James 'Tank' Carrington Ready to Prove Himself With Oklahoma

NORMAN — Early on in his first spring at Oklahoma, James “Tank” Carrington has drawn strong reviews.

“His fundamentals and block recognition are really good,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said of the defensive lineman recently. “That’s why Jayden Jackson played at the level that he did and got in right away because he could play the run and understand, you know, how to play a double team and how to stay on your feet when the run goes away from you and where to put your eyes and your hands. And so Tank has done a nice job with that, and is a really good, powerful guy. Every day he’s probably gaining two or three pounds. He’s really committed and everything’s simple for him in his life so that usually bleeds over into football too.”

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Carrington has been chasing this dream of playing college football for years.

He began playing football when he was 4 years old,

“I was doing flag then but when I was like 8, I had to play up two age groups because I was so heavy and everything,” Carrington said. “So I’ve always been going against bigger and stronger guys.”

That experience gave Carrington confidence he could play at a higher level even as the competition grew stiffer.

“I always knew I had it in me to know at this level,” Carrington said. “I’ve got my foot in the door, now I’ve just to prove it.”

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He bounced around the country, from St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, near where he grew up in Virginia, to Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas, to Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine, Calif., where he was a three-star prospect and chose the Sooners over Florida State and Alabama, among others.

“It was just me and my dad,” Carrington said. “So we had the ability to move around, and just always wanted to chase higher competition, wanted to go against the best teams. So that was really it, just having that drive to play the best in football.”

Carrington committed to Florida State in June 2025 but less than two months later, he decommitted. Two days after that decommitment, on August 16, 2015, Carrington committed to the Sooners.

“It was the brotherhood, with especially the defensive line room,” Carrington said of the reasons for his decision to sign with the Sooners. “Coming on visits and seeing how everyone treated everyone in there. And being there now, I kind of feel like I was made to be here.”

Carrington played with Trent Wilson for a time in Baltimore, and Wilson has taken him under his wing in Norman.

“Our bond grew stronger here, he’s definitely a good guy to learn from,” Carrington said.