Oklahoma 2020 Report Card: Coaches

SI Sooners Publisher John Hoover and Deputy Editor Ryan Chapman look back on the 2020 season, handing out position-by-position grades for every position group

Author:
Ryan Chapman
Publish date:
Jan 20, 2021 8:00 AM EST

Hoover's Grade: A

Simply put, there weren’t many college football coaching staffs who handled the pandemic — from cancelling the first day of spring practice to canceling the last regular-season game, and finding ways to safely train and keep the team together (and winning another Big 12 title) — better than Oklahoma did.

In the full scope of 2020, Lincoln Riley and the entire OU football organization deserve a standing ovation.

On the football field, Riley broke in two new coaches (DeMarco Murray and Jamar Cain) whose players routinely put forth spectacular performances. Roy Manning’s messages to his corners finally hit home. Calvin Thibodeaux inspired his big men. Brian Odom’s linebackers played better as a group than they have in years. And Alex Grinch, just two years in, convinced everyone that it was OK for Oklahoma to play great defense again.

On offense, Dennis Simmons and Cale Gundy were working with, at times, a patchwork receiver corps, but helped them stand out. Bill Bedenbaugh’s o-line, clearly lacking chemistry early in their second year together, showed steady improvement. And Shane Beamer got four mostly disparate players to overachieve every weekend.

Riley’s focus — through COVID, through social and political unrest, through two early losses — never wavered, and in 2020, he became something more than a coach.

Alex Grinch
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Chapman's Grade: A-

Not since the drudges of the 90's have the Oklahoma Sooners lost back-to-back conference games to start the season.

A lesser coaching staff would have lost the team.

Dealing with the opt outs of Kennedy Brooks and Jalen Redmond, as well as the suspensions of Ronnie Perkins, Rhamondre Stevenson and Trejan Bridges would have sunk another staff.

Instead, Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch circled the wagons and guided OU to their sixth straight Big 12 Championship.

On top of that, the Sooners improved every week and with their Cotton Bowl Triumph, they set the stage to chase a national title in 2021.

In Riley's only year missing the College Football Playoff, he may have carded his best coaching performance to date.

The suspensions allowed for the youth of the team to grow quickly, and the Sooners should be primed to capitalize on the wave of departures from the college football elite also competing for a playoff berth next season.