It is very rare we learn something new about players during Monday’s media availability session, but Texas receiver Jake Oliver and defensive back P.J. Locke revealed a few things the average Longhorn observer probably did not know.
Let us start with Locke.
- Everyone knows Locke was previously committed to Oregon before a last minute flip to Texas. It was a tough decision for Locke, who has been a Texas fan since childhood.
- As a sixth grader, Locke listed his occupation on Facebook as a defensive back at the University of Texas. Locke never changed it, and the job still remains on his Facebook page to this day.
- Locke attended a junior day event at Texas, but never received a scholarship offer. He was disappointed by the decision not to receive a Longhorn offer, and eventually committed to Oregon. Former Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford frequently visited Locke at his school during the defensive back’s senior year and told Texas might offer him a scholarship at some point.
- Nearly two days before signing day, Texas finally offered Locke a scholarship. Instead of being happy about the offer, Locke was angry. Locke said, “I was so mad at them, I told them off the rip (right away) I think I’m going to stick with Oregon. I can’t make a decision like that in two days. I think the night before signing day it killed me. I could not sleep at all. It just told me I need to look more into it. My dad always told me if it itches, you have to scratch it. Then I looked in my room, and I’m looking at a Texas banner on my wall, and I’m committed to Oregon. It was just crazy. It was a lot of ironic things.”
- Locke told the Texas staff he did not know any of the players who were committed to the Longhorns. Former defensive backs coach Chris Vaughan immediately addressed Locke’s concerns: “I looked a lot more into it. The day before signing day, I called coach (Chris) Vaughan, and I told him I need to get in touch with the players. Out of nowhere, every person that committed here texted my phone. Everybody. Breckyn (Hager), Malik (Jefferson), Deshon (Elliott), Kris (Boyd). Everybody texted my phone. I just felt like this is really what I want. I want to be a part of something special and be on a team that turned it around. We’re in the process of doing that right now.”
- After Locke signed and joined the team, everyone learned his nickname. His real name is James Locke III, but he goes by P.J. The initials stand for Pookie Jr. because his dad is called Pookie. When Locke is around his teammates, everybody refers to him as Pookie.
- Meanwhile, Oliver is finally having an impact after a tremendous high school football career. Oliver was an afterthought prior to this season, but began having an impact in the spring and fall practice. Oliver said, “It’s been a long journey. I came in from high school, I had all my records and stuff, but it took a lot of maturity, a lot of growth, a lot of work ethic to get to where I am right now. I kind of lost a lot of confidence over the first couple of years. I put on a little bit of weight that was unnecessary. I feel like after playing special teams a lot last year, and contributing to the team, it pushed me over the summer and spring ball to lose weight and get better to work every single day to get on the field. I feel like that’s what I’ve done. It’s paid off big time for me.”
- How much weight did Oliver gain? He told me since last year, he has lost between 20 to 25 pounds.
- Here is Oliver’s explanation for losing the weight: “That’s just portion control, eating right, not eating as much, eating a lot healthier. That helps a lot with Amy. I worked a lot with Amy (Culp), our (team) nutritionist, over the summer just to figure out what’s good for my body, what’s not good for my body. Really, it’s paid off with speed, quickness and my route-running ability.”
- Oliver said he previously enjoyed eating at Chick-fil-A and Whataburger, but got to a point this past summer when he did not eat any fast food. In fact, Oliver said he has eaten fast food only five times since the school year has started: “It’s been big. I moved off campus. I make a lot of my own meals at home now … My girlfriend and I, we like to make a lot of pasta. Salads. I like Cesar salad, chicken Cesar salad. Lots of sandwiches.”
- Lastly, Oliver credits offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert for revitalizing his football career: “Coach Gilbert came in and I was, that last couple of years, an outside receiver. He came in and moved me to an inside receiver. He put a lot of confidence in me that I can make plays in the slot, showed me a lot of film when he was at Bowling Green and Tulsa and how those guys made plays. I feel like that is exactly what I was meant to do here. It’s paid off big time.”
Let us start with Locke.
- Everyone knows Locke was previously committed to Oregon before a last minute flip to Texas. It was a tough decision for Locke, who has been a Texas fan since childhood.
- As a sixth grader, Locke listed his occupation on Facebook as a defensive back at the University of Texas. Locke never changed it, and the job still remains on his Facebook page to this day.
- Locke attended a junior day event at Texas, but never received a scholarship offer. He was disappointed by the decision not to receive a Longhorn offer, and eventually committed to Oregon. Former Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford frequently visited Locke at his school during the defensive back’s senior year and told Texas might offer him a scholarship at some point.
- Nearly two days before signing day, Texas finally offered Locke a scholarship. Instead of being happy about the offer, Locke was angry. Locke said, “I was so mad at them, I told them off the rip (right away) I think I’m going to stick with Oregon. I can’t make a decision like that in two days. I think the night before signing day it killed me. I could not sleep at all. It just told me I need to look more into it. My dad always told me if it itches, you have to scratch it. Then I looked in my room, and I’m looking at a Texas banner on my wall, and I’m committed to Oregon. It was just crazy. It was a lot of ironic things.”
- Locke told the Texas staff he did not know any of the players who were committed to the Longhorns. Former defensive backs coach Chris Vaughan immediately addressed Locke’s concerns: “I looked a lot more into it. The day before signing day, I called coach (Chris) Vaughan, and I told him I need to get in touch with the players. Out of nowhere, every person that committed here texted my phone. Everybody. Breckyn (Hager), Malik (Jefferson), Deshon (Elliott), Kris (Boyd). Everybody texted my phone. I just felt like this is really what I want. I want to be a part of something special and be on a team that turned it around. We’re in the process of doing that right now.”
- After Locke signed and joined the team, everyone learned his nickname. His real name is James Locke III, but he goes by P.J. The initials stand for Pookie Jr. because his dad is called Pookie. When Locke is around his teammates, everybody refers to him as Pookie.
- Meanwhile, Oliver is finally having an impact after a tremendous high school football career. Oliver was an afterthought prior to this season, but began having an impact in the spring and fall practice. Oliver said, “It’s been a long journey. I came in from high school, I had all my records and stuff, but it took a lot of maturity, a lot of growth, a lot of work ethic to get to where I am right now. I kind of lost a lot of confidence over the first couple of years. I put on a little bit of weight that was unnecessary. I feel like after playing special teams a lot last year, and contributing to the team, it pushed me over the summer and spring ball to lose weight and get better to work every single day to get on the field. I feel like that’s what I’ve done. It’s paid off big time for me.”
- How much weight did Oliver gain? He told me since last year, he has lost between 20 to 25 pounds.
- Here is Oliver’s explanation for losing the weight: “That’s just portion control, eating right, not eating as much, eating a lot healthier. That helps a lot with Amy. I worked a lot with Amy (Culp), our (team) nutritionist, over the summer just to figure out what’s good for my body, what’s not good for my body. Really, it’s paid off with speed, quickness and my route-running ability.”
- Oliver said he previously enjoyed eating at Chick-fil-A and Whataburger, but got to a point this past summer when he did not eat any fast food. In fact, Oliver said he has eaten fast food only five times since the school year has started: “It’s been big. I moved off campus. I make a lot of my own meals at home now … My girlfriend and I, we like to make a lot of pasta. Salads. I like Cesar salad, chicken Cesar salad. Lots of sandwiches.”
- Lastly, Oliver credits offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert for revitalizing his football career: “Coach Gilbert came in and I was, that last couple of years, an outside receiver. He came in and moved me to an inside receiver. He put a lot of confidence in me that I can make plays in the slot, showed me a lot of film when he was at Bowling Green and Tulsa and how those guys made plays. I feel like that is exactly what I was meant to do here. It’s paid off big time.”
Last edited:
