Restocking the Shelves: How Two Oklahoma Coaches Have Replenished, Developed Talent
When Brian Odom got to Oklahoma in 2019, the Sooners had two players with game experience at linebacker: Kenneth Murray and Caleb Kelly.
It was much the same at cornerback when Roy Manning was hired, with Parnell Motley and Tre Brown and no depth behind them.
Now, three years later, Odom and Manning have done as well as any of Lincoln Riley’s assistants developing meaningful depth behind their front-line players.
“Is it fun?” Manning asked. “No. Developing isn't fun. ... There's a lot of yelling.”
It may not be fun, but it can be rewarding.
“There's always been talent in that room,” Odom said, “but now we've assembled a group of guys that is as deep and talented as I've ever been around.”
So how did Odom and Manning do it? Actually, the way they elevated their positions came from two different methodologies.
Brian Odom
John E. Hoover / SI Sooners
Odom actually did have players in Brian Asamoah, DaShaun White and David Ugwoegbu — it’s just that none of them had played much behind Murray, Curtis Bolton and Kelly. White played spot duty and special teams in 2018, but Asamoah redshirted and Ugwoegbu was in high school.
So Odom took what talent he had in 2019 and made it better through intense and effective classroom teaching, lots of practice reps and, eventually, game action. Asamoah, White and Ugwoegbu all got extensive playing time in Odom’s first season.
“If they want to leave, you know what? It could be the worst decision of your life. Because we’ve got such a good thing going here."
— Brian Odom
Now Odom has a new problem: he has all three front-line players back, plus Kelly returned for his sixth season. Bryan Mead is a senior, Joseph Wete moved inside from outside linebacker, Jamal Morris had a strong spring and Shane Whitter is one of the fastest players on the team. And now along comes true freshman Danny Stutsman, who has drawn multiple rave reviews from his coaches and teammates.
“It’s my responsibility to develop that room into the best linebacker room in the country,” Odom said. “With that being said — it’s guys getting reps, just being smart about reps throughout their careers here.
“It's a credit to coach (Alex) Grinch and the system here. It allows you to develop these guys as linebackers from Day 1 into now, it's the third year in the program. Third year in the defense. So we should be seeing some jumps in production. You should be seeing some jumps in efficient play, especially from the second level of the defense.”
Roy Manning
John E. Hoover / SI Sooners
Manning had to go about it a little differently. Motley was a senior in 2019, and Brown was a senior in 2020. They gave Manning a little cushion, but with no experience behind those two, Manning has been playing catch-up as he’s tried to get Jaden Davis, D.J. Graham, Woodi Washington and others game-ready.
“To get to that next place or to make that jump, it usually isn't pretty,” Manning said. “There's a lot of yelling and a lot of hard meetings and a lot of hard lessons there to learn. But ultimately, we do believe that the guys we have are guys that can get the job done. So in that way, it's exciting.”
All three have flashed big-play potential. Davis was a freshman in 2019 and was the third of three scholarship corners in the Peach Bowl (Washington redshirted and then had to play nickel against LSU). Graham got his first career interception as a true freshman last season and started in the Cotton Bowl after Brown opted out for NFL training. And Washington replaced Davis at midseason last year as the starter opposite Brown and made consistent plays all season.
Now Manning has a similar problem as Odom: he’s trying to decide how to fill two spots from among six candidates. In addition to his returning three, 2020 junior college transfer Justin Harrington has elite potential. Sophomore Joshua Eaton got invaluable playing time last season and played well. And true freshman Latrell McCutchin was one of the top-rated cornerback recruits in the nation last year.
"It usually isn't pretty. There's a lot of yelling and a lot of hard meetings and a lot of hard lessons there to learn."
— Roy Manning
“We're a long way off,” Manning said. “That's just the reality of it. You've got new faces and guys that have a bunch of snaps underneath their belt, but the majority of my guys don't have a ton of snaps. So, just going into it with that understanding that they're going to have to learn in practice every since day. You're going to have to learn, some of them, in games.”
Davis, Graham and Washington remain the front-liners. But getting the younger players vital reps is paramount for the future, and Manning said he thinks he can do it this season.
“I’ll probably be shooting for five (corners) this year,” Manning said, “because we have the numbers.”
Odom and Manning are two of Riley’s youngest assistant coaches, having both graduated college in 2005. They’ve connected well with recruits since they were added to the staff in January 2019, and now they’ve proven their ability to develop a player’s talent once he’s in Norman.
But with the NCAA Transfer Portal fundamentally changing the way coaches build rosters, can the backups get enough early snaps to stay happy and not leave?
“Each year I think you have to recruit — almost over-recruit, so to speak — because part of the game is injuries,” Manning said. “Part of the game is guys don't develop as fast as you want. And so, in that regard, I think we’ve done a good job across the board getting more and more viable options.”
And if the portal rears its ugly head and claims some of OU's talented young players, Odom said the team will adjust.
“I want guys who want to be here,” Odom said. “If they want to leave, you know what? It could be the worst decision of your life. Because we’ve got such a good thing going here.
“That's the environment I want to create in that room, that you're a part of something. This is something that's big. We're doing a lot of really good stuff here. So yeah, I understand it, there's individual wants and needs and I get that. But if you're a part of this group, we're different. We carry ourselves different. We walk different. To me, that's gonna help these guys throughout their life.”
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