📅 Published on: 2024-12-04 17:52:29

⏱ Duration: 00:35:04 (2104 seconds)

👀 Views: 7558 | 👍 Likes: 142

📝 Video Description:

0:00 — Opening statement
14:09 — On Ben Arbuckle’s impact on the class
19:25 — On Arbuckle’s QB development
21:13 — On class size
23:35 — On staff continuity
25:47 — On keeping the class together
27:38 — On Arbuckle’s scheme
28:51 — On Arbuckle’s role in bowl prep
29:10 — On having to part ways with recruits
32:16 — On the Carl Albert trio of signees
33:38 — On the wideouts and their size

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🕵️‍♂️ Transcript:

[Music] right all right well good morning uh a lot of fun to to be in front of yall today one of the few times that I called today being fun and uh and uh but get opportunity to uh introduce uh 17 uh scholarship players that we have uh signed today and two uh preferred Walk-Ons as well uh coming from uh five different states um we got uh nine guys on uh defense and eight guys on offense kind of covering the gamut um and uh if you add our our preferred wons again that would be nine and n and then a specialist uh as well but uh excellent group of guys uh hit most of our Targets in a really competitive space and certainly with the transfer portal coming up we’ll have a few additions uh there I would expect but uh uh we really um did well in the state of Oklahoma it’s important to us that that’s where everything starts for us and uh so we signed six uh players scholarship Wise from the from the state of Oklahoma and then uh uh a specialist as well and then had six players uh currently uh from the state of uh Texas Arkansas to Utah two and Washington DC uh with one on the defensive side of the ball I’m really uh excited about the the players that we signed starting with our defensive lineman CJ Nixon Al wetherford Weatherford it was funny uh two and a half years ago driving down I 35 I I was coming back from Dallas for something and somehow CJ was on my feed and uh I probably pulled over and to a rest stop I wasn’t watching him as I was driving down the interstate but uh got an opportunity to watch his video sent it immediately to to coach Chavis I said this guy will be the number one player in the state you know when he’s a senior and uh he’s one of the best basketball players in the state one of the best football players all of his best football still ahead of him uh long rangey super athletic and uh has a chance to be a fantastic player and a future for us Alex Shield knight uh just a just a football player man in every sense there’s nothing that he can’t do uh play defensive end and certainly play tight end as well at Wagner comes from one of the best programs also in the state of Oklahoma uh and uh but he’s as tough as they come came to Camp a few years ago and just was so explosive so Twitchy just a natural pass rusher but just a a fantastic athlete physical toughness uh leader consistent all the things that you want from your best players and then uh Trent Wilson one of the best uh defensive lineman in all of high school football out of Washington DC comes from again a great program as he looks like he’s 40 uh he’s got a great maturity to him uh everybody in the country recruited him and uh really thankful that he saw the things that we’re building here and wanted to be a part of it wanted that development and being in the system but got great uh skill super athletic really natural powerful has uh really good fundamentals already that’ll transition uh but uh in a really mature mindset to him just doesn’t he doesn’t Flinch no matter what happened people continue to try to like all these guys continue to try to recruit him recruiting never stops until the we hours of the morning last night and what I appreciate man there was no drama uh what ever and I say this a lot and I’m just this is my 30 years of experience and doing this that if there’s drama in recruiting whatever that means okay uh if if there’s drama in recruiting there’s going to be drama when they come uh to your campus so just always something that um I’ve always kept in my back pocket and been very keen to uh Marcus James comes from of the best again uh we we signed three guys from one uh one of the best programs in the state of Oklahoma at Carl Albert and uh what they’ve been able to achieve is really special uh you know to have the the level of elite consistency is is really remarkable so but Marcus has been a big part of that um he’s a very versatile outside linebacker um plays tight end can play middle linebacker uh can rush the passer really well a good athlete plays in space we noticed him a few years ago coming to Camp just a really long rangey athletic guy and I’m really excited to see what going to develop into got a great frame uh plays was a fantastic basketball player uh for them as well so uh love where where he’s at right now our defensive backs we signed five of them I love our defensive backs we got length we got speed uh great instincts uh that group has a tremendous football IQ and um and it’s a confident group of guys they’re highly skilled as opposed to maybe a raw athlete so to speak these are guys that um they’re passionate about being great DBS um so some guys have to learn how to become a defensive back they’re a great athlete and but not this group uh so between Courtland giloy uh Malik Hawkins Tristan Haynes uh amaran manman Robinson and Marcus Wimberly this is a group of guys that know how to go line up at defensive back they know uh where to put their eyes they they know how to flip their hips they they know how to attack the ball they know how to tackle and chew up space uh you know running the alley and this is a a group of guys like I said they they’re incredibly confident group of guys so uh they all had Elite level of success uh their senior years as well am Marian’s um season was cut short to a to an ankle injury but he’ll be back in no time uh they come from really good programs as well and uh you know Amar and Marcus from both from the state of Arkansas the top two DBS in that state U again that’s a it’s a great combination uh two kind of different kind of backgrounds but man they they’re like two long lost brothers and but it’s a group that’s also really grown close to each other but really excited about that group of guys are going to help us immediately on offense uh kind of a a surprise for everybody here you know we lost a quarterback that was committed for uh or over a year and a half and uh and so he decided um late a little over a week ago that he was going to go somewhere else and so really felt like we needed foundationally to have a a freshman a quarterback in the room and we were able to get jet new uh from Lehi uh Utah a really successful program a really skilled developed quarterback um he got a great frame we’ll continue to put on some weight to it but his uh mechanics and his fundamentals are exceptional the way he climbs the pocket his accuracy his ability to push the ball down the field his instincts uh incredible quickness and his release um and uh great field Vision leader leadership qualities um we we signed Darius offal laava from from um his same Community the Darius was able to kind of bridge the gap for us uh as well from uh some of the things that I needed to hear from somebody that maybe knows him uh as a as a fellow uh athlete there in the community uh but um really good football player and uh we were really fortunate to to be able to get him just a polished uh quarterback and he’s a winner you know comes from an excellent program uh there as well offensive lineman uh right now we we’ve got four and uh darus offal laava Ryan FJ Owen Hollenbeck and Sean Hutton uh again derry’s top lineman in the state of Utah big strong powerful comes from another great program and um uh that’s a very that group overall just powerful athletic incredibly physical incredibly physically tough and this is a mature group of guys that really believe they’re going to be able to come into a a really good young group of offensive linemen and going to make an impact going to make us better um no developmental quote unquote type of guys in that group this is a group of guys that really uh can line up and play football for us um right away once they understand uh the language and those type of things again uh Ryan FJ uh again I think one of the most undervalued offensive linemen in all of high school football a guy that we identified at Camp a few years ago a few Summers back and uh coach Bebo did a great job of putting his name on him and offering him and he’s developed and he’s had he’s one of the most dominant players uh in the country they’re out of Houston Owen Hollenbeck from Melissa Texas was forced out of position uh this year but uh probably be a center uh for us and one of the strongest um High School football players in the country uh he’s a strength and conditioning a weight powerlifting champ and uh uh this is a guy that can move mountains and um but a guy that uh you know we’re really excited about his physical attitude uh mental attitude all of those things really a good player and then uh Sean Hunton from Lewisville lewisville’s been a good a place for the Sooners over the years and um Sean’s a a versatile inside outside player again undervalued uh tough kid uh can really move his feet and uh really excited about John we able to get Tory balock Coach Murray was identified Tori a long time ago one of the most dynamic and explosive running backs uh in the country U he also amongst other things he was part of the 4×1 uh national uh record uh 4 by1 uh team they broke the the national record this last spring uh at 3892 and uh so that’s a pretty special accomplishment amongst others but man he can he’s a home run hit and same thing didn’t Flinch has been committed for a long time wonderful family uh athletic family and we’re incredibly excited about Tor our wide receivers got two of the best athletes in the country and Manny Choice uh out of Dallas and Elijah Thomas one of the fastest players and the most explosive players in the country here from chakota and uh Elijah can do a lot he can play on either side of the ball he sends coach Hall and I uh we got a little twom man a three-man group text rather and he he sends us his weekly defensive highlights as a safety as a tackling and intercepting and um man he’s just uh one of the L most low-maintenance players that I’ve ever been a part of recruiting he was our first commitment in July of 23 and uh everybody in the country uh when they found out about Elijah came after him and he had no interest whatsoever he’s uh truly sooner born sooner bred and appreciate his loyalty and a Manny choice too one of the most freakish longest receivers in the country he a he plays like a slot with length he you know sometimes they’re long Striders and it doesn’t look like they’re going as fast because it just take they taking longer strides and he actually plays like a slot with with his length he’s tough he’s super explosive he’s he’s great uh you know catching a runner what he can do after after the catch is pretty special and he has a tremendous tremendous catch radius wonderful family same thing they’ve known for a long time they wanted to be Sooners and uh really thankful uh for them as well uh maybe one of the most natural football players in this class and maybe maybe the most undervalued is TR Washington another call Albert product there’s nothing that that guy can’t do um you know we’re we’ve projected him as a tight end uh he came to our camp this last summer as a as a commit and Coach Finley was able to work him out he was fantastic he he’s got natural hands he’s super physical he’s got a great frame he played Safety and Corner uh for and receiver for K Albert um I saw him have pick sixes uh great toe touch uh receptions as a receiver physical presence to him was able to watch them twice over the last two years imp person and uh one of the most unassuming guys as well and but uh when he gets into the weight room and and uh starts working with the fundamentals man again there’s no limits on on what he can do but just great instincts as a football player and uh I think I covered you know uh all those guys Seth Freeman is a a Long Snapper and really excited out of more me really excited about his um you know those are undervalue guys you got to you got to carry a couple of those that are really good uh on the team and really um a guy that again another sooner born sooner breed guy he’s been dying to be a sooner as whole life so uh thankful for the Seth and his family um so with that I’ll uh open it up for questions Eric Bailey Brent want I want to ask you about Ben Arbuckle we’ve seen his impact with the quarterback commit or sign now can you talk aot a little bit about bringing Ben on board and just what he means to this offense and what he meant to this recruiting class and and getting him on board and being able to sell his style to these recruits yeah U and I was remiss in not bringing that up uh with jet new uh you know he had recruited jet for a while uh tried to get him offered him had him up on campus a few different times he and his family and so he was a guy that played a a pivotal role in being able to get a jet uh you know through I think there’s a trust you know knowing what he was signing up for and and who would be mentoring and tutoring and once I was able to kind of bridge the gap with both Jed and his family what our program is all about things that are important to us standards expectations values beliefs how we do what we do all of those types of things it was a a slam dunk for both sides and uh but yeah Ben again I spent a lot of time um almost two months you know looking at uh the best uh candidates and in college football and got to watch uh there certainly you look at um a lot of things uh you take recommendations uh you talk with people they work with um I love watching the tape because that to me is the ultimate resume and you get a feel for things you know I have I’ve studied offenses more than I’ve studied defenses uh over the the past three decades and uh have an appreciation for uh style presentations sequences answers uh game plans U personnel and utilizing the Personnel those types of things and a lot of little things that a lot of people don’t see maybe uh checks that maybe some some people have built into their systems um again uh things of that nature and then you know there’s um a lot of analytics that maybe support what you you see or maybe bring to light what you need to pay attention to uh overall deficiency um explosiveness first first downs third Downs Red Zone points per possession uh there’s a interesting a really cool report that the analytics some of the best analytics people use it’s called the Snider formula and it’s after uh our our own uh Hall of Famer in Kansas State Bill Snider one of the the best offensive Minds in the last several decades in college football he has his own report and uh every everything that I continue to look at and there’s uh a lot of excellent you know uh candidates that we narrowed it down to and uh and Ben continued to be at the top of the list and the things that he’s been able to do just a a short resume and uh but you know I look at the Quality not necessary the quantity and then I got to look at the other things you know uh you know personality uh maturity leadership skills uh uh colleague testimonials uh things that that nature what have they done with what they’ve had again I was uh I was hired I was offered a associate head coach and defensive coordinator at a really good program when I was 27 years old two years of experience never calling it and uh there at Kansas State so uh I I’m just my a living testimony that um not that you know I was I was pretty good early and uh I’ve been having a pretty good career uh you know over the course of three decades and so or maybe you look across um on the other side of the ball in in Zach alley uh doesn’t have a long resume uh of calling defenses and in the SEC like no resume in calling it in the SEC but at the same time I look at all those other things you know the uh what it is that we’re doing in the in the schemes there are lots of different schemes that are uh very successful and but for me I think what Oklahoma uh needed and uh has been really good at over a long period of time is the ability to attract great quarterbacks and certainly uh explosive athletes uh that you can push and challenge people put pressure on defenses uh vertically through the air uh but also be you know an offense that has great balance and punish people in the Run game and attack people where they’re most vulnerable you’ve got to have balance you got to have efficiency you got to have game control and uh you’ve got to be able to utilize the Personnel that you have and keep people off balance and so when I you peeled it all back uh through several several conversations with a lot of people uh and and certainly interviews if you will looking at the tape as video evidence and uh the multiplicity and things of that nature I continue to come back uh to to coach Arbuckle J Brent as you just detailed Lots goes into that higher but could you drill down a little a little bit more on just how Ben has developed quarterbacks I mean his track record is practically without fail um is that is is it your sense that it’s getting the guys that will develop developing them a combination what do you all of it you know you have to be able to identify uh without question um but most importantly once you get them you have to you have to be able to develop them and put them in a position to be successful and uh and you know so he’s had uh four really good ones um that you know I think where he’s been the full-time coach and they they all had Elite level uh success and uh breaking national records and uh a lot of people have good players but they they don’t necessarily bring out the best in them and so I look at that’s that’s an important uh thing for sure and but he’s he’s had a again the quality of what he’s been able to do uh with his opportunities U he’s nailed it hit it out of the park is there anything about the four guys that either a through line thread with all of them or maybe maybe they’re different and how they’ve been successful with him and maybe that’s been appealing to yeah I mean for sure uh whether they were the athletic dual threat guy uh or just a pure passer you’ve seen him lean on their strengths and promote their strengths um develop through their you know their their weaknesses and protect those as well but uh you know help hoping them make great decisions putting them in a position to be successful not asking them to do things that they’re not great at and uh so those were the things that you know stood stood out the most yeah Brent uh you got 17 guys here I think last year you guys had 27 year before that maybe 27 SES the the smaller class is that just because of um you know numbers and the scholarship I I know that that comes into play in in terms of how many scholarships you can give transfer portal I mean is it one of those things where you know in college football now you’re seeing teams maybe sign fewer guys and go after more experienced guys in the portal or is it just I guess could you explain the the lower number of of guys yeah I mean at the end of the day you got to you feel your class and feel your numbers but we have 81 freshman and sophomore on our roster and I know I talked about that several times during the season uh probably I don’t know what the number is now but probably over 8,000 snaps went to freshman and sophomore uh this year which is a tremendous amount of snap so we’ve got to we’re not losing as many guys uh uh you know as of right now and so that plays a huge not losing as many you can’t bring in as many so that plays a big part we’ll stick to a philosophy that we want to build the program uh from high school and that be the foundation of development and retain guys that would be I ideal and where you’re not having as much turnover year in and year out but we are dealing uh in a in a time uh and day in college football that’s it’s different than it’s ever been and with the ability for players it’s open to a free agency and so we’re not going to be uh immune from losing guys that we’re not counting on losing and and then as I’ve been talking about for well over a year now the day has come where uh we’re going to have to ask some good players uh to you know that we’re going to have to help them move on and find a fresh start so not a fun part of the job but one that we’ve been positioning oursel uh for and we’ll attack the the portal and the areas that we feel like we we have the most need and uh and in the spots that make us better immediately uh and add to uh what we have and so we we’ll have a a good majority of our team back uh not losing again a ton of production but where we are losing to production we have good young players that we’ve been bringing along and then we’ll add to add to that will we see fit you know needed some experience uh as well through the portal Brent and the uh release for for Coach bu had said that looking forward to him working alongside coach Finley coach pen bo uh coach M Coach Jones that mean those guys being retained at the position spots that haven’t been determined yet heading into the fall yeah um we’ll retain all of them thank you left side James you know BR when’s When’s Ben coach Arbuckle going to be here but you know I also want to talk about you know you had several receivers at one point committed you ended up with two is that part of what you’re talking about when you had to make decisions about a roster how many guys you can bring in and and that even affected the recruiting class at that point oh absolutely um yeah that’s nothing easy uh about it but you navigating it and some of it uh has been playing ahead and going uh you know according to plan uh and then you have to have some flexibility and be able to Pivot uh uh maybe some some of that from a strategy standpoint doing things that maybe you haven’t had to do uh in the past uh but uh uniqueness and you know we had several guys hurt this year uh that this could have been their last year and so we’ll bring a few of those guys back uh is what we’re planning uh to right now and then you look at where are the spots on your roster where maybe you have a few more numbers and uh where you need to you know uh trim some fat and uh uh get your numbers uh and with a little more balance and then find the areas on your roster that you need some immediate playmaking you know I think is is something that we’ve identified and will uh attack you know when those um opportunities come you know when the portal opens and Ben is he oh yeah yeah so Ben and his wife Lauren got here last night uh they flew in late last night and so they’ll be here for a few days um I’ll introduce uh coach Arbuckle over at the uh we have a recruiting uh event here uh following this event and uh and so you try to get them to meet some of our players our staff and uh see the community those types of things Brent for months and months we said how can you keep this class together how can you keep it together now that it’s over how tough was it to keep it together you know I don’t ever take things for granted um I don’t think we had to do anything any different than what we’ve done uh in the past in regards to you know it’s about relationships you know you don’t see very many of the of the jet news happen happening the last three years at Oklahoma uh you just we you know our guys when they commit you know it means something or again we’re not going to be immune from a decommitment some of it’s by strategy uh some of it people are free to make their decisions as they see fit and uh you know so we just continue to be who we’ve been be consistent be real genuine honest uh when I think when people uh you look at this year I think that people have a voice of reason uh there’s no Panic uh they they they’re aligning with the body of work they’re aligning with a university that’s represented um Excellence for a long period of time and they know uh nobody I think you look at college football nobody’s immune to you know maybe some things that uh happened uh this year uh to us and uh a little bit of the instability environment that you’re dealing with and so I think they this is a class that had faith in in people and relationships with people and a belief and and seeing hey maybe there’s even more opportunity you I knew I had opportunity but maybe there’s even more of an opportunity that myself and some other guys in this class that we can come in and and be the glue and be you know part of the opportunity to um you know help turn around you know what we’re trying to to build J Brent in the in the official announcement for for Coach Arbuckle he mentioned that the Personnel drives the the scheme and that his scheme is formidable around the players just how important was that maybe for you in terms of what you were looking for and for him specifically how important was that in terms of talking to these recruits and then eventually talking to the players in terms of feeling comfortable I I believe wholeheartedly to win at the highest level uh you you just can’t sit in one thing uh that’s my my experience and so that was important to me uh that I had some video evidence not you know res uh interview talk uh resume talk you know lip service to it you know that there’s a there’s a history of of doing exactly that we have some versatility on our roster I want to continue to build that uh just believe in that and uh but he’s already uh been able to do it whether it was 13 12 11 21 uh IB backs uh you know six offensive linemen whatever it is um you know I was able to see all those variety of the different Personnel groupings when I when I watched um several years of You Know video evidence BR with with with Ben will what kind of involvement have any will he have during bull prep is that a chance to get a head start on next year at all or is is he just going to be more in sit back and kind of assess everything mode yeah sit back and assess mode um it’s just I it it’s too much to ask of a guy that really doesn’t know the the Personnel the people those types of things and uh you know our staff will handle that second row middle Parker hey coach obviously uh you know as you’ve discussed the the way the world in college football these days is that sometimes you have to cut a guy with the new scholarship limits the roster limits that’s just the way has to be sometimes and you’ve mentioned before that when you have a guy on your roster that you have to go through that process with you guys make a good faith effort to help him land at another institution I’m curious how do you n how do you navigate that process with recruits when you have a guy that’s been committed and you have to tell him hey we just don’t have room for everybody yet how do you make sure that you do right by him in kind of parting ways yeah maybe maybe offer opportunities still come just not on the same timeline um that’s it yeah next to Parker John uh Brent Bob used to say excuse me get my voice going here Bob used to say um you famously that when he went to hire uh Mike Leech he looked at guys who gave him the hardest time as a defensive coordinator did that resonate with you during this search that you you wanted an offensive coordinator that can do things that your defense has has trouble with and and and Ben what are some of those things qualities that his offense does that you guys would struggle with well again I just look at um overall schemes the depth of them the things that that challenge you as a defense uh you know using the multiple personnels uh all of the things um from a strategy standpoint that uh that are Innovative um aggressive attacking uh putting you in Conflict U so whether that’s pre-nap post Snap it’s Personnel it’s play design uh all of those things combined uh and then utilization of you know how you put in you know specializing you know certain players and putting them in position leaning on their strengths all of those things uh some of the things I just talked about are things that yeah we’ve struggled with that um but uh having not competed against him I can’t really testify to the fact of what maybe coach Stoops maybe uh talked about when he talked about with Coach leech um so uh but those are the things I you know I study again you know when we’re getting ready for an opponent you know start uh just game by game just watching them and figuring out okay this guy knows what he’s doing or this one uh is is and going to cause US problems and we’re going to have to have some you know a certain style of game plan that gives us maybe more flexibility and more uh you know disguise and more surprise and things of that nature or maybe and we can just continue to do what we do and so all of those things go into it you know when I looked at you know coach Arbuckle yeah uh coach it’s uh pretty unusual to have three guys from the same school in the same class uh but you have that with Carl Albert I wanted to ask you uh cuz you talk about it being about Talent what are they doing at Carl Albert that makes those guys people that you want to bring in beyond the obvious which is Talent well I think there’s a lot of great qualities when you uh you play for for Carl Albert you know they’re coming from a really strong culture that understands that uh how important team is uh so the selflessness the blue collar mindset the consistency uh the depth of development uh preparation being on a big stage uh in the high school space understanding the value of high standards and expectations uh and then showing up every day uh willing to compete you know to uh create value for yourself and to outwork people all those I could probably go on and on but I know those are things I just watch them uh for the last few years uh since uh we’ve been here together and those are the qualities I think a lot of the guys that come from that program are going to uh you know have in their tool belt third row on left BR EO vs um the guys that you got you signed at wide receiver the two that did sign 164 195 200 lb the other one is 6′ 185 how important is size after being in the SEC this year how how important it was just getting the bigger wide receiver uh with you all in this yeah big guys that can move um that at times can play uh like a small guy U I think that’s really important I’ve seen plenty of guys uh that are maybe smaller in dimension but they play Big you know you’re going to get a lot of press coverage a lot of again big long physical guys up front they’re going to get in the windows that some of the small guys can get through uh but uh but is important that we get size with speed and athletic ability guys that can make plays and uh not just big not just small not just fast but guys that can make competitive tough plays and know that’s what these two guys have shown uh in high school and think that they’ll be able to bring that as well you know coming to Oklahoma and that’s I think from a conference standpoint that’ll that’ll transition well for both guys hey we got to wrap up anyone ask a question one thank you coach all right appreciate you all that was that coach

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