All Sooners

Sooners On SI Podcast, Ep. 300: Mateer, Hawkins, SEC and the Return of the Prodigal Sons

Hoover, Chapman, Field and Aber welcome in Parker Thune, Josh Callaway and Randall Sweet to throw it back for a momentous podcast in a momentous week for our state.
John Hoover|
Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer
Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer | Carson Field, Sooners on SI

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Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma Sooners On SI's John Hoover, Ryan Chapman, Carson Field and Ryan Aber present an historic episode 300 of the Sooners On SI Podcast, with special guest appearances by former Sooners On SI staffers Parker Thune, Josh Callaway and Randall Sweet!

To watch the podcast on YouTube, click on the video:

Or follow these links to listen to the podcast on Apple, Spotify or iHeart.

In this special commemorative episode, the guys discuss OU quarterback John Mateer's broken thumb and today's surgery, ask how Michael Hawkins will replace Mateer in the lineup and what OU needs to do to rally in Mateer's absence and more with an open date, then Kent State, then Texas just ahead.

They pull apart the win over Auburn with a quick look back at last week's game, then dive into a complete breakdown of the future SEC schedules, which were announced Tuesday in a landmark day for OU and the SEC.

Finally, the guys ask (and offer opinions on) how fans should view the Mike Gundy firing, Gundy's special legacy in the Bedlam rivalry, and break down this week's huge softball news and so much more.

Oklahoma Sooners
Parker Thune, Josh Callaway, John Hoover, Ryan Chapman, Carson Field, Randall Sweet and Ryan Aber | Sooners On SI

Thune, now co-publisher OUInsider.com, helped Hoover get Sooners On SI (then SI Sooners) off the ground just a few weeks after the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, and covered OU during the pandemic shutdown.

Chapman replaced Thune as Hoover's deputy editor in December 2020. On staff ever since, Chapman was promoted to co-publisher this summer as Hoover announced his semi-retirement in July.

Callaway, now with SoonersIllustrated.com, joined Hoover's full-time staff as multimedia editor and sports writer for AllSooners in June 2021.

Sweet, now covering Texas Panhandle sports for the Amarillo Globe, replaced Callaway on staff in May 2023 and took over recruiting coverage.

When Sweet returned to his home state in September 2024, Field signed on two months later to cover basketball, recruiting and football.

Aber, a long-time OU beat writer with The Oklahoman, joined the Sooners On SI staff earlier this month, along with podcaster Brady Trantham.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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