Built for the grind. Hungry for the challenge.
Proud to be part of Oklahoma Football. Time to go compete for championships, build relationships, and chase greatness every single day.
Let’s get to work.
Boomer Sooner. #OUDNA #HardToKill pic.twitter.com/R38OwSKtiJ
— Manaia_Brown (@Coach_Brown5) July 2, 2026
Oklahoma
Beware of out-of-state recruiters chasing Utah talent. Oklahoma and Michigan just upped efforts
Recruiting Utah’s high school talent got tougher over the last six months.
Not only do the local college coaches have to protect I-15, but they must battle recruiters off I-35 that goes through Texas and Oklahoma as well as I-94 out of Detroit to Ann Arbor.
This summer, Kyle Whittingham, Jay Hill and other members of their former Utah-connected staff moved to Michigan and kept their Utah recruit contacts. But now Oklahoma coach Brent Venables has decided he wants a part of the Utah-California pipeline and just committed the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked high school recruits in the state.
Venables also just hired a former BYU defensive lineman away from a two-month stint at Fresno State to be part of his recruiting staff in Norman. This came just days — if not hours — after Brown got Corner Canyon offensive lineman Manase Brown, the No. 5-ranked player in the state’s Class of 2027.
BYU held off Oklahoma late Wednesday night for the No. 2-ranked player in the state, edge rusher Uhila Wolfgramm from Spanish Fork. It was a major get for head coach Kalani Sitake and defensive line coach Sione Pou’ha, who were in the Tongan islands during Wolfgramm’s decision as Oklahoma’s staff was pressing until the final hours.
“Coach Venables did a great job recruiting Uhila and built a relationship with him. He is very personable and is a Christian and cares about his players. He is known for building relationships.”
Meanwhile, Whittingham’s staff has committed the No. 6- and No. 8-ranked players in the state, Kamden Lopati, a quarterback from West High, and Christian Hanshaw, a tight end from American Fork.
It used to be that Utah, BYU, Utah State, Weber State, SUU and Utah Tech had to worry about Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington. They still do.
But Michigan and Oklahoma have entered the harvesting act in a big way. Touting their Big Ten and SEC barks, they are getting results.
Oklahoma picked off Utah’s No. 1-ranked (247Sports) player, Bode Sparrow, just over a week ago. He decided to play in the SEC and was following the No. 3-ranked player, Orem’s Krew Jones, to Norman.
According to family members and Maple Mountain coach Harry Schwenke, both Sparrow and Jones were working Wolfgramm over to join them. While they were not especially close, they had met during some football camps and the Oklahoma topic began to take root.
Wolfgramm said his decision came right down to the wire, a pick to go to BYU taking place at 1 a.m. the day of his public announcement over the Internet.
Oklahoma, a 6-2 sixth-place finisher in the SEC last season, had a 10-3 overall record and lost to Alabama in the first round of the CFP after the Tide rallied from down 17-0 to score 34 of the next 41 points and win 34-24.
You could say the Sooners are looking for defensive help from the likes of Jones and Sparrow after that one.
The hiring of Brown from Fresno State is interesting.
Obviously, the Sooners got a Polynesian connection in Brown, who was at Northeastern State as a defensive line coach in Tahlequah, Oklahoma after spending the previous season at Garden City Community College in Kansas.
Brown announced it himself on X Thursday, posting photos in Oklahoma gear with the caption emphasizing the grind, competing for championships, building relationships, and “Boomer Sooner.”
His new bio highlights his role in the recruiting department as Scouting Coordinator, with Polynesian flags and hashtags like #OUDNA #HardToKill.
For the Cougars, Utes and other Beehive state staffs, they’ve always held out hope that these locals that leave the state to test their beaks with other brands will return in the future.
This happened with Brown when he signed to play with Nebraska in 2001 out of Granger High School. He transferred to BYU, where he played three years and was an All-Mountain West Conference tackle.
On the BYU side, this is what happened with projected Big 12 all-conference linebacker Cade Uluave, who just transferred from Cal after leaving the state out of high school at South Jordan. Same for Oregon transfer tight end Roger Saleapaga, who prepped at Orem High.
Sometimes guys do come home, like Cougar basketball’s Kentucky transfer Collin Chandler.
Meanwhile, the battle is on.
These recruiting wars are going to get interesting.
More choices for the local kids.
More work for the local college recruiters to protect turf.
Oklahoma
The Under-the-Radar Oklahoma State Football Transfer Generating Preseason Buzz
This preseason the buzz around Oklahoma State football has centered around its talented group of transfers. Some have received much more attention than others.
Take quarterback Drew Mestemaker. After he led FBS in passing yards a year ago at North Texas and then transferred to the Cowboys, he landed an invitation to the Manning Passing Academy this summer. He impressed the Manning family with his ability.
The Cowboys also have other talented and highly productive transfers including two of Mestemaker’s former teammates at North Texas, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young.
Outside of the near 20 Mean Green that followed head coach Eric Morris north from Denton, the Cowboys also pulled a wealth of other talented transfers.
Recently, both CBS Sports and 247Sports published extensive previews of the Big 12, including under the radar players. Both sites agreed that this Oklahoma State transfer is generating a lot of preseason buzz, even though he doesn’t have the career production to back it up.
The OSU Transfer That’s Buzz-Worthy
The transfer is linebacker Tate Romney, a senior transfer from Arizona State who also played at BYU. One site, 247Sports (subscription required), quoted a source that had seen Romney play this spring.
“Tate just running the show (has been impressive),” that source said. “Physical. Natural feel in the run game. Very smart football player.”
He’s projected to start alongside another former UNT player, Ethan Wesloski, at linebacker in OSU’s 4-2-5 defense. The difference is production. Wesloski led North Texas with 113 tackles (59 solo) last season. Romney doesn’t have that many tackles for his entire career. Why? Injuries and lack of opportunity have worked against him.
Romney is Oklahoma State’s oldest player, per the OSU site. He is already married and has a child. He did two years’ worth of missions from his time at BYU. But, aside from his solid 2023 season, he hasn’t played much.
That year, after a true freshman season in which he played three games, Romney was tied for fourth on the team with 52 tackles, adding four a for a loss with one sack. Had a season high eight tackles in games against Southern Utah and Washington State. From the standpoint of use, he was a Top 25 freshman defender.
But it stopped after that. In 2024 he suffered a broken arm that forced him to miss the first six games of the season. From there, playing time was hard to come by, aside from special teams. He transferred to Arizona State for 2025, which was fresh off winning the Big 12 title and going to the College Football Playoff. He was also a native of Chandler, Ariz., where he was 2019 Arizona 6A Varsity Linebacker of the Year and won three state titles.
With the Sun Devils he played inn 10 games, finished with 13 tackles and had five tackles against Utah. But the impact he was hoping for didn’t happen.
Romney is a transfer that falls into the opportunity category. The production says that he’s nothing more than a solid depth linebacker. That two different sites have sources telling them otherwise is intriguing.
The proof will come in September if Romney finally gets the opportunity for regular starting time alongside Wesloski as the Cowboys attempt to climb out of the cellar in the Big 12. If the predictions are right, the Cowboys may have two productive linebackers on their hands in 2026.
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Oklahoma
Can Missouri football get revenge on Oklahoma? How Sooners shape up
These old rivals are all tied up since their reunion.
Missouri football and Oklahoma, the former Big 12 foes now duking it out in the SEC, are going to meet regularly as ‘permanent’ rivals, meaning the Tigers get the Sooners on the schedule for at least the next four years.
This season, the matchup is moving to the last weekend of the regular season. Oklahoma will visit Mizzou for a Nov. 28 game in Columbia.
In their first matchup back together in the SEC, Mizzou staged a stunning comeback on Faurot Field. The Tigers were largely uncompetitive but kept it respectable in an 11-point loss in Norman last year. It’s tied at 1-1 since the reunion.
Who’s going to take the edge?
The Tribune is analyzing the offseason of each of Mizzou’s 2026 opponents to get you up to speed with the new rosters and coaches after a busy offseason.
Here’s what to know about Oklahoma this season, including key additions, coaching changes and playmakers to keep an eye on when the Tigers face the Sooners:
Who are opposing names to know when Missouri football faces Oklahoma?
Quarterback: John Mateer is back for his second season as OU’s starting quarterback. After transferring in from Washington State as one of the top-ranked portal prospects in the country, he didn’t quite see the preseason Heisman Trophy hype materialize as he battled injuries and acclimatized to SEC play. Mateer threw for 240.4 yards per game, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and he rushed for eight more scores and 35.9 yards per outing.
Offensive playmaker: Trell Harris had an excellent season with Virginia last year, picking up All-ACC honors after catching 59 passes for 847 yards and five touchdowns. He’ll almost certainly be Mateer’s most-used receiver in an offense that could use a spark after a so-so 2025 campaign.
Defensive playmaker: Defensive end Taylor Wein is a 6-foot-4, 266-pound wrecking ball off the edge. He had seven sacks and 15.0 tackles for loss, and there’s every reason to believe those numbers could climb this upcoming season as he likely takes on the lead pass rushing role after R Mason Thomas went to the NFL as a second-round pick.
What did the offseason look like for the Sooners?
Key additions: Harris (WR, Virginia); Parker Livingstone (WR, Texas); E’Marion Harris (RT, Arkansas); Hayden Hansen (TE, Florida); Cole Sullivan (LB, Michigan); Kenny Ozuwalu (DE, UTSA)
Notable losses: Mason Thomas (DE, NFL Draft); Febechi Nwaiwu (OG, NFL Draft); Gracen Helton (DT, NFL Draft); Kendal Daniels (LB, NFL Draft); Robert Spears-Jennings (S, NFL Draft); Jaren Kanak (TE, NFL Draft); Deion Burks (WR, NFL Draft); Sammy Omoshigo (LB, UCLA); Kobie McKinzie (LB, Northwestern); Jovantae Barnes (RB, Kentucky); Michael Hawkins (QB, West Virginia)
New coaches: N/A
The No. 1 reason to believe Oklahoma can repeat as a College Football Playoff team is its defense.
The Sooners were elite on that side of the ball in 2025 and bring back a number of key starters, including their top-two tacklers, sacks leader, and two of the three players who recorded multiple interceptions over the course of the season.
This is almost certainly going to be another strong OU defense.
The major weakness on the Sooners’ offense last season was their ability to run the ball. OU had a bottom-four mark in the SEC with 118.5 rushing yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry. The Sooners are changing up the depth chart with a couple of returners, including Xavier Robinson, the likely No. 1 option out of the backfield.
Venables said in the offseason that he believes this is his best offensive line, which includes a top-ranked addition in Harris from Arkansas and one-time Mizzou target Michael Fasusi at the tackle spots.
Early forecast for Mizzou vs Oklahoma
This game is so far away. There is a lot of football between now and this regular-season finale. Who knows where these two teams will be by then and what stakes will be at play as the Tigers welcome the Sooners back to Columbia for the second time since they both became SEC members.
From nearly four months away, this looks like one of the tougher games on Mizzou’s schedule.
The Sooners have a lot of continuity in areas where they were strong last season. We’ll see if the offense can take a step forward in Year 2 of the OC Arbuckle/QB Mateer pairing. If it does, this is probably a CFP team.
Even last season, though, Missouri had its chances in Norman to spring an upset. If Mizzou’s special teams were operating at even a remotely acceptable level, this could have been a game.
In Columbia, we’d be surprised if this year’s game wasn’t competitive. The last meeting between these two teams on Faurot Field was an all-timer.
But, this appears to be one of MU’s sterner tests. The Sooners are a tough outfit, and it would not be a surprise to see a team one win away from sealing a playoff spot come to CoMo on Nov. 28.
Oklahoma
New Oklahoma law requires emergency action plans for summer camps
TULSA, Okla. — Nearly one year after the tragedy at Camp Mystic in Texas that took the lives of 28 people, including children. Governor Stitt signed a new House Bill 16-75 that requires camps across the state to have emergency action plans in place.
This new law will have camps in Oklahoma work directly with their county’s emergency management teams. It ensures that all camps have emergency action plans that include training staff, evacuation routes and better weather alert systems.
WATCH: New Oklahoma law requires emergency action plans for summer camps
Oklahoma passes new camp safety law
I listened with Scotty Stokes, a father and founder of Oklahoma Firefighters Burn Camp for child burn survivors, about what this means to other parents like him.
“As a father and a grandfather, when your kids go to camp, and mine did when they were younger, I mean you’re worried about them, you’re constantly worried about them,” Stokes said.
“You’re constantly watching things like the weather and making sure they are safe, are they being taken care of, and you may even be contacting that camp. with the implementation of this new law, it makes it a little easier on the parents to understand that these camps have been through a process to prepare for these extreme weather events that occur here in Oklahoma.”
With this new camp safety law, campers and parents across Oklahoma can have peace of mind that precautions to keep campers safe is finally the standard.”
I also spoke with Keaton Forest, emergency management field manager at WSB. This company has taken the initiative to connect camps with their county’s emergency management team. In hopes of making the process go smoother as camps get into compliance with the new law.
“Behind this, what we saw was an opportunity to connect camp organizations with emergency managers through several conversations we’ve had through some camps and as well as emergency managers,” Forest said.
“We’ve noticed that a lot of them don’t have standing relationships. So right now, what we’re doing is doing our best to gather information from both of them and collaborate on making a new emergency action plan for these camps.”
This camp safety law will take effect Jan 1.
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