The Cullen Montgomery Interview: Bond With OU, Bedenbaugh 'Has Only Gotten Stronger'

NORMAN — Walking around the University of Oklahoma campus with his new friends — and future teammates — Cullen Montgomery felt home.

Especially when the Sooner Summit dropped by Memorial Stadium and even posed for photos in the Owen Field end zone.

“Kind of got that feel for the stadium again,” Montgomery told SI Sooners. “Because last time I was down here was Jan. 19 when I committed. So it’s been like 7-8 months. So once I came down here and saw the stadium again, I was like, ‘Yeah.’ It just reassured me that this is the place.”

Montgomery was an SI All-American candidate going into his senior year at Episcopal High School in Bellaire, TX. He’s warm and friendly off the field, but between the lines he’s 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds of bad attitude.

That’s why Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas A&M and a lot of other schools wanted him to play offensive line for them. But he chose OU.

“OU is a place that I could see myself in the future,” Montgomery said. “It came down to just me feeling best personally, so it came down to Oklahoma.”

Montgomery said his relationship with OU offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh was always good, but “over time,” he said, they’ve become even closer.

“He actually came to my school. Came to my basketball games. Little things like that,” Montgomery said. “Once I committed, I stopped talking to every other college. … I’m 100 percent committed to Oklahoma — as I was when I first committed. The relationship has only gotten stronger.”

Montgomery said most conversations he has with his future position coach might surprise the average football fan.

“He doesn’t really talk a lot of football,” Montgomery said. “Because he can take care of that. But it’s just about the man, school, how’s your family, stuff like that. I think that he’s building a bigger thing than just football.. He’s building a man.”

Bedenbaugh also has built a reputation for putting linemen into the NFL. Montgomery, like a lot of others, has noticed.

“I’m looking for a program that’s gonna truly develop me,” Montgomery said. “My ultimate goal is to go to the NFL, and Coach B did a wonderful job producing players in the NFL. And so I think I’m gonna be the next one he produces.”

Spend any time talking to Montgomery and it becomes clear that the most important thing in his life are the relationships. That’s why Sooner Summit was such a big weekend for him and for the others.

“So we can kind of build that family-type relationship. Especially the 2021 class,” he said. “ … We really want to be friends and just get to know each other.

“Nothing to do with the NCAA. No school thing. It’s just us bonding as friends.”

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