The Unique Recruitment of Oklahoma QB Commit Brendan Zurbrugg
Despite being committed to Oklahoma since early August, 3-star quarterback Brendan Zurbrugg met his future head coach for the first time earlier this week.
After being busy with other business on both of Zurbrugg's visits, Brent Venables made the time to see his future quarterback and the rest of the Sooners' 2024 early enrollees over the past few weeks.
Next month, just weeks after their first face-to-face conversation, Venables will welcome Zurbrugg to Norman when the 6-foot-4 signal caller arrives on campus with the majority of his recruiting class.
After being committed to two other schools before OU, a late -season coordinator change in Norman and being the second QB in the Sooners' 2024 class, it is somewhat miraculous that Oklahoma managed to land and maintain a commitment from the talented dual-threat quarterback.
Previously pledging to Syracuse and Northwestern, Zurbrugg visited Norman in July and announced his commitment to OU on Aug. 1.
"A big part of it was the people there, the coaches that I was going to be surrounded by," Zurbrugg said. "When I went in July, I immediately clicked with the coaching staff and built relationships with them. Along with that, the culture that they have there, the football culture. Like a blue-blood program."
The All-Ohio track athlete returned in early December for his official visit, saying that he enjoyed his time on campus.
One of the most interesting aspects of Zurbrugg's recruitment was the fact that he is not the only quarterback in OU's 2024 recruiting class, as the Sooners have a highly-regarded 4-star signal caller in Michael Hawkins, who has been committed since April and is an Oklahoma legacy recruit.
After OU's 2022 Red River Rivalry embarrassment against Texas that saw backup quarterback Davis Beville struggle mightily in Dallas, it is believed that Venables wanted to add depth to the Sooners' QB room to avoid a similar situation in the future.
Despite having to compete for playing time, Zurbrugg told AllSooners that he and Hawkins are looking forward to being teammates.
"I met him in July on my visit, we both welcomed each other and said we're excited to play with each other," Zurburgg said. "We have a good relationship, we're excited to compete with each other."
With both players notching impressive senior campaigns in 2023, Oklahoma should have a fierce competition in the quarterback room moving forward, which will only sharpen the skills of each player in the position battle.
After convincing Zurbrugg to flip from the Wildcats to OU and join a class that already had a well-established quarterback, Sooners' play caller Jeff Lebby left his position at Oklahoma to become Mississippi State's head coach, leaving fans to wonder if some of the commitments the QB coach had landed would follow him to Starkville.
Some recruits took to social media to ensure Oklahoma fans that they were locked in with the Venables and company. While Zurbrugg hasn't posted online about the change, he confirmed to AllSooners that he is still solid in his commitment and hasn't reevaluated since Lebby's departure.
"No, not at all," Zurbrugg said. "I met Coach (Seth) Littrell briefly in July and he's been (to Alliance) and I've been out (to Norman), so we've already started to build a relationship. I know him pretty well now. He called me like the night after he got hired and told me that sometimes when a staff changes, and they get a new offensive coordinator the recruit always wonders, 'I wonder if this guy thinks the same thing'. He made sure to tell me that he still really liked me."
Zurbrugg went on to say that Littrell's call was very important to him, especially after dealing with a coaching change at Northwestern when he was committed to the Wildcats.
This time, however, the Sooners' offensive coordinator made sure to reach out to Zurbrugg and illustrated that Oklahoma still wanted him to be part of their 2024 recruiting class.
"It meant a lot," Zurbrugg continued. "I'm just glad to know that, even though it's a different coach, he still has the same confidence and trust in me."
So far, Zurbrugg, Hawkins and OU 2025 QB commit Kevin Sperry have all said that they are excited to move forward with Littrell, seemingly confident in the Sooners' decision to elevate the former offensive analyst.
Zurbrugg even mentioned the similarities between Littrell and Lebby's offenses, saying that much of the game plan will look similar for the Sooners' quarterbacks.
"He's had some dynamic offenses for sure," Zurbrugg said. "Good offenses, and then he runs the same type of offense that Coach Lebby did, so it's not like much is going to change for me."
The son of former Michigan quarterback Chris Zurbrugg, Brendan is not afraid of competition, and will have the chance to compete for a spot on the two-deep early in his collegiate career. With Hawkins, Beville and Jackson Arnold being the only other scholarship quarterbacks on campus, Zurbrugg's versatility could help the incoming freshman compete for a role as Arnold's backup in 2024.
An impressive runner and thrower, Zurbrugg is a true dual-threat quarterback who can challenge defenders with his arms and his legs. As a senior, the 6-foot-4 All-State hurdler ran for more than 1,000 yards while accumulating more than 2,000 yards through the air.
After a long journey to signing day that has included three commitments, an offensive coordinator change less than a month before signing day and coming into Norman with another QB in the same class, Zurbrugg will finally get the chance to begin his long-awaited college football journey when he gets to Norman in January.
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