By JOHN E. HOOVER Sports Columnist on Nov 19, 2012, at 4:17 PM Updated on 11/19 at 4:17 PM
NORMAN — Remember when Bob Stoops had to suspend all those football players? Remember all those Sooners from the 2010 and 2011 teams who simply didn’t return for the following season?
Those dark days may — for now, at least — be a thing of the past.
Playing time, personal reasons, academics, skipping class, ditching workouts, needy girlfriends, failed drug tests, disillusionment — whatever the reason, OU’s defections and discipline problems piled up. It left a stain on the program, and it contributed, players think, to a disappointing 2011 season.
This season alone, two returning starters and two others projected to contribute have served major suspensions. Jaz Reynolds and Trey Franks likely will remain persona non grata until next season.
During interviews on Monday, players acknowledged the team’s renewed offseason emphasis on improving bad behavior, bad attitudes and bad attendance.
“You don’t hear about guys at Alabama getting in trouble or getting suspended,” wideout Kenny Stills said. “So we’re trying to take away the off-the-field distractions and that way we can just take care of business on the field.”
Coming off Saturday’s theatrical epic at West Virginia — a 50-49 victory — Stills said it was “a huge focus for the coaches and our team in the offseason, their speech to us about going to class and doing the right things and staying out of trouble. And coach Stoops continues to harp about it. I feel like the guys know how important it is to, you know, those fourth-quarter comebacks, winning close games, or just winning in general.”
Since the end of the 2010 season, 15 scholarship players left. That includes two this previous offseason.
Stills served his own suspension in 2011 for an offseason DUI arrest. That incident and the immature person who did it are now long forgotten. Saturday in Morgantown, Stills caught four touchdown passes, including the game-winner with 24 seconds left.
Maturity and discipline are better across the board for this team, and Stills is a prime example of what a talented football player can do with the right internal qualities.
“That was a big issue last year,” said senior defensive end David King. “We had a lot of guys suspended for not going to class, and that’s one of the dumbest reasons to get suspended for. But that was a big issue.
“Coming into this season, we want everybody out on the practice field. You need a full four days of practice to be prepared to play a team, and we’ve done a much better job handling that this year. If you don’t go to class, the leaders of this team — whether it be offense or defense — they’re gonna come up to you and say, ‘Why didn’t you do that? That’s stupid. We need you for this game. Blah blah blah.’ If they don’t fix it, then you know it gets on a report and then the coaches get it, then they’ve got to deal with some extra stuff after practice.
“So you don’t ever want to be on the practice field after, doing stuff for school-wise. That’s one of the dumbest that you can get suspended for, classes.”
The university has a firm policy that student-athletes with too many unexcused absences must are suspended from practices. If attendance issues persist, the punishment spills over to games. The policy was put in place in 2004, and Adrian Peterson, in the midst of his record-setting freshman season, was the first football player forced to miss practice because of poor classroom attendance.
King and Stills both said players who miss practice will suffer a decline in performance on gameday. That, of course, affects the whole team. And that’s one reason why the Sooners have been performing this season.
“You can’t miss a day of practice suspension-wise for not going to class and think you’re gonna come out on Saturday and play your best level of football,” King said. “That’s just not the way it happens.”
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