Newcomer Profile: Geirean Hatchett's Experience an Asset For Bedenbaugh
NORMAN — Geirean Hatchett, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound interior offensive lineman transfer, added depth, versatility and experience to the group where Oklahoma needed it most.
Hatchett committed to OU from Washington on Jan. 29. He started three games for the Huskies at right guard as a sophomore in 2023. He missed three games for injury at the end of the regular season but returned to play in a Nov. 25 Apple Cup win and played in the Pac-12 Championship and the College Football Playoff semifinal and final. He played in all 13 games in 2022.
“I think I just provide a really experienced player who has played in a lot of games — big-time games, as well,” Hatchett said during spring media day on March 6. “I think I can bring a leadership role to the o-line. Just a mentor for the younger guys as well."
Hatchett said he hasn't “been able to do a ton of stuff” due to injury since arriving in Norman but confirmed he expects to play an interior position for the Sooners as he did for Washington.
“It goes without saying we’ve got to do that on the offensive line. We really like the group of guys that we have there,” OU head coach Brent Venables said during the March 6 press conference. “And then the transfers that we brought in. Four freshmen and four transfers — they’re all going to have to play a role. So between Geirean Hatchett and Spencer Brown, Febechi (Nwaiwu) along with Michael Tarquin and then again, this group of freshmen we brought in, we really like the group of guys.”
The pressure’s already on Hatchett, who discussed the turnover on Oklahoma’s offensive line only a few weeks after arriving on campus.
“I would just say, before you make judgements, wait to see what we can do out there,” Hatchett said. “We’ve got a really good group, a ton of talented guys on the o-line, so I think it will be a great year for the o-line.”
With eight newcomers up front (so far), some of the early growth of the offensive line has occurred organically. They've leaned on each other as they've gotten to know each other.
"It's been really easy," Hatchett said. "Everybody kind of welcomed me with open arms. A lot of guys are in the same boat as I am, we all just got here, but we are all figuring it out together."
Venables sounded similarly confident in the group as a whole.
“They’re smart. It’s an athletic group. And they’ve got experience. Those four transfers all bring experience — different systems or different schools, but the reason they were brought in was because of their experience,” Venables said. “And their ability both. So getting those guys all to mesh quickly is the charge of coach (Bill) Bedenbaugh, but he’s up for the task. But that’s probably the position that everybody knows if you follow Oklahoma football, where we lost the most experience on our team.”
Hatchett can bounce to any position on the line, and that’s partially why he was such a priority for Bedenbaugh. Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies raved about Hatchett’s ability to plug and play.
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“He’s an interesting guy,” Raley told AllSooners. “[He] can play any position up front. And he’s the only guy that could really do that. In (coach Kalen) DeBoer’s first season (2022), they got short at tight ends, so they put Geirean in as a blocking tight end in a couple of games — and were prepared to throw it to him if they had to. He’s 6-foot-4, 300 pounds.”
When Hatchett was a 4-star recruit and the No. 8 guard prospect in the country out of Ferndale High School (WA), he almost picked Oklahoma.
“When he was a recruit, everybody wanted him,” Raley said. “We’re talking Oklahoma, Ohio State, Alabama. Every big school in the country wanted him.”
“Out of high school, Oklahoma was my top school besides Washington,” Hatchett confirmed. “I took, I think, five or six recruiting visits here, and then I have a ton of family around here, as well, so (I) grew up coming down here on vacation all the time.
”I love it. I think it's a big switch-up from Seattle, but I think I needed to get out of the city a little bit. I think this is definitely more my speed down here.
"I always had the connection here to Oklahoma. It made it easier for me to make the decision to come here. But the biggest thing for me was wanting to come and get developed by someone like Coach Bedenbaugh. You can see his track record, he's put numerous guys into the league and I think he can really help me excel and give me the opportunity to go to the NFL."
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