A Powerful List of QB Influencers Put Oklahoma Commit Michael Hawkins On the Right Path

From Chad Morris to Kevin Murray to his own dad's NFL teammates, the Sooners' 2024 quarterback commit has had strong guidance throughout his young career.

FRISCO, TX — Some of the coaching influences that Michael Hawkins has enjoyed so far almost don’t seem fair.

That includes some of Hawkins’ future coaches at Oklahoma — especially Brent Venables.

“I think he’s going into a situation very similar to what Bob Stoops and those guys built during that national championship run, the glory days, those teams that always competed going to the national championship,” said Hawkins’ dad, Mike Hawkins Sr., who played for Venables and Stoops before raising the Sooners’ newest quarterback pledge. “But I think Coach Venables has taken it a step further.”

As a sophomore at Allen High School, Hawkins Jr.’s head coach was Chad Morris, a Texas high school coaching legend, former head coach at SMU and Arkansas, offensive coordinator at Tulsa, Clemson and Auburn, and the father of TCU and former Sooners QB Chandler Morris.

Hawkins has sharpened his game as a quarterback under the training of Kevin Murray, who won 25 games as a QB at Texas A&M, trained names like Chandler Morris, former Sooner Tanner Mordecai, ex-Baylor QB Seth Russell and, of course, trained (and raised) Sooners Heisman winner Kyler Murray, among others.

Those are just two of the football savants who will have had a part in shaping Oklahoma’s quarterback of the 2024 class.

Under Morris, Hawkins recently told AllSooners, “I learned a lot, just calling my own protections, which was a big thing for me just knowing where the blitzes are coming from. And read progressions. He really developed me there, know what defenses they’re shifting to coming out on the field. He’s just a great coach, so he really developed me as a player and off the field.”

Michael Hawkins :: John E. Hoover / AllSooners

And of Murray, Hawkins said, “Yeah, he’s great. He really got me right with my release. Like, my release is pretty fast, so I give him pretty good credit for that. And he’s a big forward guy. He’s not one of those guys that goes out of his way like all this crazy throwing. He’s basic. He gets you right.”

Hawkins Sr. elaborated on the input both men have had on his son’s evolution into one of the top QB prospects in the nation.

Hawkins Sr., who played at OU in 2002 (before landing a pro gig with the Arena Football League's Dallas Desperadoes) and was actually a part of the same recruiting class that signed current Sooners offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, said he took his son to a quarterback academy at the University of Texas back in 2019. Tim Beck — who had coached the elder Hawkins in high school in Texas — was Tom Herman’s offensive coordinator and worked closely with young Michael.

“Tim Beck had an opportunity to look at Mike,” Hawkins Sr. said. “He talked about Mike’s development; he was a great athlete but he wanted him to fix some things. Got back, got with Kevin Murray, and I mean it was like a switch.

“I love everything about Kevin and his family. Kevin has a voice that has pushed Mike, that Mike has listened to. Mike loves being around him. Kevin just demands perfection. He teaches it old-school. He’s not with all this new-school, weird-angle stuff — even though Mike can do it really well. He’s old-school. He’s all about getting the ball up, getting it out, being smart, knowing assignments. I mean, he just exceeds all expectations. I just love Kevin and what he’s done for my son.”

Hawkins Sr. called the one year his son played for Morris “the best thing that happened to Mike. … Chad Morris put the pressure on Mike, but also, from a learning standpoint, Mike called his own protections as a 15-year-old sophomore at Allen. Chad Morris put a lot of pressure, (offensive coordinator) Tristan Weber and the support staff … all those guys did a great job of putting their arm around Mike when he was struggling, when he was trying to get it, and then we went on to a late playoff run where he did really good.”

Hawkins played in 2022 at Allen for new coach Lee Wiginton. But he transferred in January, and now Hawkins is leading the Emerson Mavericks across town in Frisco. It’s a brand new school, three years old, and the varsity football team will soon begin its second season.

Hawkins and his teammates last week competed in their annual spring game, and for Hawkins’ part, he wore a red no-contact jersey and hadn’t yet been assigned a number.

Similarly, his role on the field hadn’t been fully fleshed out. Sometimes the Mavs ran a hurry-up, no-huddle offense, but many times they huddled and patiently waited for the play to be carried in from the sideline. Hawkins didn’t get to show off his powerful arm much — he threw downfield only a couple of times — and was limited to mostly check-downs and quick screens. One of those became a 30-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter. With the red jersey, he wasn’t allowed to run much, either, although he snapped off a 3-yard gain on an option keeper that featured an ankle-wrecking juke and explosive first step through contact that would have been a big gain in a real game.

Michael Hawkins :: John E. Hoover / AllSooners

There’s a lot to like about Hawkins’ game, but there’s clearly a lot more to come.

“It was pretty good,” Hawkins said. “Just getting a feel for the offense. Came here a couple months ago. Getting the offense down has been really a big deal for me, and getting the chemistry right with my receivers and my o-line. It’s been pretty good. So today was a good day.”

Hawkins’ goal this year, he said, is “Just take the games one by one, try to get to the state championship in my last year, and keep this team going and keep them upbeat.”

Upbeat is something his dad has no trouble with. Hawkins Sr. famously came from a broken home and found himself homeless before a local family took him in in high school. That was the opportunity he needed to get a scholarship at OU. He then got a shot at the NFL, where he spent part of three seasons with six teams, including the Dallas Cowboys in 2009. He’s been on the fast track to success ever since, and is now married with two sons on the Emerson team (Maliek Hawkins is a 2025 defensive back with a handful of Division I offers) and a daughter in middle school.

It was in Dallas where young Mike got to step inside the professional football locker room and spend some invaluable and impressionable time with some of the best to ever do it.

“It was different just being in the locker room with them, seeing how they handle stuff, just how they have fun on the field with each other and then in the locker room," Hawkins said. “It was pretty fun to be around those guys, all of those great players like Tony Romo and Jason Witten.“

As a youth growing up in the Metroplex, young Mike also was often impressed by the multitude of talented high school players his dad trained and mentored.

Jaylon Jones, a young Dallas-area prospect Hawkins Sr. worked with a few years back, ended up at Ole Miss, where he told Lebby — the Rebels’ offensive coordinator at the time — about a promising young quarterback from the DFW he needed to look into.

“He’s like my little brother,” Jones would tell Lebby in Oxford. “You gotta go check him out.”

Michael Hawkins (left) :: John E. Hoover / AllSooners

“And Lebby didn’t put together that Michael Hawkins Jr. was my son until he got to OU,” Hawkins Sr. said. “I think Cale Gundy and some of the staff told him, ‘Hey man, that’s Mike Hawkins’ son.’ And like, first time I seen Coach Lebby, there were some raw emotions there. I was so happy for him to be in that position, and I think he was so happy to see Mike and what we had from this point, from where I came from, without having my parents and struggling and making it and being successful, so I thought that was great.”

The Lebby and Hawkins relationship has only strengthened since then.

“He’s great,” Hawkins Jr. said. “When I go down there, it feels like I’m his family. When we watch film, it’s really just him showing me how I should read stuff, the footwork they do and different defenses I’ll see once I get to college. But him off the field, he’s a great person and he’s fun to be around.”

Hawkins Sr. has had similar flashbacks getting to reconnect with Venables since his son became a priority QB recruit for the Sooners. His 20-year relationship with Venables is one reason he’s so excited for his son’s future in Norman.

“They got the SOUL Mission, they got so many things for the support group around the players, he’s big in his faith,” Hawkins Sr. said. “He talks about your purpose and keeping the main thing the main thing. I mean, I think it’s just phenomenal what he’s doing.

“Obviously, he’s a defensive guru. He knows how to put it together, and I think he’s letting his guys that he hired do their part. And I think that’s the great benefit of having him there. He’s high energy, he’s high impact. He loves everything about football. He loves everything about family. And I love that. Everything to me is about family and respect, and that’s what I see about him.”

“That’s gonna be great,” Hawkins Jr. said, “just the culture he’s created there and how everything there is just a family and how they keep everything upbeat.”

Michael Hawkins :: John E. Hoover / AllSooners

Hawkins remembers his own recruitment and knows doesn’t take much to reflect on how things have changed in two decades. With 17 Division I offers, including Alabama, Arkansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, TCU and Virginia Tech, his son is kind of a big deal who has tried to stay grounded. It’s been a surreal experience for the whole family, but especially for Mike Hawkins Sr., who’s walked the path.

“I think it’s been probably the most happiest I’ve been in my son’s football career,” Hawkins Sr. told AllSooners. “I almost can’t explain the excitement that I feel, the butterflies, the joy just watching a kid that ran around in OU gear as a youngster to having this opportunity to play for the great University of Oklahoma. It’s truly remarkable.

“ … At the end of the day, I think we made the right decision. And we’re gonna handle this process a little bit different than most people do. We love where we’re at and we can’t wait for Mike to enroll in January — he’s an early enrollee — and get to work. It’s great. We shut it down. (There) ain’t no more. I just don’t see — why would you still take visits? Why would you still go and cloud their mind? You wait. We waited long enough, made sure it was the right decision, and boom, we at it. Boomer Sooner, baby. Let’s go.”

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