gogosDad

The "Weights as of March 21 2022" on the bottom of the roster sheet. Essentially the Schmidty baseline benchmark. Now I can’t wait for the fall media guide to see if the data match the talk.

2) Whether it was the "What’s Up With That" coach hiring extravaganza, Good Morning America with Caleb, Colin Clownhard, spring game on ESPN, the brand new passionate USC Twitter presence (rent-a-troll), or this Player Tribune op-ed – it should be clear to everyone this is a highly scripted media campaign. Guess what, that’s what recruiting is. I would guess Riley has little interaction with their communications arm outside of broad messaging focus. He may not have even seen that players tribune piece until late in the edits to add a few person nuggets so it would read like him. He knows they have people and a lot of resources at work to script a narrative, he isn’t thinking too much about this let alone losing sleep or being introspective of his season(+?) kneecapping of OUs program.

The OU advantage is that so much of our Twitter presence is organic and persistent. It may be borderline insane at times but that just reinforces its authenticity. The other advantage is passionate bodies, a glossy media campaign can’t pack a tarmac or paper over a empty colosseum.

1) I whole heartedly disagreed with you call for "peace". It may be exhausting but unless you have ATM’s piggy bank everything about the recruiting process is exhausting. That’s what this is – recruiting. Making the case for why he left and why fans are upset is critical to framing what what OU is in the eyes of recruits and college football broadly. Is the hubbub because OU fans are lashing out because it is a low level stepping stone school, poverty, with whiny fans, a malcontent student section who dogs players, and that wasn’t even good enough to play in the Conf championship? Or was OU a school with a roster that would competed with Georgia and Alabama had we had a full time coach (any full time coach) and not someone who appears to have orchestrated an exit well in advance of the season (west coast recruiting prioritization, hiring coaches with PAC 12 experience); who sandbagged the season when it was clear he would need to be out the door before the conclusion of the early signing period (possibly prior); whose word is sawdust after getting kids, players and recruits, to buy in 100% preaching dedication, commitment, hard work, trust, and togetherness only to run out with a moments notice before sun up like an unloving father with a secret family in another town; who created a toxic environment acting different all season and not addressing rumor and suspicions he was out the door all season, and simply not cutting ties with the program when in his head he was already working for someone else whether that was prior to the season or during.

I too have heard all these and more a million times on Twitter and comment boards but if our voice stops the other prevails.

You may be tempted to make the case that this is more about the future and that’s where fans should focus. I would argue it’s both. If you spend any time reading college football fan sites you know that 90+% of programs are "on the rise", "come be part of something special", "building something special here", (dare I say "close"), etc. Hope springs eternal across college football but who you are will always be associated with your past and how it’s perceived to those just learning about the program.