over the Sooners, but then it happened.
In the process, an OU assistant coach (I believe it was Mike Stoops) went on the radio in Dallas and let loose with his public dismay over what was taking place in recruiting.
Hello, history. I see you are back to repeating yourself again.
Tom Herman hasn't so much as coached in a game yet and he's pulling a Mack Brown by putting OU coaches on tilt because of his recruiting success, both inside the state of Texas and in Stoops' own backyard. There aren't that many big-time prospects coming out of Oklahoma on a yearly basis, so the one thing that can't happen for the Sooners is losing to Texas IN OKLAHOMA! It just can't happen. Hell, in theory it should never happen when Oklahoma is on its A-game.
Yet, here we are. In taking quarterback Casey Thompson and defensive end Ron Tatum from Stoops' backyard, the Texas coaches have put the coaches with all of those Big 12 championship trophies in their locker room on the defensive.
Basically, when your sales-pitch is flopping, start tweeting about wolves, which as Mrs. Herman pointed out on Twitter, is a very misunderstood animal.
It has to be a pretty helpless feeling to have no other direction in which to turn.
Clearly.
The good news for the Sooners is that no program in the country does insecurity as well as Oklahoma and if you don't believe me, just wait, Bob Stoops will do an interview soon in which he reminds you at least three times of how many trophies he's won.
The bad news for the Longhorns is that for all of that Oklahoma insecurity and for all those recruiting wins over the last two decades, the Sooners have three times as much hardware in the trophy case to show for it.
It's up to Herman to change that.
No. 2 – Closing the deal with Zaire ...
With five days to go until former Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire announces his decision on where he intends to play his senior season , things seem to be trending quite nicely for the Longhorns.
Here are the three most important things that stand out to me.
1. Tom Herman wants Malik Zaire.
2. Zaire really likes Texas.
3. Herman and Zaire need to have one more conversation.
If Herman can convey that he absolutely intends to have Zaire compete for the starting job and won't use him purely as insurance, I'm starting to think this can happen.
That conversation could mean everything. Make it a good one, Tom.
No. 3 – Better Late Than Never ...
It's officially been a week since Cibolo Steele defensive back Caden Sterns switched his commitment from LSU to Texas and I'm of the opinion that the news still warrants its own section.
So, if you'll indulge me ...
Wow. That happened. Seemingly five seconds after visiting the 40 Acres and emerging as a viable monster in the Texas 2018 recruiting class, he committed. Just like that.
A few thoughts after having a week to stew on it.
1. I'm starting to wonder if Tom Herman hasn't been slipping prospects the same stuff that the family in "Get Out" was serving to all the boyfriends that came home to meet the parents.
2. I've been a little slow to push Sterns into the top 10 of the Lone Star Recruiting rankings because I had less information on him so many others in the state, especially with his junior highlights/film only released recently. My general thoughts is that a complete evaluation of him would come through in the spring with more of a sample size to draw from outside of his sophomore season and junior off-season.
In some ways his commitment to the Tigers had made him kind of an "Out of sight, out of mind" player, but with his commitment to the Longhorns, I made a point of taking a closer look at Sterns and I came away thinking...
He's got some Michael Griffin in him.
The size/athleticism combo ... the ball skills ... the physicality ... I'm telling you, it's all there. It's been nearly 15 years since Griffin came out of Austin Bowie and I don't think I've ever compared a player from this state to him since, but Sterns has a lot of the same skills. Actually, it's kind of uncanny.
3. Sterns is the best prospect in the San Antonio area and getting the best prospect from that area every year should be a priority. Mission accomplished. The same has to be true of the Metroplex, Houston and East Texas. Every year.
No. 4 – Recruiting song of the day ...
With a possible Brennan Eagles pledge looming in the near-distance ...
No. 5 – Scattershooting on the Longhorns …
... Michelle Herman's Tweet-game is savage. Talk about wielding a velvet sledgehammer. God help the Austin media member that crosses her for the first time.
... From the Department of Tweets You'll Like: This just can't be a bad sign in the recruitment of four-star tight end Malcolm Epps.
... Congrats to Montrell Estell for winning the Class 3A triple-jump. Signed, President of the Estell Fan Club.
... I get the feeling that if Chris Warren has a big season, we're never going to hear the end of it from Anwar.
No. 6 – Buy or sell …
BUY or SELL: This time next year we are in the top 10 preseason?
(Buy) 2018 has always been the season when I can comfortably see Texas back in the top 10.
BUY or SELL: Nine-win expectations for the upcoming season are unrealistic at this point even when factoring in all the positive momentum?
(Sell) It depends on your definition of unrealistic. I'm not sure that it's likely, but I think it's an attainable goal.
BUY or SELL: Tom Herman loved it when his wife tweeted back at the OU coaches?
(Buy) Momma Horn wasn't jumping into the fray without some sort of approval from Papa Horn.
BUY or SELL: With all of the QBs on campus and "verbally committed," Roschon Johnson (considered a heavy Texas lean) is still the best "fit" to Herman's offensive scheme?
(Buy) Or Malik Zaire.
BUY or SELL: Texas is still the school most likely to land Anthony Cook?
(Buy) Texas not getting Cook would surprise me.
BUY or SELL: Our lack of depth is a major concern with the physical nature of Tom Herman's training camps and practices?
(Buy) That's probably fair. This isn't a team that can withstand a lot of key injuries and expect to keep the nine-win dream alive. For instance, what on earth would this team do if Connor Williams had to miss a month?
BUY or SELL: Somewhere in the UT administration is someone who hired Steve Patterson with the idea that he would do the hard stuff and then be canned?
(Buy) I think everyone thought he would last longer than 15 minutes, but he was always going to be the hatchet man that did some of the needed dirty work coming out of the DeLoss era.
BUY or SELL: A Deshaun Watson/D'Onta Foreman backfield pairing wins and/or makes a Super Bowl before a Dak Prescott/Zeke Elliott pairing does?
(Sell) lol, my friend.
BUY or SELL: Off topic threads have skyrocketed over the last two years because Texas Football has sucked?
(Sell) Two?
No. 7 – Texas Baseball weekend in a gif …
No. 8 – There's always a comeback in the NBA ...
For the better part of game one of the Western Conference Finals, the Golden State Warriors looked like a guy coming off of vacation on his first day at work and the San Antonio Spurs punished them for it.
Funny thing is, even when the lead was 25 points, the furious comeback by the Warriors was something you could set your watch to because in the NBA, no lead is truly ever safe from the home team. The run was always going to come, the question was whether the Warriors would have enough left in the tank to finish the job once they climbed back into the game.
Then, Kawhi Leonard left the game with injury right about the time Steph Curry and Kevin Durant started to heat up ... and you just knew. It's going to take more than Pop and some duct-tape to beat the Warriors, regardless of the lead previously built up.
Golden State 1 Duct Tape 0
You can't give away games in a seven-game series against a team like the Warriors and it's hard to not feel like the basketball gods were unfairly cruel to the Spurs, as the team's margin of error is much smaller now than it was 12 hours ago.
No. 9 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... I can't be alone in feeling sorry for Matt Harvey, at least just a little. Can you imagine having Adriana Lima in your universe and then having her taken away, except for the part where she's talking to another ex-girlfriend? I'd be on tilt, too.
... Vegas win totals for the 2017 NFL season have been set and the bookies have the Cowboys at 9.5 wins. The only teams above them are New England (12.5), Green Bay (10.5), Pittsburgh (10.5) and Seattle (10.5). I kind of like Dallas to go over that number by a game or two. Oh, my God, is that optimism coming from this self-loathing fan?
... I'm pulling for the Wizards. It won't make a difference, but I'd like to see John Wall on the Eastern Conference Finals stage.
... You'll never get me to say anyone other than Michael Jordan is the GOAT, but LeBron James is building one hell of a case to be the no-doubt-about-it No. 2 player of all-time.
... I hate to say it, but the UFC has really lost some steam with me as it relates to my fandom. For the last five or six years, I've purchased every pay-per-view the company has offered, but that has changed in 2017 and I flat out passed on this weekend's card when forced to make a decision. Don't get me wrong, I'm all-in when Jones/Cormier II takes place, which was announced this weekend, but I need Dana White to improve these card line-ups if he's going to get my money every time.
... The most important day of the year for Sixers fans is Tuesday night ... Ping pong ball time! Will the basketball gods give this Sixers fan a present on his birthday? Pretty please.
... Speaking of birthday presents, Liverpool gave me an early one with its 4-0 win over West Ham on Sunday. One more win, Reds, one more win.
... Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 400th goal for Real Madrid this weekend. I'm happy I fell in love with soccer in time to appreciate his greatness.
No. 10 – And finally…
Last, but certainly not least, I'd like to wish one more Happy Mother's day to all of the moms out there. As a lifetime momma's boy, I know I wouldn't be anywhere in life without mine.
Thanks, mom.
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