Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley on RB Tre Bradford: 'We Obviously Made a Mistake'

Sooners coach says some transfers are less predictable, but he still feels positive about the remaining depth at the running back position.

NORMAN — The NCAA Transfer Portal comes with rewards, and with caveats.

Oklahoma, for example, is hoping to thrive off numerous additions through the portal this season. But the Sooners have also suffered an unexpected setback.

Running back Tre Bradford arrived from LSU in June, and his arrival was expected to be a significant boost to the depth at one of the game’s most demanding positions.

But by late August, he was done at OU, back in the transfer portal — potentially on his way back to Baton Rouge. He re-entered the transfer portal Monday and has since been removed from the Oklahoma roster. 

Lincoln Riley and DeMarco Murray were counting on Bradford, and his speed and explosiveness was going to impact the roster. He was going to play for the No. 2-ranked Sooners this season — and possibly play a lot.

Now, though, the Sooners enter what’s supposed to be a season as a national contender with two scholarship running backs, and Riley is left scratching his head, wondering what happened.

“I was (surprised),” Riley said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “I honestly … I really don’t have an explanation.”

The first four questions of Riley’s 30-minute briefing were about the running back position and the departure of Bradford. He summed it up as some transfers working out, and some not — and acknowledges he and his staff were caught off guard.

“On that one,” he said, “we swung and we obviously made a mistake.”

Riley has spoken repeatedly about the ongoing NCAA rule changes having unforeseen consequences. An open transfer portal with minimal restrictions is one of them. He expects discussions about tweaking the existing rules will be brought up with the American Football Coaches Association and likely to the NCAA in the regular legislative process.

"I think the transfer policy and all that's going on with that are still constantly evolving," Riley said. "And I think we all knew when this started that there was going to be some hiccups there was going to be some missteps and maybe, you know, as we get a little more data on it and all of us coaches, all of it, all the players, kind of get a little more experienced with it, hopefully we can continue to kind of tighten it down and make it better."

As for the Sooners’ depth, Riley likes what’s still there. In addition to more reps for co-starters Kennedy Brooks and Eric Gray (a transfer from Tennessee), Riley likes the skill set of walk-ons Jaden Knowles and Todd Hudson. He also said fullback/H-back Jeremiah Hall could fill in, and former high school running back Brian Darby could slide over from receiver, and the team has “other options,” he said.

More Brooks and Gray could be a good thing for Riley’s offense, if they stay healthy.

“It makes sense they could have an opportunity to be very productive, thinking back to the Samaje Perine/Joe Mixon days, when we got those guys involved. We’re certainly gonna rely heavily on those two.

“We’ve got several other different skill sets on this team, and we’ll try to figure out a way to use everybody.”

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