How Oklahoma C Troy Everett Turned Injury Into a 'Fun' Leadership Experience

The veteran OU offensive lineman saw his first action since the Alamo Bowl on Saturday against Texas after going down with an injury this spring.

Oklahoma Sooners offensive lineman Troy Everett gets ready to line up against the Arizona Wildcats in the Alamo Bowl. / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

NORMAN — Troy Everett was one of the few bright spots for Oklahoma’s offense in the second half last Saturday. 

The OU center returned to action for the first time since the Alamo Bowl as he got reintroduced to the lineup in the Sooners’ 34-3 defeat to Texas. 

Everett, a redshirt junior, appeared set to take over as Oklahoma’s starting center coming out of the 2023 season, but an injury this past spring set him back. 

As a result, OU offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh dipped back into the transfer portal to land SMU center Branson Hickman. 

Everett was finally removed from the SEC Availability Report ahead of the trip to Auburn, but his first real impact came against the Longhorns. 

He took over for Hickman and played 22 snaps, per Pro Football Focus. Everett finished with a 81.2 pass block rating, which was the highest mark on the team. 

“It felt great,” Everett said on Monday. “It’s been, what, since the bowl game since the last time I played any action? It was awesome. It was great having the support from the guys, the team, the coaches, all the trainers. They’ve been amazing, so it was awesome to finally be back out there.”

Despite going down with the leg injury, Everett said he was able to keep his spirits high by doing everything he could off the field to get the guys who were healthy ready to play. 

“(It’s) been real fun,” Everett said. “Once I got hurt, I could’ve moped around, but I decided that I needed to be a guy that helped out, so I took a lot of the younger guys in, and we started running meetings, doing walkthroughs, just really making sure everybody was on the same page working together. We have a great group on the O-line. … The younger guys have stepped up a lot. So, it’s been awesome.”

Everett’s work didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates. 

OU guard Heath Ozaeta pointed to Everett as one of the unit’s best leaders during the Sooners’ non-conference slate, and running back Jovantae Barnes was thrilled that Everett was able to earn snaps at the Cotton Bowl. 

“That’s my boy. I’m just proud of him,” Barnes said. “During workouts, every day I’d see him go in the training room and come out drenched in sweat like he was with us with. … I know he was dying to get out there, and every day he’d be like, ‘Man, I’d give anything to be in y’all’s shoes,’ so know he’s a hard worker, he’s determined, he’s a great leader and he’s going to come out here and work his butt off.”

OU coach Brent Venables said his performance against Texas would keep him firmly in the mix for more playing time going forward. 

“He did some really good things,” Venables said on Tuesday. “He's tough, he's competitive, he's a leader. He's a loud leader. One of the loudest guys we've got there. He loves to play. He did some really good, good things.”

Now, Everett is just focused on the entire offensive line making the necessary improvements for the Sooners to attack the back half of the season. 

“It’s not going to be sunshine and rainbows right now, but everybody knows what we need to work on,” Everett said. “… Guys are all coming together. It’s good. We’re going to get this thing figured out.”