Wilson's staying a big break for the Sooners
Published: 1/21/2010 4:35 PM
Last Modified: 1/21/2010 4:35 PM
Gotta love the blogosphere. I post a gut feeling that Kevin Wilson will be named East Carolina head coach, grab my tape recorder and head over to Oklahoma basketball practice, and about 10 minutes later get a text that Ruffin McNeill has been hired instead. Oh well. Bad luck for me, but extremely good luck, in my opinion, for OU fans.
First of all, for all the heat Wilson took for the Sooners' shortcomings last year, the sane among OU's fan base will realize what an effective offensive coordinator he has been the past four years. The NCAA-record 716 points OU scored two years ago should supercede the 3 the Sooners put up at Nebraska last Nov. 7.
Landry Jones was still figuring things out that night in Lincoln. His 418 passing yards in a Sun Bowl victory six weeks later showed that under Wilson's, and Josh Heupel's, guidance, he had cut into his learning curve. With Wilson back in the fold, Jones should expect to make similar strides between now and the 2010 opener.
With Wilson back in the fold, so is offensive line coach James Patton. I don't know for sure that Patton would have followed Wilson to East Carolina. But since the two have worked together at three different schools -- Miami of Ohio, Northwestern and OU -- it figured that they would reunite at ECU.
That, in turn, would have deprived the Sooners of one of their most crucial position coaches. OU's O-line was already in flux, with All-American Trent Williams leaving and at least five verbal commitments coming. I don't think Bob Stoops would have been excited about breaking in a new coordinator and a rookie line coach.
Stoops has enjoyed remarkable staff continuity throughout his 11 years in Norman. That stability was staggered in the past week, however, when defensive ends coach/special teams coordinator Chris Wilson left for Mississippi State, Kevin Wilson interviewed at ECU and Heupel came up for the offensive coordinator opening at Minnesota.
If Stoops comes out of this down just one assistant, it should be enough to show the rotten luck of OU's 2009 season is starting to turn.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
