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OU's Johnson says this opponent made great hire
Published: 8/24/2011 2:49 PM
Last Modified: 8/24/2011 2:49 PM

University of Oklahoma director of football operations Merv Johnson dished high praise to an opposing coach while speaking Wednesday at a Tulsa Sports Charities luncheon at the Silver Flame Steakhouse.

Which coach? The one OU will face in a Sept. 3 season opener.

Johnson called newly-hired University of Tulsa coach Bill Blankenship a “great” coach.

Blankenship was a longtime high school coach (most notably at Union) and a TU assistant coach before being chosen as Todd Graham’s successor.

“They couldn’t have picked a better one if they had gone pro or college to pick somebody,” Johnson said.

I attended Wednesday’s Tulsa Sports Charities luncheon because I needed to pick Johnson’s brain on three story subjects. A packed house listened to Johnson, a former OU assistant coach and current member of the radio broadcast crew, give a breakdown on the state of the Sooners.

A few highlights:
--Asked about assistant coach Josh Heupel’s new role in steering the offense, Johnson said, “Josh will be great. His work ethic is terrific.”

Johnson said Heupel “set the bar” for quarterback work habits when he was a Sooner quarterback. OU quarterbacks since have followed Heupel’s do-extra-work example.

--Johnson said the two best punters in the nation happen to play football in Oklahoma. He was referring to OU’s Tress Way and OSU’s Quinn Sharp, in no particular order.

--Because of the line of succession, Johnson said Landry Jones will always be compared to his predecessor, Sam Bradford.

“Sam was one of a kind,” Johnson said. “This guy is about as close as you are going to get (to Bradford).”

--Regarding fullback Trey Millard, who weighs in the neighborhood of 250 pounds, Johnson said, “I would not want to tackle him.” FYI, Blankenship, without being asked specifically about Millard, raved about the Sooner fullback during a Monday TU press conference.

--Johnson said a position that excites him as much as any other is tight end, where James Hanna flourished late last season.

--Johnson, a former player at Missouri, reminded those in attendance that he is part of OU lore for reasons other than his 33 years with the Sooner program. When Bud Wilkinson led OU to an NCAA record 47 consecutive victories, the 47th win came at the expense of Johnson and Missouri in 1957.

“They can thank me for that,” he said.

Johnson said that, unless one-platoon football is reinstated, the record of 47 in a row will never be broken, although USC got within sniffing distance a few seasons ago.

“Everybody has got too many weapons,” he said. “I think that record is as safe as it can be.”



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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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