Why Josh Bates, Oklahoma's Original '23 Commit, Describes His Recruitment as 'Perfect'

The Sooners' only 2023 holdover from the Lincoln Riley era said Brent Venables, Bill Bedenbaugh and others kept him locked in and now he's a high school All-American.

There is, as they say, only one.

That’s how many members of Oklahoma’s 2023 recruiting class were committed to the Sooners under Lincoln Riley.

Verbally pledged to OU in August 2021 — just prior to the start of his junior year at Durango High School in Colorado — Joshua Bates is the Sooners’ lone holdover from Riley to Brent Venables. He was the only Riley recruit who signed with OU on Dec. 21.

The advice of Bates’ parents after Riley bolted for USC was to stand firm, be patient, wait for the school to identify its next coach — and keep a close eye on where offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh was going.

“So I waited, and they hired coach Venables — the best defensive coordinator in college football,” Bates told AllSooners. “And I had a call with him the next day. Right as he got hired, he called me. And after talking to him, I mean, if you’ve ever talked to coach Venables, you’re all-in immediately. That’s kind of how it just is.”

Bates is in San Antonio this week for the All-American Bowl, starting center for the West team. He had a dominant start, but told AllSooners he had to leave the game in the first half with a hand injury.

He’s one of 13 members of OU’s incoming class who received high school All-America recognition. He’ll head back home to Colorado this weekend, then return to Oklahoma to start classes as an early enrollee on Jan. 17. The 6-foot-2, 290-pound Bates also will compete — fiercely, he promises — at center when spring practice begins.

That’s how he approached the All-American Bowl, and it’s how he attacks the game of football every time he steps on the field.

“I’m going in and I’m not treating this like a Pro Bowl or nothing, dude,” Bates said. “I’m going in to play ball. I’m gonna be the same old, pissed off, small center from Colorado that I’ve always been. I play angry, I play mean.”

Bates said Oklahoma is the “perfect” place for him to play college football, and it starts with Bedenbaugh. Remember, there was a brief time before Venables formally hired his staff that several members of Riley’s staff didn’t know if they would still have a job in Norman.

“Throughout my recruiting process, he’s been always talking to me,” Bates said. “At one point, he didn’t know if he had a job and I didn’t know if I had a spot as a scholarship at Oklahoma. But he was calling me, he was saying, ‘Josh, don’t go anywhere.’ He said, ’Just stick it out. Wherever I go, you’re gonna have a spot. You’re gonna have a scholarship.’ He called me a couple days after Lincoln Riley left, and a couple weeks after Brent Venables called him, and he kept his job and he called me right after. It was perfect.”

Meanwhile, the 2023 class was disintegrating before his eyes, as quarterbacks, receivers and running backs were all decommitting. Bates said it was really tough during that time because so many other schools tried to pounce on him when Riley left.

“Oh yeah. When something like that happens, I mean, I probably had 20 other schools reach out to me in that span of two weeks,” Bates said. “So yeah, it’s really hard. Especially as a sophomore going into his junior season. So it was hard. I just remember my dad and my mom telling me, ‘Wait for the dust to settle, Josh. Whoever they’re gonna hire is gonna be great, and we don’t want you to miss out on it.’ So I listened to them and it panned out perfect.”

Bedenbaugh’s call, however, quelled his unrest.

“Coach has been huge in the process of me committing to Oklahoma and staying with it,” Bates said. “The thing that really sticks out with coach Bedenbaugh, if you watch coach Bedenbaugh coach, for some people it’s like the most terrifying environment you’ll ever be in. I mean, he puts you on the spot, he makes you accountable for everything. The way he coaches and the way he goes about training and developing is something that, that’s how I learn, and that’s how I respond to being coached.

“The toughness and the mentality, the chasing perfection mentality he has when he coaches is something that, the first time I watched him coach in practice, I was hooked. I was like, ‘Yeah, this dude is the best in college football.’ … In my opinion, the best in the country. There’s no one else I would want to play for, just how tough he is, and the mentality he has.”

Bedenbaugh wasn’t the only member of the Oklahoma staff who pulled on Bates. A couple of former Sooner offensive linemen — both from Colorado — influenced his recruitment as well.

Jon Cooper, from Fort Collins, played center at OU from 2005-08, and Phil Loadholt, from Fort Carson, played tackle at OU from 2007-08. Cooper played three years in the NFL, Loadholt seven. Both were offensive analysts under Venables, Cooper in his third season (he’s now the o-line coach at North Texas), Loadholt in his first:

Cooper, Bates said, was especially instrumental because they’re both centers.

“He was like, ‘Dude, there’s no other place to go. Colorado centers here are very successful,’” Bates said. “Coach Cooper’s track record as a center at OU is impressive. Think he was Big 12 lineman of the year his senior year. He was a great player. He told me, ‘Centers are built here, they’re developed here, and they get to the NFL.’ And they not only get to the NFL, you know, you have your dream of being drafted and getting there, but just to sustain a career in the NFL was huge. He told me that and I was like, ‘Yep. There’s no other place I want to be.’ “

Loadholt, on the other hand, made a slightly different impression.

“He’s a massive human being,” Bates said. “He got his job at Oklahoma when I was on like, my third visit, getting to meet new staff and everything, and I’m looking at this dude and I’m thinking he’s a transfer or something. He still looks like he could play. I looked at his track record, like (seven) years in the NFL or something, and it’s huge to have that experience, being coached by a guy like that.”

That’s not all. Bates said he takes pride in his academic approach to thinking his way around the game, and Loadholt’s knowledge impressed him while on a recent visit.

“So I’m like sitting in bowl practice, and I’m taking notes, I’m looking at all their calls, what their calls are — split zone, inside zone, outside zone, some of their pass protections and how they call it — so I’m sitting with Phil at practice and he’s telling me, ‘OK, this is the call,’ and I’m writing it down, writing down my job, what I do on this play, and it was really good to see,” Bates said. “He really helped me with the mental part on some of those practices, what I’m supposed to do. Big Phil is awesome, and it’s good to see another Colorado guy on the staff.”

Ultimately, Bates said he was wowed by the Oklahoma offensive line’s performance against Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl. OU went in as a big underdog without its top offensive playmaker (Eric Gray) and both starting tackles (Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris), and also lost three-year starter Chris Murray just before kickoff, and new left tackle starter Jacob Sexton left with an injury on the third play of the game.

Sexton hosted Bates on his official visit, so Bates said it was “cool” to see him win the starting job in bowl practices and “unfortunate” to see him hurt early in the game.

Little-used Savion Byrd stepped in to start at guard, and Aaryn Parks replaced Sexton at tackle, but OU still produced two 100-yard rushers (Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk) and guided an offense that scored 32 points.

That’s all Bedenbaugh, Bates said.

“Yeah, Parks walks in and picks up on a beat, man,” Bates said.” Like, everything looked great. It really shows you the coaching Bedenbaugh implements and the standard he has for the offensive line. The biggest thing that comes of that is his practice: everyone gets the same amount of reps.

“I was watching one of their bowl practices on my official, and that’s one thing I noticed was every single offensive lineman was getting the same amount of reps. Starter, second string, third string. It’s really cool to watch. Everyone’s on the same page. Everyone’s getting the same amount of reps. Everyone’s prepared the same way. It’s really awesome to see. It’s a good sign. And the offensive line played really well.

“ … Offensively, I think we performed really well for some of the guys that we were missing. I don’t know offensively if we can do any better than that, with two freshmen running backs and and four missing offensive linemen. Seeing that offensively, it shows you the future of where OU’s going offensively with (Jeff) Lebby, with Jackson (Arnold) coming in, who I think is one of the best quarterbacks if not the best quarterback in the country. He’s moving in. We’ve got Cayden Green coming in and he could shock everybody and be a first round draft pick someday. Offensive line’s got some guys coming in. Defense has got some guys coming in.

“I think the future, we saw it (in the Cheez-It Bowl). Not only was I impressed with the offensive play, but the toughness, all four quarters Oklahoma was playing its ass off. That really caught my attention. I mean, I’m 6-3, 290, I’m not someone who backs away from any challenge. If it’s Florida State, if it’s Alabama, if it’s Georgia, everyone is on the same playing field. It’s always gonna be who’s tougher, who’s gonna fight all four quarters, who’s gonna defend the standard? I saw that in the team (in the Cheez-It Bowl). Yeah, we’re missing guys, yeah, some guys are banged up or hurt, yeah, some guys are going to the NFL. We’re missing some dudes. But the way they came out and fought and how tough they played football all four quarters, that’s how I play football. All four quarters is 110 percent and more, and they did that. It was really cool and something I want to be a part of.”