All Sooners

Why Oklahoma RB Offer Ryelan Morris Says DeMarco Murray is a 'Real Cool Dude'

Morris says the Sooners' running backs coach has unlocked what so many recruits want to know, so it's attractive to want to play for him.

John E. Hoover

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TULSA — Ryelan Morris enjoys his occasional visits to Oklahoma.

“Every time I go to OU,” Morris said, “I meet some celebrities.”

At a recent 7-on-7 event at Tulsa’s Union High School — just a day after he got his scholarship offer from the Sooners — Morris told AllSooners about his famous encounters.

A safety who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, Baker Mayfield, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and “a famous wrestler” (“I forgot what his name was,” Morris said) are among the OU glitterati he’s met while on various visits.

Of perhaps slightly more substance, of course, Morris has made time with a former NFL Player of the Year and the Sooners’ all-time leader in touchdowns and all-purpose yards — who also happens to coach OU running backs.

Morris, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound running back in the 2026 class, has begun to form a bond with DeMarco Murray.

“He keeps it straight up,” Morris said. “We’ve been chopping it up for a long time, going back and forth, trying to get my tape to the head coach. He’s a real cool dude. Always keeps it 100.”

Morris was sophomore last year at Honey Grove, TX, just east of Bonham on Highway 82 and a few miles south of the Red River. According to Maxpreps, Morris rushed for 986 and 14 touchdowns as a freshman and 1,681 yards and 32 TDs as a sophomore, averaging 10.8 yards per carry in his two seasons on varsity. He’s also thrown for 1,402 yards and 12 touchdowns in 21 games.

He also averages 16.3 points per game in basketball.

Brent Venables, DeMarco Murray and the Ryelan Morris family
Brent Venables, DeMarco Murray and the Ryelan Morris family / Ryelan Morris via Twitter

Like everyone, he plays wide receiver in 7-on-7s and delivers smooth, explosive, compact routes with consistently reliable hands and a thirst for knowledge from C4 coach and trainer Sean Cooper.

It’s still early in his recruitment, but Morris already has 16 Division offers, including OU, USC, Oregon, Baylor, Vanderbilt, Michigan State, Missouri, Miami and Texas Tech, among others.

His older brother, Deon Morris, has signed to play running back for Division II Southeastern State in Durant, OK.

Family has been a major element of the whole experience for Ryelan Morris (pronounced RYE-luhn).

“I think the funnest thing is having my parents and my family being able to have an experience along with me,” Ryelan said. “It’s pretty cool being from a small school and be able to go out there and secure some offers from a lot of schools. I think that's probably the coolest.”

Morris said he’s visited SMU, North Texas, Baylor and some others, but a few things tend to stand out about his numerous visits to OU, which include last July's big recruiting event.

“Baylor’s facility … is pretty nice,” he said. “OU’s atmosphere and their crowd is insane. SMU was really good last year; I liked how their running backs progressed throughout the season.

“I’ve been (to Norman) a couple times. I went to a spring game, which was packed — which, if a spring game is packed like that, you can only imagine a real game. Then I went to a real game not too long ago where I met up with DeMarco, coach Murray — again, their fans were insane — and we just chopped it up.”

Morris said Murray’s credentials as a player stand out to a young running back dreaming of making to the game’s highest level.

“We know he knows how to get to the league,” Morris said. “He knows what we need to do, he knows what drills actually work in game and not just regular old drills. He’s definitely got a great offensive mind. So maybe a little bit.”

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John E. Hoover
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.

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