How Oklahoma's Experienced Receivers are Helping Jaquaize Pettaway Prepare for 2023

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s questions at wide receiver will provide plenty of opportunities throughout fall camp.

Wide receivers coach Emmett Jones hit the transfer portal after spring practice, adding former Texas Longhorn Brenen Thompson in the search for more talent.

But uncertainty can breed opportunity.

True freshman Jaquaize Pettaway will hope to be a beneficiary after joining the program this summer.

A consensus 4-star recruit, Pettaway’s speed made him a big-play threat at every moment throughout his high school career.

Despite missing crucial reps in spring practice, the excitement for Pettaway from Oklahoma’s coaching staff is palpable.

“We’re going to like Jaquaize,” offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said on Tuesday. “He’s a guy who’s dynamic.”

Perhaps more important, Pettaway has been dedicated to putting in the work off the field to get up to speed this summer.

“Man, he loves football. He’s serious about being great,” Lebby said. “And he’s an incredible kid that’s done everything right. He’s going to have a great career here if he keeps stacking these days like we’re talking about with the rest of the unit.”

The workload Jones put on Pettaway throughout the summer was primarily mental.

To make an impact, he has to digest Lebby’s playbook.

But Jones also demands his receivers to be able to play every spot on the field.

In the summer, Pettaway took those coaching points in like a sponge. Having leaders like veteran Drake Stoops to learn from has helped the process along.

“The new guys can come in and watch from the older guys,” Jones said on Tuesday. “… I give those guys certain guys to emulate. Watch how he moves, watch how he operates, watch ho the studies. Do what he does but do it better.

“Drake, he’s always the first one in the meeting room. Never let hime beat you into the meeting room.”

Under the tutelage of Jones and his teammates, Pettaway hasn’t felt overwhelmed yet making the jump from high school ball to his new life in Norman.

“The transition from middle school to high school was way worse from high school to college for me,” Pettaway said on Tuesday. “I feel like when I was going into high school I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was like a nervous kid and I was scared just to make mistakes.

“But now I just know to play full speed and just try my best. I now study the plays and I remember going into high school… I didn’t really understand the play like that. But now I’m really good at that.”

Throughout the summer, the coaches put more and more on Pettaway when working with his teammates, and Jones was pleased with how he responded.

Being able to look up to other receivers who are in their second year of Lebby’s system has helped bring Pettaway along as well, something the Sooners simply couldn’t replicate last offseason as every single player learned a new offensive and defensive scheme, regardless of experience level.

“That's really helped his transition,” Venables said after OU’s second practice of fall camp on Friday. “Just having, again, guys that certainly – got coaches – but the players that are around each other, you know, most often show how we do what we do. Show what to expect, really helps in that transition. That's tremendous.”

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