SAN ANTONIO — Oklahoma interim offensive coordinator Cale Gundy, redshirt junior running back Kennedy Brooks, redshirt senior H-back Jeremiah Hall, redshirt senior offensive lineman Tyrese Robinson and sophomore receiver Marvin Mims met with media members on Monday to preview OU’s bout against Oregon in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29.
The No. 16 Sooners (10-2, 8-2 Big 12) will face the No. 14 Ducks (10-3, 7-2 Pac-12) at 8:15 p.m. CT in San Antonio. Oklahoma’s regular season ended with a 37-33 loss to Oklahoma State on Nov. 27, while Oregon’s concluded with a 38-10 loss to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Dec. 3. With Bob Stoops returning to lead the Sooners and Bryan McClendon overseeing the Ducks, both programs will be led by interim head coaches in Wednesday’s game.
Here’s the best of what OU’s offensive representatives said:
Gundy on what time at Oklahoma has taught him about offense
“Well, you learn a lot, and obviously I've been here, I've been around several offensive coordinators and coaches who have called games.
“We've got to do what's best and the strength of our football team, and that's what we're going to do. I'd love to be able to elaborate on that to you, but I just can't do that. You'll have to wait and see in a couple nights. But we're going to play to our strengths and whatever is best for our football team, that's a decision that myself and the other offensive coaches that came together have really helped me in this situation.”
Mims on importance of Wednesday’s game in transition from Lincoln Riley era to Brent Venables
“Being one of the younger guys on the team, being recruited by Coach Riley and then the rest of the staff, it's definitely an eye-opening thing whenever they leave, being one of the freshly recruited people, because you have conversations with these people all the time, expecting them to be here your entire college career. But things happen, things change. When you're a younger guy, your head starts going everywhere. What am I going to do? You see older guys leaving, you see other people doing this.
“But this game Wednesday night, I'm excited for the guys that we still have here, my class and the class below me, and I feel like depending on how we perform on Wednesday, the way we've been practicing, it's definitely going to play into the decision that they do next season. But I feel like with the guys we have here right now, they definitely want to be here, and it's definitely going to give them a huge confidence boost going into the off-season period.”
Gundy on transitioning from his regular duties to calling plays
“It changes a lot. You now have a lot of responsibility that's put on you. The more you have, the more time you're going to spend and study and prepare. Like I mentioned a while ago, with the offensive coaches that we have that are still here and Coach Bedenbaugh, Coach Murray, Coach Finley, Coach Darlington, we've been working long hours every single day ever since we had a chance to come together as an offensive staff. So we've put a lot of time in.
“But there is, there's a lot of preparing, and everything from the script, things can be different, maybe some things that I thought that maybe is going to help me better on the 29th to call plays is things that I've done for myself and may not be the way that they were done in the past, but I've got to do what's best for me and what's going to be best for our offense.
“Trust me, I feel a lot better going into this football game with these guys here next to me. The better players that you've got surrounding you and your offense — again, like I mentioned earlier, our coaches, all of us have done a tremendous job putting this game plan together. We just want to allow our guys to play fast and play very, very physical. That's what we want to do. We're going to put them in the best position to be successful.”
Brooks on his relationship with running backs coach DeMarco Murray
“Man, he's been a big help for me, just being a pro. He done it in college, he done it in the NFL. Man, just everything he says to me, I take it all in. He's improved my vision, my catching, what I need to do to make this cut, this read. Man, he's been helpful through everything, and man, he's a great coach. I love him.”
Gundy on Brooks’ legacy at OU
“I recruited Kennedy back in the day from his high school, and I started recruiting him ever since he was a freshman. He was very, very good. He came from a great offensive system that they handed the ball off to him about 40, 45 times a game. He was — I think what J-Hall was mentioning about being a smart runner and following the fullback, Kennedy is one of these guys who's had a lot of reps.
“He's had a lot of reps, and that's what makes you better in life, when you have opportunities to do something over and over and over, and Kennedy has been a special player for us here. Obviously everybody knows there's a long line of great running backs here at the University of Oklahoma, but Kennedy is going to fall right in line with them.”
Hall on importance of Wednesday’s game in transition from Lincoln Riley era to Brent Venables
“You know, adversity makes you stronger in more ways than one. Like you said, when you have a departure, and like I said, adversity, on the field, emotionally, decisions have to be made, like Marvin said. When guys are leaving, they're not just making that decision on their own. They're asking teammates, teammates are asking them to stay, and we have a lot more conversations with one another.
“Between that and having to come together on the field, like I said, just makes us stronger, and so I'm hoping that through everything that we've faced here recently that we can go out on this game and have one last hoorah together and go out with a bang.”
Robinson on offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh’s decision to stay
“Right. When the news broke out, he was kind of stressed out about it, not knowing if he was going to keep his job or not, but when the news came out that he was, he was very excited to stay here at Oklahoma. He didn't want to leave. His family, kids, they didn't want to leave, so he was very excited about staying here. He'll be good for us and the young guys. He's a great coach, and it would be a big piece to miss out on, and I'm just excited and glad he stayed here.”
Gundy on coaching with Bob Stoops perhaps one last time
“I don't know if we've really talked about it. I've thought about it obviously because he's having a chance to come back and lead our program again. It's been very — I've been close with Bob ever since. He lives less than a mile from me, so we've had an opportunity to spend a lot of time together away from football, still with my wife and his wife Carol. But it's been neat to have him around the office all day long.
“It was a special week that I had the opportunity to fly around all over the country with him and go visit recruits and our commits and go into homes and go into schools with Coach Stoops. I was definitely — I had a celebrity with me. I mean, it was unbelievable.
“Sometimes we take things for granted how special somebody is and things that they've accomplished, but everywhere I took him, I mean, it was definitely -- the cameras were out and everybody was wanting to take pictures of him, and it was a neat deal. But it's good to have him back out there. Again, once you're a coach, it's always a coach. It's like riding a bike; it's not too hard. You have your certain ways that you believe, and you don't ever change those things.”
Gundy on Brent Venables’ return to OU
“I'm very excited. You know, it was a difficult time there for a few weeks. It really was. The one thing I've learned through all this is there's not a perfect way for this to go down. There's not a perfect way for somebody to take a job and to leave a program or assistants to have to leave. There just really isn't.
“Our team has really responded well, but having Brent back is going to be very special. Having the opportunity to be here for many years, when Bob moves on, the first thing that goes through your mind (is), ‘Oh no, what's going to happen to the University of Oklahoma.’ Well, the University of Oklahoma was winning a lot of games when Bob was there and it was winning a lot of games before Bob was there and probably going to continue to win a lot of games after. Lincoln took over and that's what we did, we won a lot of football games.
“I'm going to make this comment now: We're going to win a bunch of damn football games with Brent Venables. … He has passion for his players. He has passion for his coaches. He has passion for his coaches' families, and he's going to pour everything in. That's how he is. I've been around him. I spent that one week traveling with him, and we were flying around all over the place, as well. I'm very excited for the future, very fortunate to have the opportunity to continue to be a coach for the Oklahoma Sooners.”
Gundy on Oregon’s depleted roster
“You know, we just kind of worry about ourselves. Again, I'm more concerned about our offense and how our players play. Again, what can we do the best. I just can't really be too concerned about and speculate what's going to be out there Wednesday night. If we execute and do the things that we're supposed to do, everything will work out fine. I believe that 100 percent.
“They're going to have 11 guys out there, and that's all we're worried about. We can't spend a lot of time because you can go back and watch film and try to speculate who you think may be out there, and if there's not a lot of film like certain guys playing corner or linebacker or defensive line, then you really don't know. Again, it comes down to us.
“Their players are at the University of Oregon because they're good football players. They would not be there if they were not good football players, whether they're a freshman scholarship or sophomore or junior or senior or whether they're a walk on. They're only allowed a certain number of players just like we are, and we try to bring in the best football players we can bring in, but like I said, we're more concerned about what we've got to do to play Wednesday night.”
