Oklahoma DC Alex Grinch Concerned That 'Some of Our Players Don't' Believe in Practice

After a shaky performance at Kansas State, Grinch revealed that some players are playing in games because others aren't necessarily practicing all that well.

The question following Oklahoma’s 37-31 win at Kansas State was about true freshman Jordan Mukes getting a little playing time at cornerback and giving up a 54-yard pass completion.

Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s answer was about something else entirely.

“Trying to get some young guys going,” Grinch said. “It’s also indicative of how guys are practicing. We believe in practice. Some of our players don’t. Guys get opportunities when other guys maybe don’t practice as well.”

Jordan Mukes (right)

Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

Grinch’s answer seems to reveal that five games into the season, two games into Big 12 Conference play, some players are practicing poorly enough that he’s having true freshmen change positions during the week and then meaningful snaps in road games.

The decision of 2020 junior college transfer Justin Harrington to enter the transfer portal last week necessitated some movement in the Sooners’ defensive secondary. He was recruited as a safety but worked at corner. Mukes played corner at Choctaw High School but was recruited and has worked at safety. Grinch has long extolled the virtues of “cross-training,” or teaching players multiple positions, and many Sooners are versatile enough to pull it off. No red flags there.

But Mukes’ situation, brief as it was (he came in with a 27-10 lead, gave up a 54-yard pass and got just two plays in man-to-man coverage), was unexpected.

“I think he’s going to be a good Oklahoma Sooner in time,” Grinch said. “Maybe it’s bad on my part to put him in in that situation. Any issue that he has is on me.”

It was one of a handful of times Saturday night that Grinch fell on the sword for what he considered an overall poor defensive performance.

And going into this week — the No. 6-ranked Sooners play No. 21 Texas on Saturday morning in Dallas — it’s cause for concern.

• “Well the results would suggest we didn’t prepare at all for any quarterback or the offense that we faced. Which that’s something that we’ve got to analyze as a defensive staff and obviously I’m in charge of it. We clearly did a poor job. Specifically myself.”

• “Eight months and 9 months and 10 months of repping these calls and all of a sudden — I assure you we have someone responsible for the tailback. And yet, on national television, it appears we’re not a very well-coached unit.”

• “I thought the impact of our front was minimal at best. The opportunity for quarterbacks to step up and make plays, it was almost nonexistent throughout the course of the game. Again, that’s on me, right? What am I doing wrong to put the defensive front in a position that they can’t have more production and have more impact on the game? So, it’s on us as coaches.”

K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson came of a knee injury and threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Deuce Vaugh had 104 yards and a touchdown receiving on 10 catches and rushed for 51 yards. On third and fourth downs combined, the Wildcats converted 15-of-20.

Grinch said he’s definitely happy with the win, but not necessarily with the defense’s path to victory. There’s a lot of work to do this week in practice to prepare for an offense as prolific as Texas.

“I think there’s certainly some positives to responding when adversity hits,” Grinch said. “The tough part is when you create the adversity on your own. You start the fire and you (think), ‘Look how good we are as firemen’ type of deal. Maybe that’s a bad analogy. I don’t know but it’s the only one I can come up with.”

Grinch will have a press conference Tuesday afternoon, and after two days of practice, he no doubt hopes to have some answers to his own questions.

“I think our guys have to be prepared for hard coaching,” he said Saturday. “They need to be prepared to listen. We need to rebuild trust as coaches on the defensive side of the ball from the standpoint of one of the things we’re telling you to do: ‘It’s gonna work, man. You’ve gotta trust us on this. You’re a click away. You’re a strain play away.’

“It was good enough to win this football game. I don’t know if it was good enough moving forward. So that’s what we have to attack this week. And we have to get better primarily as coaches.”

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