Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield’s journey to Norman was more a leap of faith, as it turns out.
When Mayfield made the decision to transfer from Texas Tech and enroll at OU, he had not spoken to a single Sooners coach.
Based on the outgoing persona he’s developed during his time on campus, it would be easy to chalk the move up to cockiness, recklessness or simply Baker being Baker. In reality, NCAA rules prohibited Mayfield from speaking to coaches.
"I enrolled in school before they even knew it and I was living in [Adams] tower, sixth floor for three weeks," he said. "When I was living over there five feet from a stranger I’d never met, it wasn’t very fun."
Mayfield knew few faces on campus when arrived. He said he spent his time mostly alone and working out in the rec center initially. Eventually he joined an intramural softball team — The Master Batters — and won a championship.
"I didn’t really have very many friends at all, if any,” he said. "I became friends with the guys on my floor and played intramural softball. Those were my real friends."
It was not until a team dinner after a winter workout Mayfield finally met coach Bob Stoops.
“I went up to him and shook his hand and said, ‘Coach, I’m Baker Mayfield,’” he said. “He looked at me kind of like, ‘Wow, he really is here.’”
Stoops said the rumors of Mayfield transferring to Oklahoma took him by surprise.
"Maybe the strangest thing that’s ever happened in my coaching career," Stoops said. "I’ve never talked to the guy and he’s never called to ask if he could.
“If I had said ‘no,’ he might be in a fraternity over here playing yard ball.”
After a year and a half in Norman, Mayfield has gone from new man on campus to scout team player of the year to possible starting quarterback.
“What he’s done is just worked hard,” Stoops said. “He sat out the whole season and ran the scout team. You know, couldn’t have been more enthusiastic and excited every day. He looked at it as a great opportunity to get better.”
Looking back on Mayfield’s decision to transfer to Oklahoma, it seems completely ill-advised. Not only had he never spoken to a coach, fellow quarterback Trevor Knight was fresh off a Sugar Bowl performance that had Sooners fans thinking national title.
Furthermore, Kendal Thompson and Blake Bell were both still OU quarterbacks.
People thought Mayfield was crazy, he said. However, he refused to dignify his doubters with a response.
"I’m confident in my abilities," Mayfield said. "It’s just something you want to bury deep down inside of you and you don’t say anything until later."
Even though he has not taken a live snap in a regular season game for the Sooners, Mayfield has emerged as a leader in the locker room. Like linebacker Eric Striker, he’s developed a reputation for being loud, unpredictable and dancing.
Mayfield’s popularity at Oklahoma skyrocketed when a video of him hitting the whip at the Russell Athletic Bowl made its rounds on Twitter.
"[The dancing] came a little bit later but it definitely helped a lot,” Mayfield chuckled. "[Striker and wide receiver Sterling Shepard] had seen my film from when I was healthy at Texas Tech and so it was a mutual respect thing and so I just talked to them about it and it went from there."
His emergence in the locker room, while it might not help his chances of nabbing the starting job, certainly cannot hurt.
"When bad things happen, I don’t let it get to me," he said. "That’s something about a quarterback. You have to look at that guy and realize you want to play for them."
