Observations From Oklahoma's Second Week of Fall Practice

Oklahoma opened up a 20-minute portion of practice to local media members on Monday morning.

Ryan Chapman, Bryce McKinnis, Dekota Gregory, John E. Hoover, Randall Sweet | Aug 5, 2024

David Stone (0) runs drills during an Oklahoma football practice in Norman, Okla., on Friday, April 12, 2024. / NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma opened the first 20 minutes of practice to local media members on Monday. Sooners on SI had five reporters present to observe the early portions of OU’s fourth fall practice.

Ethan Downs broke down the huddle as the team moved into drills. He then damaged and potentially broke the foam dummy on the sled.
During the initial individual session, quarterbacks and running backs were working on a rapid-fire succession of handoffs. After one quick round, starting QB Jackson Arnold took the snap, turned and had no running back to hand off to. That caused RB coach DeMarco Murray to stop the drill and immediately light into the offending party.
This reflects what limited practice time we saw in the sprint, but Zac Alley is in full command of Oklahoma’s linebacker room. Brent Venables left him alone to coach the group through individual drills.
In the tight end session, Baylor transfer Nate Roberts and Southeast Louisiana transfer Bauer Sharp looked like they were getting co-No. 1 reps.
Cornerbacks coach Jay Valai worked to up the intensity with the defensive backs. As the group went through tackling drills, he was on everyone to ramp up the physicality.
Freshman running back Taylor Tatum looked fluid during drills. The older running backs appear to be farther along physically after an entire offseason with Jerry Schmidt.
Damonic Williams was the first defensive tackle up working with Todd Bates. His drill work was quickly used as the example for the rest of the position group as David Stone watched on before taking his turn.
R Mason Thomas, who was on track to win a starting job until sustaining an ankle injury in fall camp last year, looks to have added even more muscle to his upper body to pair with his speed and explosiveness.
Redshirt senior Michael Tarquin received nearly all of the rare praises from OL coach Bill Bedenbaugh during two individual drills for the offensive linemen. Tarquin is a transfer from USC, where he started eight games last season.
Outside of Tarquin, the only other praise that was handed out to offensive linemen was to redshirt freshman Heath Ozaeta, who went right before Tarquin during the drill, during which players popped up against a sled before running to block a teammate who was an acting linebacker.
With individual drills going on all around them, new special teams coach Doug Deakin was in the middle of the field working with Florida State transfer Tyler Keltner on long placekicks.
Linebacker Dasan McCullough was wearing a boot on his left foot and had a scooter but still went through stretches with the team.

Published Aug 5, 2024

RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK.

BRYCE MCKINNIS

Bryce is a contributor for AllSooners and has been featured in several publications, including the Associated Press, the Tulsa World and the Norman Transcript. A Tishomingo native, Bryce’s sports writing career began at 17 years old when he filed his first story for the Daily Ardmoreite. As a student at the University of Central Oklahoma, he worked on several award-winning projects, including The Vista’s coverage of the 2021 UCO cheer hazing scandal. After graduating in 2021, Bryce took his first job covering University of Tulsa and Oral Roberts University sports for the Tulsa World before accepting a role as managing editor of VYPE Magazine in 2022. - UCO Mass Communications/Sports Feature (2019) - UCO Mass Communications/Investigative Reporting (2021) - UCO College of Liberal Arts/Academic presentation, presidential politics and ideology (2021) - OBEA/Multimedia reporting (2021) - Beat Writer, The Tulsa World (2021-2022) - Managing Editor, VYPE Magazine (2022-2023)

DEKOTA GREGORY

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail. Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state. A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder. Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK.