Tennessee Transfer Key Lawrence Wants to Bring 'Nitty Gritty' to Oklahoma's Defense

To hear Woodi Washington tell it, he and Key Lawrence staged some pretty good basketball battles growing up in Tennessee.

To hear Lawrence tell it, that’s not entirely accurate.

“Of course he’s got to say that,” Lawrence said with a laugh on Thursday on a Zoom call — his first time in front of the cameras since transferring to Oklahoma from Tennessee.

“But I was on definitely by far the better team, and I was by far the better player. You can tell him that.”

Lawrence played elite travel ball for the Ballers, Washington for Middle Tennessee Impact staring in about fourth grade, Washington said.

Youth basketball exploits aside, Lawrence and Washington take great pride representing the Volunteer State as defensive backs at OU. Lawrence (from Nashville) was a valued backup for the Vols last season as a true freshman, while Washington (from Murfreesboro) emerged as a starting cornerback for the Sooners during the 2020 campaign.

If Lawrence continues to rise as one of OU’s two deep safeties, he might find himself in a starting role this fall.

“I think it would be an exciting and great thing,” Washington said Wednesday on a Zoom call, “just because we grew up knowing each other for a long time.”

Lawrence has been identified by defensive coordinator Alex Grinch as having picked things up quickly in Norman — both last spring and also ahead of this year’s training camp.

“Key Lawrence took to our defense exceptionally well,” Grinch said. “Tremendous spring and tremendous summer.”

Grinch and Washington are actually two of the biggest reasons why Lawrence chose Oklahoma after entering the transfer portal.

Lawrence said Grinch “really prioritized me when he recruited me. He made me feel like this is home — and I only came on one visit. And I felt like it was home (from) Day 1. And he just kept it real with me, being honest in every aspect of the way. He told me what I need to do, all I have to do, in order for me to be a great player here at the University of Oklahoma, and all they have to offer for me. So it wasn't like a big change. I always had it in the back of my mind, back of my head, when I was at Tennessee.”

Washington — along with Tennessee offensive transfers Eric Gray and Wanya Morris — offered Lawrence a little familiarity.

“I’m not gonna lie, me and Woodi grew up together,” Lawrence said. “I’ve been seeing him since we were so little. … Woodi’s been one of those dogs who just worked so hard, even though he might not have had the skill set as he thought, but he’s always had it, but he never really thought that. He built that confidence up later in his career.

“ … He’s one of the main reasons why I came to OU. Because our relationship was already strong. Now just being here on the same team, especially in the back end with him, it made our made our bond even stronger.”

One reason Lawrence picked up Grinch’s scheme so easily: he said it’s not as complex, which allows him to learn at a higher rate and ultimately play faster.

“Specifically at Tennessee, it was a lot more plays,” he said. “Like, it was quite a bit of plays. It was very different and everything was mixed and matched. A lot of thinking on the field. Here, I’d probably say it’s a lot of thinking, but the same time, it’s where you can react faster. You have to think about so much at the same time. You just have certain calls to make, and things of that nature.

“It just depends on the type of person you are, the type of learner you are, physically or whatever you think is easiest way for you to learn it.”

That doesn’t mean Lawrence has been hyper-focused on learning Grinch’s nickel scheme, or what the free safety responsibilities are versus the strong safety. Lawrence, who was reportedly recruited to UT as a cornerback, says he has an urgency to learn it all.

“If you really know coach Grinch,” Lawrence said, “you want to understand the fact that he wants to be big on versatility. So if you’re in the meeting room, and especially him being the DC, he wants you to understand that you shouldn’t just be so tunnel-vision on one position. You should also just pay attention to every other position, just because if somebody goes down, the next man has to be up.

“So it's a big deal for him that he puts on us and expresses to us, that we understand, like, I can't just focus on being a corner or safety or free safety, I need to learn how to play everything. So that’s a big deal for us.”

Teammate Justin Broiles said earlier this year that he welcomed Lawrence and what he brings to the OU secondary.

“I mean, one thing I see that Keyshawn brings to our team is grit,” Broiles said. " ... We’re still working to get him to bring that grit out every play, but when Key wants to turn it up and lock in, he can do that. And when he does that, he's probably one of the best players on the team."

That's exactly what Lawrence — and Washington — want OU coaches and players to learn about them: they’re here to play Tennessee football.

“We really preach so much in the locker room every day, like, we're really trying to be more nitty gritty,” Lawrence said. “We have that type of edge to us. We try to preach to our coaches and our recruiters here, ‘We need to get back to that Tennessee native style,’ you know what I’m saying? We gotta try to get some of that grit back up here.

“And me and Woodi, personally, we’re just trying to get as far as we can to show that we don’t have to be close to home for us to be successful.”

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