Transfer Tales: How an Extra 48 Hours Led Walter Rouse to Oklahoma
NORMAN — Surrounded by new faces, Walter Rouse took a deep breath and smiled before starting to tell his story.
Greeting a new wave of media members in Norman, Oklahoma, was not where Rouse planned to be in February.
Had everything gone according to the script, the 6-foot-6, 318-pound offensive tackle would have been preparing to head to the NFL Combine.
Instead, an injury and a coaching change led the Silver Spring, MD, product into the transfer portal, where he would take a brief detour to Lincoln, NE, before finally landing at Oklahoma.
Rouse was a four-year starter, playing 2,551 career snaps for the Stanford Cardinal. Following the 2022 season, he opted to hit the transfer portal.
Immediately, he gained traction.
Oklahoma, Nebraska and Auburn picked up the phone, and Rouse opted to take a pair of visits to Norman and Lincoln.
He liked what he saw in Norman, but on Jan. 13 he instead pulled the trigger on committing to Matt Rhule’s Cornhuskers.
“My expectation going in Nebraska was very kind of low,” Rouse said in February. “But when I got there, I saw that it was very urban. Great coaches. Great people. And I think coming up I was just on this high.
“Like Nebraska’s really that place for me, that's the place where I want to go to and even though I had a great visit at Oklahoma … I was just more so just all focused on in Nebraska.”
Walter Rouse arrived at Oklahoma after starting for four years at Stanford
Darren Yamashita / USA TODAY Sports
That was supposed to be it. Take the visit and play out his career as a Cornhusker.
But in the hours following his decision, doubt started to creep in.
“I really started to think to myself, like, is this the right decision for me,” Rouse said. “ … With a lot of turmoil and confusion … eventually I realized that Nebraska wasn't the right place for me and that I made my decision too fast.”
Two days after announcing he was headed to Lincoln, Rouse reversed course and flipped his commitment to the Sooners.
Predictably, Rouse became the center of NIL rumors online, as most college football fan bases now react when a player flips from their school.
To Rouse, he said he had to do what felt right for him and his family.
“If I had half of my mind thinking about Oklahoma, I didn't think that’d be fair to (Nebraska) as well,” he said. “ … One of the things I regret with that is I didn’t take longer to consider my decision.”
Bill Bedenbaugh’s track record of sending his OU offensive lineman to the NFL proved to be too good to pass up.
“You really can't ignore it when you look at Oklahoma,” Rouse said. “They've had this continued excellence of o-linemen have come through it, whether it be a 5-star, 2-star, 3-star, and come out with the top picks in the league. Or even if they're later in the draft … they're doing well right now.”
While in the portal, Rouse was able to reinforce his bond with Bedenbaugh.
As a high school recruit, he remembered the Sooners’ offensive line coach reaching out to him, and he said it was good to reconnect with Bedenbaugh when he hit the portal.
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Their conversations mostly revolved around the present, Rouse said, and how Bedenbaugh was convinced that he could help the big tackle achieve his NFL dreams.
“He said I can take my game and he can take it to an even higher level than what it’s been at,” Rouse said. “It was just one of those things I couldn’t ignore.”
A career in football wasn’t originally on Rouse’s mind years ago, however.
An imposing athlete, his arrival in the sport came later than most.
“I didn’t really start playing football until I was freshman year in high school,” Rouse said. “I did a little bit in seventh and eighth grade, but I didn’t really start until my freshman year of high school.”
He began on the other side of the line, playing right guard, before switching over to the left side, where he found his home at tackle.
Still, hearing his name called by Rodger Goodell on stage at the NFL Draft didn’t arrive in his dreams until later on.
“I was so set on going to med school,” he said. “That's why I wanted to go (to Stanford) because I want to be a doctor. I wanted to be a (surgeon) specializing in pediatrics.
“I’ve done … medical camps from seventh grade all the way to my junior year in high school.
“… Coming out of high school I was really set on academics first and then football.”
As his football career progressed, Rouse began to focus more and more on the game he was beginning to adore.
Once he realized he wanted to play professionally before circling back to pursue a career as a doctor, he knew he had to take another step to advance his goals.
“I love this game of football and each year I fall more in love with the game,” Rouse said. “ … So I’m taking this year to come to Oklahoma and I believe I can help them and I know they can help me to get to that place.”
There’s a ready-made hole for Rouse to slot into on OU’s offensive line.
The Sooners lost both offensive tackles from the 2022 squad, as Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris both declared for the NFL Draft.
Tyler Guyton, Morris’ understudy last year, is the odds-on favorite to step in at right tackle, leaving an opportunity for Rouse to step into the spot left by Harrison.
Oklahoma will actually end up getting a left tackle who was more experienced than Harrison.
“In adding Walter Rouse, Oklahoma is getting a high-caliber tackle to replace who they lost to the NFL,” Kevin Borba, publisher for CardinalCountry.com, told AllSooners. “ … He is very good at blocking for the run, which Stanford relied on heavily. His pass blocking grade this past season wasn't the best, but that was likely more so on the scheme the team ran, that did not complement the offense at all.”
Last season, Rouse also had the added hurdle of playing through injury.
“Third game of the season, Week 4, labrum tear,” Rouse said. “Shoulder pops out.”
Heading into 2022, Rouse was set on declaring for the NFL Draft, regardless of the result of the season.
Initially, the injury was an inconvenience, but it wasn’t going to derail Rouse’s plan.
“But as the year went on,” said Rouse, “I realized that the year didn’t go the way I wanted it to and some of the techniques and habits I was developing wasn’t up to my standards or the coaches’ standards with the injury.
“ … And I was talking a lot with my family and said if I’m going to come back, let’s look at all of my options. And transferring was one of those options. And with Coach (David) Shaw leaving and a new staff coming in, maybe it’s good to have a fresh start somewhere else.”
Rouse's 2022 season was derailed by a torn labrum that he suffered early in the year
Darren Yamashita / USA TODAY Sports
Rouse stuck it out through the end of the season, continuing to hold down the left side of the Cardinal’s offensive line even as the team failed to win games.
“To say that I was impressed by him playing through the injury would be an understatement,” Borba said. “He really showed how much of a team leader he was and how gritty he can be, because in all honesty at that point in the season, Stanford wasn't playing for much.
“Stanford's offensive line took a beating and was throwing in guys who had never really played, so it really speaks to his character that he fought through the pain to be there for his team.”
With the season over, Rouse underwent a successful surgery to repair his torn labrum on Dec. 20.
The timetable isn’t ideal, as he’ll miss all of spring football, but he’s expected to make a full recovery.
“I will be back 100 percent for the summer,” he said. “Unfortunately I won’t be able to play football again until training camp.”
Entering the portal knowing he wouldn’t be able to participate in spring practice was a risk, but he got some advice from a teammate at Stanford who had intimate knowledge of OU’s program — former Sooner safety Pat Fields.
“He did give me some great insight on Oklahoma and it being a very family-oriented program and (Brent) Venables being a great guy,” Rouse said. “ … It was definitely helpful to have that.”
Walter Rouse is a ready-made starter who can immediatlely fill the void left by Anton Harrison at left tackle.
BRYAN TERRY / THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK
Rouse believes his ample experience as a starter will help him quickly pick up Jeff Lebby’s play book, even if he can’t practice in March and April.
As a veteran, he’s also primed to help lead the younger players in OU’s offensive line room.
“Coming in, it’s just really getting to know the lay of the land and talking with the older guys that are here,” he said. “Really getting into the playbook but we also have some freshmen coming in and we do have young guys and really being able to talk with them. And I do think I can provide experience and leadership as well as the year progresses.”
It’s not just life on the field that has to get sorted in Norman.
Because he had anticipated leaving for the NFL Draft before suffering his injury, Rouse didn’t finish his Biomechanical Engineering degree at Stanford.
“There were certain classes that I needed to take and I did not take them (to graduate),” he said. “ … But since I was going to declare, it wasn’t going to matter.”
Once his playing days are over, Rouse said he’ll head back to Palo Alto.
But for the upcoming year, he’s focused on working with Bedenbaugh to increase his draft stock and become the next Oklahoma offensive lineman to make the jump to the league.
Conversations on what areas of his game he’ll need to improve have been productive, as Rouse said Bedenbaugh has a clear plan to continue to develop him as a player.
“I’d say coming back off my shoulder injury, I got away from my punching a lot,” he said. “I started bending over at the waist instead of the knees, and getting better with my footwork. I’ve always had good footwork but (last) year things just went downhill.
“So really making sure I have quick feet. Making sure I’m bending at the knees, not at the waist, punching with my tight hands. And as always, finishing. I think that’s one thing I’ve really improved from my freshman year to now but something I’ve got to keep working.”
It’s a long road, but during his short time in the transfer portal Rouse became a believer in the vision Bedenbaugh and Venables had not just for his success, but for the direction of the program as a whole.
“The belief that Coach Venables had in me and Coach Bedenbaugh, they were truly inspiring,” he said. “And they truly made me believe that if I went to Oklahoma that they could take me to the next level. … Coach Venables, he has big aspirations. He’s like, ‘We want to go to the National Championship.’ And I want to go to the National Championship.
“And having those aspirations and saying like, ‘I believe that we can develop you into the type of player that you want to be, being in the first round and going to the NFL Draft and being and elite tackle in the league.’ And selling me on that dream, I truly believe that we can do that.”
Rehabbing to get back onto the field is the first step for Rouse to chase his dreams in 2023.
And while he knows there’s a long road ahead, Rouse is thankful he took the extra time necessary to end up in Norman for his final year of college football.
“I don't think it's gonna be easy,” he said. “I think it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be a lot of work. But I know I can put in that work, and I know that because Coach Bedenbaugh and Coach Venables and the rest of the Oklahoma players and staff (and) coaches are going to push me to where I need to get to.
“… Being here … I really have made the best decision for myself.”
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